Page 29 of Witch's Bells and Mistletoe

They are done. Everything is finally set.

Katherine makes good time getting down the hill, but I close the distance without hesitation too, and I am quick to embrace her the moment she comes within reach. She taps her hands lovingly on my chest as my purr breaks loose, and I’m filled anew with adoration for her.

“Okay, you big grumbly beast. Let’s go inside and wrangle everyone together. We’re going to need all hands on deck to get everything out to the altar, I think.” I nod in agreement and attempt to drag my wings up around her, but she bats one down as something catches her eye in the direction of the hotel. She frowns slightly as she watches Wilhelmina Williams climb from her big black vehicle. “Who is that?”

“The other Williams,” I say dryly and proceed to tell her of my conversation with the infuriating woman as we make our way back to the hotel.

My mate is not pleased, but she grudgingly agrees that she doesn’t see any other way that it wouldn’t have overblown into a bigger disaster with another course of action—except full-scale evacuation and abandonment of the town and hotel, which even I know would have been extremely unlikely. Despite how unhappy she is about the ordeal, Katherine is unfailingly polite to Ms. Williams when she emerges from her brother’s office shortly after we get back into the lobby. The conversation is stilted and becomes even more so when Mr. Williams finally deigns to join us, but things surprisingly begin to move quickly as the human volunteers hurry into the kitchen to gather the needed supplies and head out into the snow with them.

Elis remains on guard, coming no closer to the group as the humans proceed up the hill with the Williams siblings leading the way. Guests and townspeople alike fan out around the altar as Archie Williams stands before it while my Katherine remains just off to the side, directing him in a low voice. Vats of milk and cream are poured over the stone to trickle into the large bowls set at all four corners to collect to the liquid for the fairies as he addresses his grievances done. The butter follows, and I’m surprised to see that the numerous bits and bars and tubs have been pressed into large cakes that are set. Platters of raw, bloody meat are set out last as he formally turns over power, by the witnessing of the fairies, to his sister.

The triumphant grin that flashes across her face makes me scowl, but I can find nothing amiss with the way she reaffirms the old vows in a clear voice and makes an offering of the last cake of butter remaining. She steps back from the altar, her piece done. There is silence, and a few of the townspeople look to each other with uncertainty, but a startled gasp rises and everyone recoils when there is a sudden rush of air from the hawthorns. The snow blows the bright red berries from their branches, scattering in a wild spray, blinding the human witnesses but I see the fairies as they come from among the trees.

I am not familiar with this manner of fairy, but I am not surprised. They are clad in long belted tunics and cloaks, wool pants stuffed into their boots, yet there is a predatory nature to their gait that puts me on edge. I suspiciously watch their every step even as I keep track of Katherine’s position. My mate is smart not to move any closer. In fact, she does the opposite as she backs slowly toward me despite being snow-blinded.

I am glad that she’s spared the sight of them. Though their faces are vaguely humanoid in shape and hairless, but their noses are broader than a human’s which make them better equipped to pick up scents and track prey, and their mouths are filled with terrible teeth that are visible as they snarl and hiss warily as they come forward. That is where any resemblance to anything human ends. They are covered in thick pelts which extend from their lynx-like tufted ears and bushy manes to the tips of their fluffy tails. Their tails swish like those of angry cats, peeking out from behind their rough cloaks as they creep forward. They stop and their nostrils flare, and they raise their bows warily. They know I can see them, and I breathe out a little dragon fire to flame the air in front of me so that they know me. It catches the attention of the fairy at the fore of the group, and he nods quickly and signals the rest of the troupe to retrieve the food.

The fairies leap into action as bags and corked skins are produced. They whisk the food away so fast that by the time the wind dies down and the humans of wiped the snow from their eyes, empty containers are all that remain. A stunned silence falls upon the crowd, but they do not linger. They nervously glance toward the grove as they descend the hill, leaving the Williamses, Katherine, and me at the altar.

The siblings don’t speak; they face the woods silently for a long moment until Mr. Williams turns away. I don’t know if he intends to return to the hotel or go directly to his car, but he doesn’t take more than a step before he halts again and tilts his head as a curious expression crosses his face and something blanks within his eyes as he turns back to the trees again. The bramble among the trees is thicker than ever, and somehow covered in a blanket of snow once more. I hear it then—a soft strain of music on the air. Archie Williams turns towards it and steps forward as his pupils expand and fill his eyes.

I hear Katherine’s gasp and she takes several steps toward him with every intention of stopping him, but I gather my mate into my arms and wrap my wings around her as I haul her back several steps. Fairy magic prickles over me, and the brambles seem to part as Archie steps within them and disappears entirely within the grove. Silence returns and then a terrible scream that makes my mate jump in my arms even as it turns the head of every human and makes them stop in their tracks on the hill. I hold Katherine tightly to me, my heart racing as I pray that the fairies have now been satisfied.

Whatever Archie had done to earn the ire of the Good Neighbors, I suspect that this was only a fraction of it.

His sister’s mouth tightens, and she looks over at me and my mate as if aware of my inward speculations. “Trust me, what happened was due. My brother’s cruelty toward the fairies on our land did not come out until the end. They never disturbed the family or the hotel, only haunted him every day that he dwelled here, revisiting every pain and insult back on him. As I said, this was coming,” she murmurs as she slides her shades back on her face.

Tension winds tighter through me with this terrible knowledge, and the trees and brambles began to rustle and shake as they slowly part. I expect to see the frost fairies emerge again but instead two girls stumble forward in their coats and holiday dresses. Their hair is a bit tangled, and their cheeks smudged with what looks like soot, but they appear to be in good health as they step out of the grove.

A jubilant shout goes up from the crowd and is followed by another as a handful of people race back up the hill to embrace the girls while the rest limp back wearily toward the hotel. The sobs of relieved parents make my heart ache, but some of that weight is taken from me when I feel my mate lean into my embrace, her body shuddering against mine. I stroke her hair and purr softly in my chest to comfort her.

“Are you okay, Katherine?” I murmur.

She nods mutely and then startles when the decorative lights on the hotel suddenly snap on, shining with festive brilliance as a soft powder of snow begins to fall once again. Ms. Williams nods to us in passing as she too heads back to the hotel, but she pauses a few feet away to glance back at us.

“I’ll be refunding your stay, but please feel free to enjoy the hotel through the holidays on the house. I don’t return the greeting and instead ignore her in favor of soothing my mate. Katherine draws in a deep breath, her body trembling against mine as she looks away from the holiday display to peer up at me with wide eyes.

“Actually, I’d love to go home now,” she replies softly. “I want just you and me, and our own private solstice celebration far from here.

I nod and press a kiss to her hair. “Done, my love. A holiday at home sounds like the perfect thing.”

With a stretch of my wings, I whisk us up in the sky. It takes little time for us to collect her things and even less time before we are out the door again. My female curls against the heat of my chest as I wrap one foreleg around her as wing my way over the trees. In my true form the snow does little to slow me down, and I find myself craning my neck as I enjoy the passing view while my mate murmurs her own appreciation. Everything below is frosted white with the new snow, but in the next moment it’s gone as I spew a spinning flame of dragon fire. It bursts in the air, opening a portal as I sail through, carrying us over the familiar snow-dusted forests of Washington as we head home.

Chapter 22

KATHERINE

The tree twinkles in the dark room. Aside from the lights Adeon painstakingly hung all over the first floor upon our return two days ago, it is unequalled in its cheer except for the cozy fire that we are snuggling in front of with our cups of hard eggnog, heavy on the brandy for a certain dragon who can’t seem to resist petting me whenever we’re curled up together. He is shirtless as he prefers to be when we are alone, and the lights make his scales gleam and shine in ways that make me want to pepper kisses over all of them.

It’s good to finally have some quiet time to ourselves. Holiday calls have been handled and good tidings exchanged—even with Elis, though I swear the male practically choked on the words, but it’s a start. I’m feeling particularly full of the holiday spirit despite the events over the last week, enough so that I’m smiling as I set down my eggnog and climb out of his embrace to fetch the gifts I set aside under the tree and carry them back to the couch. There are others still piled under there for when my family visits next week, but for now I’m enjoying our private little gift exchange.

A look of delight crosses my dragon’s face as I hand him his gifts, and his nose immediately goes to the packages of meat, a happy growl rumbling from him as he breathes deep. I bite back my laughter since it’s obvious that he knows exactly what they are, but he looks genuinely surprised when I hand him a smaller box. His eyes snaps to my face as he takes it and turns the little box over in his big hands. He breathes deeply of this too and smiles. I watch him in exasperation because I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he can smell the silver and gemstones too. Who knows with dragons?

“Katherine, what is this?”

“A gift,” I reply as I scoot closer to him. “Open it.”

He gives me a curious look, but his face lights up and he tears into the package with all the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old boy. I chuckle in delight at his enthusiasm, but it’s nothing compared to the softness that comes to his face as he lifts the cuff from its silky nest and traces a finger over the dragons.

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