I prop my chin on my hand and look at him. I reach out and trace his jaw. “My Lucifer. My wonderful, sexy Lucifer.”
“For as long as you will have me.” His eyelids are heavy as he opens them and watches me.
“Eternity, then,” I reply.
“As you wish.”
“Happy New Year, Lucifer.” I lay my head on his chest and listen as his breathing evens.
“Happy New Year, Lyla.” He brings my other hand to his mouth and presses a kiss to my knuckles. “May it be happy and filled with love.”
“That is the best type of magic, after all.” I snuggle closer to him.
He softly chuckles as he strokes my hair and lulls me to sleep. Contentment rolling through my body.
For the first time in forever, I am truly happy.
Epilogue
Lucifer-1 Year Later
“You have it, right?” I lift my glass to hide my mouth so no one can tell what I’m saying.
Fuchsia rolls her eyes and looks at me. “Yes, Mr. Bond,” she says, gently teasing me.
I set the glass down and sigh. “Who knows if either of them have learned to read lips in the last year? The other day Mandy wrote her history essay in Demon and Elvish.”
“She is currently talking with Jack Frost by the fountain.” Fuchsia raises an eyebrow. “I believe he was showing her how to draw snowflakes in the water.”
“That little shit,” I growl and turn around to look for the boy. “I don’t want him around Mandy.”
“Why would that be, Master?” My friend lifts her glass and hides her mouth this time and I know it’s because she’s smiling.
“She’s too young to be courted.” Isn’t that obvious?
“She’s almost ten. In the time in history when Jack was originally brought to life, Mandy would be old enough to be betrothed.” Fuchsia takes a step back, canny as usual.
The glass I just picked up shatters in my hand and sends shards and champagne everywhere. “Centuries have passed since he was born. Things are different now. She is planning our trip to Disney World, not a wedding. Not any time soon.”
“Poor child. What will she do with you as her father?” Fuchsia cocks her head to the side. “Her suitors will face a fierce challenge indeed.”
I straighten my shoulders and adjust my tie. Father. Not a title I thought I would ever have. But I asked her a month ago if she approved of making our family official and she had agreed. The little sneak had even helped me pick out the--
“You’re sure you have it?” I look at Fuchsia again.
She aims her most droll stare in my direction. “You know that I do.”
“Of course. And the--”
“I have that as well.” Fuchsia sets her glass down on the table. “I will go finalize everything now. Are you ready?”
“Of course I am.” I straighten the arms of my tuxedo jacket and fiddle with the cuff links. Fuchsia hands me two small boxes that I tuck into my pocket. Of course, I’m ready. Unless she says no. I’m most definitely not ready for that. Maybe I should wait a while longer. We have eternity after all.
But no. Mandy is growing and deserves to have a stable life. Not that her life isn’t stable. I just want to be part of it. Officially. I’m the devil, after all. I’m selfish like that and a stickler for details. I have them, but I want it all. Titles included.
I watch Mandy playing with Jack for a little longer, but manage to restrain myself from going and interrupting. She is obviously happy and having fun. Instead, I turn my attention back to the crowd and look for Lyla.
My Lady is wearing a blue dress this year, as dark as the night sky. Crystals are scattered across it like stars. She looks like a goddess. The train of her gown swishing behind her as she crosses the grass, talking with Medusa. Gurch is trailing behind her, the ever faithful servant. Though, Lyla lectures anyone that calls Gurch that.
“Who knew you were such a romantic, Lucie?”
My thoughts grind to a halt as I recognize the voice next to me. I turn slowly and glare at the asshole.
“You really shouldn’t taunt me in my own realm, blood bag.” I sneer at his outfit. It’s mostly red, of course. He’s wearing a dark red flannel shirt, red vest, jeans, and an old baseball cap. “You do realize this is a black tie event, do you not?”
“Of course.” The old elf pulls at his jeans as if they’d been slipping down. “I dressed up for your special night.”
“This is ‘dressed up’?” I take a deep breath. “If you’re here, my sister must be nearby.”
“Of course, Lucie.” My sister appears next to me in a much more appropriate gown for the evening, even if it is red. Her white hair is glistening, bright eyes twinkling, her smile shining. “We couldn’t miss your big night.”
“What are you talking about?” I narrow my eyes. No one is supposed to know about tonight except for a few key people and I am certain they would never break my trust.
“Well, don’t worry about us, sweetie. We just want to see the fruits of our labor.” She tightens her shawl around her shoulders.
“You what?” I frown. The hobo posing as a lumberjack next to me laughs and it is much happier than the last time we crossed paths. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t worry, everything is as it should be.” My sister pats my cheek. “You know we love you.”
“You, yes.” I cut my eyes toward her undeserving husband. “Him, I would rather not contemplate.”
“As much as I enjoy our little games, you’re my brother in law. Of course I care.” The elf has the audacity to clap my shoulder as if we’re comrades… or friends.
“What games are you referring to?” I push his hand off my shoulder with one finger.
“Ah, well, let's not ruin those by talking about them.” He lifts the mug he is carrying and I realize he’s drinking hot cocoa with what smells like a heavy shot of peppermint schnapps. Disgusting. “Tell me did you ever figure out Mandy’s Christmas Wish last year?”
He regards the girl with warm eyes. The difference in him from that night and now gives me the creeps. And I’m the Devil.
“She wanted a dog. As you can see, she has one of the very best.” Rudolph sits next to Mandy, watching people as they walk by. He might be the runt of the litter, but he is doing a fine job of guard duty right now.
“No, no.” The idiot waves a hand as if I have it all wrong. I still have the letter in my office. I know for certain that she asked for a dog. “I asked about her Christmas Wish, not what she wanted.”
“You’re talking in riddles, which is a dangerous pursuit for simpletons.” I sneer at the man. I will never understand what my sister sees in him.
“A Wish and a want are two different things, Lucie.” My sister goes to her husband and slips her hand under his arm. “She wanted a puppy. And you did a magnificent job, making sure she had the best. But did you ever figure out what her real Christmas Wish was that night?”
“I--I suppose I do not know.” I feel off center and dislike the sensation.
My sister smiles. “I’m going to go say hello to Mandy.”
I watch her as she walks away. “You’ve got her talking nonsense now too.” I turn and look at Nicholas. “Is it so bad in the North Pole you’re both losing your damn minds?”
“The North Pole is in perfect shape as usual. Even better, thanks to you and your lady.” The stuffed sausage looks at me with a serious expression and that gives me pause. “I suppose you could ask Mandy.”
“Ask Mandy what?” I’m becoming annoyed. This is an important night and I don’t plan on spending it with him.
“What her Christmas Wish was.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Or you can ask me. I am the one that made it happen.”
“Excuse me?” I am incredibly insulted. I delivered on Mandy’s Wish last year. That was the whole point.
“Oh, fine. Fine. I’ll tell you.” The elf motions for me to lean forward. Without knowing why, I do as bid.
“Get on with it,�
�� I hiss, figuring the sooner he has his say the sooner he will disappear himself from my life.
“She wished for her mother to be happy.” The old man leans back, the twinkle in his blue eyes is brighter than I’ve ever seen. For the first time, I feel like I’m seeing him as humans would.
“Mandy wished… for her mother to be... happy.” I try to process this.
“Yes. The very best type of Christmas Wish.” He takes a sip of his spiked cocoa. “Her wish was for someone else. How could we not make it come true?”
“So you’re saying…” I don’t even want to finish my thought because it would mean I’m indebted to this tub of Red Dye 40 for the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. And I cannot abide that.
But he smiles his cheeky shit-eating grin and deliberately makes his eyes do that annoying sparkle. “You can thank your sister. She’s the one who knew that Wish would intersect with your deepest desire.”
“And what’s that?” I ask.
“To love and to be loved,” he says simply. “That is the wish of us all, is it not?
Before I can respond, my sister reappears and hands me a single malt scotch.
“Don’t be hostile,” she says as I take the glass. “I just want you to be happy. That was my Christmas Wish. Has been for ages. To our delight, the Fates aligned all of our wishes last Christmas, the child’s included.”
I take a drink and then narrow my eyes at the elf. “How did you know I would take over Christmas?” I ask.
He chuckles a soft ‘ho, ho, ho’ and I roll my eyes. “Lay off the branding, old man. You don’t need to perform here.”
“I might not be as old as you, but even I know how to read people,” my brother-in-law says.
Jessica nudges her husband. “Be nice. This is a special night.”
Now I glare at her. “And how do you know that?”
She shrugs. “The way I have always known your secrets. It’s in our blood. Now, give that woman and her child their new wish.”
“And what wish is that?” I ask.
She grins. “I should think it obvious. Lyla’s wish is to be with you forever.”
My stomach does a somersault. Well that I can oblige.
“And that beautiful girl of yours,” Jessica continues. “Her greatest Wish is that you will be her father.”
My heart fills with pride.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to tell me their wishes, are you?” I glance at my sister and fight my smile.
“If I don’t you’d never figure it out.” She pokes my shoulder. “I’m your big sister. It’s my job to take care of you.”
I roll my eyes, but there is no fighting my smile this time.
She takes my empty glass from me and I walk away from them both. Nicholas chuckles his trademark laugh and I don’t even care anymore. All that matters is Lyla and Mandy.
I find them talking with Mother Earth, who doesn’t often make an appearance at my holiday parties. This year she looks tired, which makes sense given the abusive relationship she’s in with humans.
I greet her and admire her gown of vines twining her strong, mountainous body.
She bows her head, sending golden leaves falling over us. “It is good to be here. I needed a break,” she says, before heading to the group of demons playing a strange kind of game that looks like bobbing for apples but involves rotten sacks of puss.
Once I have the attention of Lyla and Mandy, I guide them to a special spot in a snow-covered garden with glowing winter flowers casting a blue hue over us.
Mandy smiles knowingly as I bend onto my knee and hold up the first box, opening it to reveal an Art Deco ruby and diamond engagement ring. “Lyla my love, this last year with you has been the stuff dreams are made of, and I never want to wake up without you by my side. Will you do me the honor of marrying me and becoming my queen?”
She gasps, one hand going to her heart, her eyes filling with tears. “Really?” The word is a whisper, carried on the wind.
Does she still doubt she is the most desirable woman in the world? I’ll have to work harder.
I stand and move toward her. “Yes, really.”
I can smell her desire to say yes, but she looks to Mandy first, which I fully anticipated. “What do you think, bunny?”
I pivot to the girl about to become my daughter and take a knee again. “I have a gift for you as well.” I open the second box and hold it out to her. A small ruby and diamond ring, much more modest than her mother’s, but magicked to grow with her so she never has to have it sized. “Will you do me the honor of being my daughter?”
This is the part she didn’t know was coming and she shrieks and throws herself into my arms. “Yes, yes, yes!” She says in Demon, making me chuckle.
She quickly pulls away and nudges her mother. “Mommy, say yes.”
Tears stream down Lyla’s face as she nods, and I slide the ring onto her finger and pull her into my arms, kissing her deeply, parting her lips with my tongue and pressing her body into mine. As we kiss, Fuchsia initiates the rest of my plan and fireworks light up the sky, taking the shape of silver hearts.
When our kiss ends, Lyla looks up and smiles, then glances at her ring and sighs. “You have made me the happiest woman alive,” she whispers.
I lean into her, my lips brushing against her ear so only she can hear me. “You’ll be even happier later, I promise.”
She smiles up at me, her face radiant, her eyes glowing as Mandy hollers to all our guests, “My Mommy is going to be Queen of Hell! And I’m going to be Princess of Hell.”
“Long live the queen,” I whisper, kissing my fiancé once more.
THE END
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THE WINTER WITCH by Karpov Kinrade
A wisp of light pierces the darkness, the candle flickering bravely against the penetrating night, and then, in a blink, thousands of flames join the first, illuminating the ancient forest in which we are gathered.
Our matriarch stands before the largest Sophos Tree in our village, her arms outstretched, the long white robe she wears blending into the white bark of the tree and the winter snow that blankets our world. Her voice is melodic and firm. "Each light, alone, is nothing. But together, we can outshine the sun."
The villagers chant back, repeating her words.
I'm kneeled before her in my own white cloak, my long dark hair undone and trailing down my back in soft curls. The cold bite of our never-ending winter nips at my ears and nose, and I sniff as quietly as I can and pray to the goddess I do not sneeze and ruin the ceremony.
"Tonight, we baptize Adara Alexander with the sacred waters of the Ice Rivers. Adara is the flame born in the cold, the defender of humankind, sent to free us from the curse that plagues our land and our people. A Winter Witch, the first to be born in our village in over a thousand years, and the strongest we have ever seen. Our prayers to the goddess have been answered. We have been sent a savior. May the goddess bless Adara," she says.
"May the goddess bless Adara," the villagers respond.
I look towards the ground, focusing my attention on the crust of snow forming over the forest mulch, and she pours the pitcher of ice water over my head. I force myself not to shiver as my hair instantly freezes.
"May the goddess guide her path," she says.
The villagers once again repeat her litany, a chorus of voices adding their magic to the words spoken each year over a new sacrifice.
But this year the words are different.
This year, I'm the difference.
Normally, the chosen one would be selected by lottery. There isn't a family in Willowdale
who hasn't lost someone to this annual slaughter. But this year, we all knew I would be the one to go. I came of age last month, just in time to be offered.
But I am not being sent to die like the others.
I'm being sent to kill.
I’ve known it my whole life. Trained. Studied. Prepared. And now it is time.
As she completes the ceremony, I stand to face her, and she pulls me into a hug, kissing both my wet cheeks. "Carry the flames of the sun in your heart, my sweet granddaughter. And come home to me."
Tears sting my eyes as my grandmother releases me and turns me to face our clan. "Tonight, we celebrate the Festival of Lights. Drink, Eat and Be Merry, good people. Our fates will soon turn toward the better. I have spoken."
The crowd cheers, and as I help my grandmother slip her thick cloak over her frail shoulders, someone begins playing a fiddle. I toss my own cloak on, wrapping my wet hair and tucking it away. Then I smile as everyone begins singing the familiar folk song as they make their way back to town.
The candles lit
Darkness outwit
We sing to usher in the dawn
The sun will rise
As winter dies
We sing until the snow is gone
Ho Ho Halliho the light
No No Nevermore the night
Ho Ho Halliho the dawn
No No Winter now be gone
After the first round, harmonies are added and the melodic refrains echoes throughout town, which tonight is decked out with tables laden with food and wine. There will be dancing, entertainment, and all manner of revelry that lasts until morning.
It's normally my favorite night of the year. Even as a child I was allowed to stay up all night, eat whatever I wanted and run wild with the magic of the evening.
But tonight, I will partake of very little, as I need my sleep before my treacherous journey tomorrow. Always, I’ve wondered what it would be like to be on the other side of the merriment. To be the sacrifice, celebrated in glory for one night, only to die the next. Now I know. It is a somber thing even if I’m not going to my death.
Unholy Night: A Paranormal Holiday Romance Page 15
