Page 6 of Dreaming of an Earth Christmas

He lifted his wings and stretched them behind him, holding them in place as two of the attendants set the heavy robes of the priesthood over his shoulders. Whatever they’d done to accommodate his wings had been skillfully accomplished. He felt someone fastening the fabric at the base of his wings, but he could see that at least from the front, the fabric flowed smoothly down to the ground. The last attendant pointed a measuring device at his body and frowned slightly.

“We’ll need a larger kilt, but it won’t take much time to produce a new one for your friend,” the man said as he looked towards Sseith.

“Good. And the belt? Will it fit?” Sseith asked.

“Yes. Try to keep your crown feathers settled,” the attendant told K’thiss as he squirmed beneath the man’s touch. The attendant was pulling something heavy and confining over his head. “We understand it feels unnatural, but the high priest has assured us that the head covering is vital, and we need to fit our prototypes. Are you ready, High Priest Ka’alaniss?” the man asked, looking past K’thiss’ shoulder.

“Yes. T’kalinth, you’ll help me decide which option will serve us best,” Sseith said as he walked to his training brother’s side.

There they stood, the man who’d supported him for years aboardLisseethi’s Fangand his former mortal enemy. An attendant plopped another heavy hat over his head and pulled the band over his crown feathers. K’thiss winced as the two men who’d become something rather like family both tilted their heads together in assessment. Sseith’s raised brow let him know that he was in for a long morning. When K’thiss saw T’kalinth’s smirk, he could barely repress his own hiss of amusement. Sseith was correct—K’thiss would do anything for his mate and his child. Even endure a morning of poking and prodding to provide them with a brief moment of joy during their human Christmas.

Rudolph the Red Winged Jackal?

MARTA

Marta placedthe last bathing suit back into her suitcase with a sigh. The T’jassi Coast had been beautiful. They’d talked about going for a few years now, but had just never gotten around to it. When Christmas had approached this year, and L’allith had seen the familiar melancholy begin to grip her, he’d surprised her with an impromptu trip.

She smiled faintly as she fastened the suitcase. She hadn’t needed the bathing suits, after all. They’d had complete privacy on the stretch of tropical paradise where they’d spent the last week enjoying each other’s company without the pressures of clan leader business or her own surprisingly demanding work schedule. She still wasn’t sure whether the invitation that had arrived from Prince V’esthiss and his human mate, Kat, had been a blessing or a curse.

Now they were headed back to Verkissat in order to spend Christmas at the palace. It was already L’allith’s second home because of the amount of time he spent in meetings in the great hall, and he’d continued his close friendship with F’athik, the eldest prince. Marta had visited the palace often as well, and although she appreciated Kat’s intentions, she still wasn’t certain there was any way to make the cold, elegant building a welcoming and festive space. She shrugged her shoulders. It appeared she’d find out soon if it were possible.

Although they were leaving the T’jassi Coast that morning, L’allith had informed her that they had another stop to make before they returned to the capital city. They were going deep into central Lisseethi, back to the site of the ancient Lady’s Temple where they’d first fallen in love. She had to admit that the thought of returning gave her a little thrill. Maybe they’d have time to visit the structure with the lisseth vines and the pool. They could make another good memory there to ensure that any bitter ones were cleared away.

She heard L’allith’s low rattle and almost jumped, her shoulders tensing at the sound. “I’ve packed. I’m ready to go whenever you are,” she told him as she turned towards the doorway of the small cabin they’d been using during their vacation.

L’allith flashed her a heated look as he moved closer. “There is no hurry. We can stay long enough for me to taste the scent of your desire. Its perfume fills the air, my Marta.” She felt the back of her knees knock against the end of the bed as she took an instinctive step backwards as he advanced. “Ivithik blossoms, the bitter edge of holy chocolate, and your need—the sweetest note that strains my control. I will never leave you wanting, my li’avitha,” he whispered harshly as he stepped between her legs and pressed his mouth to the side of her neck.

She could feel the drag of his pointed fangs against her tender skin, and she struggled to keep control of herself as her body responded to her always eager mate. L’allith was very good at pleasing her, but now that the decision had been made, she didn’t want to stay any longer. She wanted to go to the old site without any delays.

“No,” she said, pushing gently against his firm chest. “I was thinking of the pool back at the Lady’s Temple, in the j’vinka building. That’s why, well, why you scented what you did when you walked in. I do want—” she gasped as he did something particularly inventive with his tongue against the shell of her ear. “I want all ofthis,” she continued, pressing her hand to his head to urge him onwards with the kisses he’d started to trail down her neck. “I just want it there. What do you think?” she asked, sounding a whole lot less breathless than she felt.

L’allith laughed lightly against her skin, and then she felt him relax against her. He was smiling. She could tell from the way his lips moved where he’d rested his mouth over her shoulder. “That is a long time to wait, but we still have the flyer ride. Perhaps we can come to a compromise? I taste you on the flyer, and then I take you among the ruins.”

Marta shivered in his arms as she smiled. “Deal,” she said. “I can’t imagine anything better.”

* * *

“What are you doing?”Marta called from her place on the ground. At least they weren’t entirely alone here. Although it was deserted enough that they’d had all the privacy they could wish for during their tour of the j’vinka building, there were still guards who patrolled the borders of the temple complex to ensure no one attempted to desecrate the ruins. At this point, it didn’t seem as if there was much risk of that type of damage any longer, but the king was adamant that the site remained protected.

Although most Xithilene had accepted what the finds at the temple represented, there were still some unhappy bronze-scaled northerners who wished that the truth about their ancestry had never been discovered. Now everyone knew that her mate L’allith, with his vibrantly colored scales and parrot bright feathers, could carry just as much human blood as any bronze-scaled Xithilene. Everyone may have known it, but it was true that not all accepted that reality, even now.

L’allith was up in the trees. He hadn’t explained what he was doing—he’d only asked her to wait for him. He must’ve been either too high up or too far away to hear her. Marta nodded as a curious Lisseethi guard passed by her spot on the pathway. She’d worn her vacation clothes, so she wasn’t planning to step into the undisturbed areas off of the trail. She’d stay right there until L’allith returned, but she just hoped he would hurry. It wouldn’t be long until it’d grow dark here.

“Do you mind waiting with me?” she hurriedly called after the guard. Not all of her memories of this site were good ones, and standing there, that close to where she’d once had an ill-fated encounter with a s’ithik creeper, had the hairs rising on the back of her neck.

“I’m happy to stay,” the man told her as he walked back and stopped at her side. He glanced up at the trees, something a bit like hunger flashing in his eyes. “What is your mate doing up there?”

“I’m not sure. He told me it was a surprise.” She smiled awkwardly at the guard and tried not to twiddle her thumbs as they waited.

AChristmassurprise was what he’d called it. How something he’d find in the treetops of Lisseethi’s vast jungle would be related to the human holiday was anyone’s guess, but she suspected it had something to do with the frequent conversations he’d been having with Sseith lately. Theirs was an unlikely friendship, and at times, she thought L’allith still wasn’t sure how it’d come about, but after the events at this site, they’d never grown apart. Knowing Sseith, L’allith could be searching for anything up there, but it was probably some rare red flower he couldn’t grow back in Verkissat.

An eerie, sustained shriek pierced her ears. The air seemed to vibrate in painful sympathy with the sound, and Marta found herself clamping her hand over the Lisseethi guard’s forearm. When the otherworldly scream died away enough for her to unfreeze her limbs, she pulled her hand back and looked up at the guard.

“What was that?” she asked. “Have you ever heard anything like it before?”

The man looked up towards the canopy, and his wings rose above his shoulders before he shuddered. “They aren’t supposed to be real, but going by the stories my sire’s sire tells, I’d say it’s a j’vinka.”

Marta’s body froze all over again. J’vinkas were real. L’allith and Sseith had encountered one—right at this very site. She recalled Sseith’s excited voice as L’allith had stepped away from the beach to take his comms, and she pressed her forehead into her hands. That damned priest had probably convinced her husband to track down a j’vinka, but why? And why couldn’t L’allith be as easily persuadable whenshehad a bad idea? He always seemed to have a reasonable argument against things then, but if Sseith asked…well, apparently that was different.

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