With the weather clear, he practiced a few aerial maneuvers, enjoying some dips and loops and a couple of barrel rolls, before the wheel in his hand gave a harsh shudder. Leveling out his plane, he frowned, wondering what had caused the jolt. Out of the snowy blue, every light on his control panel lit up like a Christmas tree, the needles of his gauges going into wild spins. What the holly? The entire aircraft trembled, and black smoke started engulfing his precious plane. The worst part was he had no idea what could be causing the failure. Everything had been checked and double-checked. Every piece had been in perfect working order, well oiled, polished, and maintained to the highest of standards. Every cable had been in its place, every nut and bolt secure.
The engine sputtered noisily, then stalled, and his heart leapt into his throat.
Nothing he tried seemed to work, and as he began losing altitude it was clear he was going to have to jump. With a curse, he pressed down on the clasp of his seatbelt’s buckle. Nothing happened. Crabapples. He tried again, this time getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was horribly wrong. He pressed against the buckle with all his strength, and when it didn’t budge, he thought of climbing out through the straps, except when he tried to move, he was tightly secured, as if the belt had somehow tightened around him, pulling his body back into his seat. There was no budging.
He frantically fought against the harness, and when nothing came of it, he searched around in the hopes of finding something sharp he could use to cut his way through one of the heavy straps, but there was nothing. The way he was falling, he wouldn’t have time to cut himself free even if he did have something, which he didn’t.
“Oh gods.” How could this be happening?
“Rudy?” Tim’s panicked voice came over the radio. “Rudy, what’s wrong?”
“The plane… It’s dead, completely dead. I’m falling.”
“You need to jump.”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?” Noel’s firm voice came over the radio, his own panic evident in his gruff tone. “For Kringle’s sake, get out of there!”
“I can’t. My harness is stuck.” He did his best to remain calm and tried to open his door. Not that he knew what he would do once it was open, but he had to hope whatever was going on wasn’t affecting the whole plane. When the door remained firmly bolted shut, his fears were confirmed. This was no ordinary malfunction. This was unlike anything he had faced before.
“Rudy!”
He’d done the drills, run scores of variables, prepared himself for every possible outcome should his plane malfunction, but nothing could have prepared him for whatever this was, for this dark force that had infected his precious baby. Had it been anything else, he might not have been so frightened, but this… Whoever had done this hadn’t intended for him to survive. Even the air around him was thick, making it harder and harder for him to breathe. His lungs ached and his body felt weak. The only thought that crossed through his mind was Jack. He shut his eyes tight to keep his tears at bay. No. He couldn’t end like this. He threw a gloved fist against his window and fought against his harness. If he was going to go down, he’d do so fighting.
“Jack!” he screamed as he threw his shoulder as hard as he could against the door. If there was even the slightest chance the wind could carry his pleas to its master, Rudy was going to take it. Please, hear me. “Jack, I need you! Please… help me.” He let his head rest against the cold window, his voice hoarse from lack of oxygen. “Jack… I love you.”
JACK WAS on his third triple vodka, laughing at Hollis’s disgraceful display as he lost his fifth round of conkers by nearly knocking himself out, when a sharp pain pierced his heart, forcing him to nearly double over. He clutched at his chest, puzzled by the strange jolt. What the holly was that?
“Jack? Are you all right?” Vale approached him and took his glass from his hand before it could fall to the floor and shatter.
“Yes. This strange pain just hit me out of nowhere.” The pub’s windows and doors blew open and Jack straightened. That hadn’t been his doing. The wind swirled around him, a chill going up his spine at the faint whisper reaching his ear. Someone was calling his name.
“What’s going on?” Hollis asked, frowning at him.
“I don’t know. I have to go.” Jack didn’t wait to hear the rest of his cousins’ questions. He ran out into the streets and summoned the arctic winds to carry him up high above the earth. With swift orders, he shot through the skies toward the causeway, demanding haste. In the distance ahead of him he could see a small dark object, and at first, he dismissed it. The wind whispered at him, beseeching him. Not one to ignore such a call, Jack soared toward the object, stunned when he discovered it was indeed Rudy’s plane.
There was a thick fog of black smoke surrounding it as it sped toward the mountainside, and a part of him hoped Rudy had long since vacated the aircraft, but as he flew closer, something told him that wouldn’t be the case. There was something different about the smoke, something… menacing. The smoke wasn’t coming from the plane, at least not in a way that insinuated there was some mechanical malfunction. Had it been, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all, not to mention Rudy would have jumped out by now. Why was he still in the plane, knowing it was hurtling toward destruction? Rudy loved his plane, but not enough to go down with it.
Catching up to the medium-sized aircraft, Jack hit his hand against the window, his chest feeling constricted at the sight of his lover struggling to remove his harness with no luck. Rudy’s moves were sluggish, his chest rising and falling rapidly. It didn’t take Jack long to deduce his sweetheart was having difficulty breathing.
“Rudy!”
“Jack!” Rudy’s eyes filled with unshed tears as he pounded against the small window. “Jack I can’t get out! The harness, the window, the door, everything’s stuck!”
Jack grabbed the door handle, only to be surprised by a sharp burning sensation, forcing him to snatch his hand back. He made another attempt, the handle searing his skin and leaving a harsh red mark across his palm. It couldn’t be…
“Jack?”
His head shot up and he met Rudy’s frightened gaze. This couldn’t be. No, he wouldn’t allow it. He reached deep inside him as he summoned his powers to fight this malevolent force created to keep him out. Around them the wind howled, and a blizzard engulfed them in white. Shards of ice shot toward the plane, only to be melted by the black smoke before they reached the shiny red surface. This was no ordinary spell. Jack would need to reach deeper. As if reading his thoughts, Rudy slammed a fist against the window.
“Jack, no!”
Rudy’s fear mirrored his own, but at the moment, saving his lover meant more to him than his own life. Whatever force was at work here, it had been created specifically to keep him out, to keep him from saving his love. Rudy was immortal, but he wasn’t indestructible, and as a Christmas elf, his powers were limited. Jack could survive such a collision, but not Rudy.
“Jack, you have to stop.”
Ignoring Rudy’s pleas, Jack did the opposite, calling upon the full force of his powers. His body burned from the inside out, and his muscles strained in an attempt to maintain control of the conflicting elements within him. “I can do this.” Was he assuring Rudy or himself? Whatever the case, he had to believe he could.
“I don’t want to lose you,” Rudy pleaded. “Jack, listen to me.”
“I can do this!” He grabbed hold of the door handle with both hands, ignoring the burning against his palms as the spell worked fiercely to deter him. The fire spread through his body, battling the ice summoned to protect him, to save both himself and Rudy. The color drained from his hands, leaving behind his elemental form. The cyclone of ice and snow swept up the plane and Jack with it, throwing them into a monumental spin, and giving Jack more time to draw on the full force of winter.
“Damn it, Jack, please! I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.” He focuse
d his energy, gritted his teeth as the first signs of fern-frost sprouted on the edges of the window and spread. It was working. He was getting through.
Rudy put his hand to the glass, his expression one of heartache. “What if I’m not given a choice?”
“That won’t happen,” Jack growled.
“How do you know?”
“I can control it.”
“Jack—”
“I won’t let you die!” He released the door and used his feet to push himself away from the plane. With his arms held out at his sides, his vision went white and he raised his face to the heavens. He prayed to his ancestors and drew upon his father’s power. Whatever reprimand he would receive for it, whatever punishment, so be it, but he would do whatever it took.
“Jack, no!”
The skies darkened and thunder erupted above him, lightning accompanying the blinding storm of burning ice. If he couldn’t get Rudy out of the plane, he would soften the landing. On the earth below, the snow quickly gathered, setting down thick blanket upon blanket. Rudy’s screams were drowned out by the fury growing inside Jack as his thoughts went to whoever had the audacity to threaten the life of his lover, to insult Jack by plotting against him, against the Prince of Frost. Someone was going to pay dearly for this. The sharp pain in his heart intensified, the agony resembling a multitude of icy stakes plunging in all at once, and he fought the urge to clutch at his chest.
He heard Rudy faintly call his name as his body plummeted alongside the plane. The impact of the soil beneath him when he plunged through the layers of snow and hit the earth was excruciating, the tremor racking his entire frame and knocking the wind out of him, but he couldn’t allow the pain or exhaustion to take over. He had to remain awake, for Rudy. His hand trembled as he reached up from the small crater his fall had created, and he clawed his way up to the snowy surface, falling in a breathless heap. The sharp pain in his heart returned as he dragged himself out, his gaze going to Rudy’s plane, the tail end the only part visible, angled out of the snow.
Jack’s whole body ached, his skin burned, and his muscles protested every movement, but he pulled on what strength remained to once again summon his powers. The wind swept away the many layers of snow until Rudy’s plane gently leveled out, looking as if it had never taken off, but Jack knew better. He painfully marched through the snow, his hand clutching at his chest while the ache settled in his heart, refusing to let him be. Stumbling, he ran into Rudy’s door with his shoulder, and he stifled a growl. He grabbed the handle and gave it a yank, relieved when the door opened.
“Rudy?” His voice was hoarse, but he didn’t care. Rudy was in his seat, his harness firmly securing him there, his head lolled to one side and his eyes closed. “Sweetheart, please wake up.” He unlatched Rudy’s harness and carefully pulled him out, unaware until his legs gave way under him what little strength he had left after calling on his powers so recently. He fell into the snow, Rudy cradled in his arms. “Please be okay,” he whispered, holding him close. In the distance, bells jingled. Help was coming.
Relief swept over him, and he fell back into the snow with Rudy held tightly against him. As he closed his eyes, he used what was left of his strength to draw the cold away from Rudy and keep him warm. As soon as he heard the concerned voices of those who had come to their aid, Jack surrendered to the darkness.
Chapter 7
“Jack?”
Jack’s gaze remained fixed on the red-and-orange flames dancing in the hearth while a dark storm brewed inside him, one he itched to unleash. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his mind off the events of today, the fear and heartache in Rudy’s pale-blue eyes as he sat trapped inside the plummeting aircraft. Jack had enemies, plenty of them insolent enough to perform such a cowardly act, but none wielded such magic. Not to mention, any enemy who would strike him in such a fashion was declaring war against him. When he found whoever was responsible for this, he would crush them into an icy pulp.
“Jack?”
“What?” he snapped, making the small elf give a start.
“You’re making the room awfully cold,” Tim said through chattering teeth. He had his arms wrapped tightly around himself in an effort to keep warm.
“So what?” He was the Prince of Frost—obviously cold factored into his existence. Why was everyone so surprised to find themselves surrounded by such elements when he was present? What did they expect from him? Sunshine?
“You’re making Rudy cold.”
Jack straightened, having for a moment forgotten where he was and the reason he was here. Quickly, he went to Rudy’s bedside to take his lover’s icy hand in his, absorbing the cold until Rudy was left comfortably warm again. After a gentle kiss to Rudy’s hand, Jack turned to Tim, who had positioned himself beside Rudy on his bed, his slender arms wrapped around his drawn-up knees, and his worried gaze on Jack. Blast it. Jack had allowed himself to get carried away in unpleasant thoughts, only to snap at his dear friend. Tim didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of his foul temper. The young elf had been nothing but admirable in his loyalty, remaining by Rudy’s side, tending to him when all Jack had managed was brooding.
“I’m so sorry I snapped at you, Tim.”
“I understand,” Tim said quietly, his gaze going to Rudy, who had fallen into a deep sleep shortly after arriving at their home. According to the doctors, Rudy would survive, but he had an extensive amount of healing to do. Of course their biggest concern had been the Big Flight. Without Rudy, the other Rein Dears wouldn’t be able to fly. It was the way Kringle’s magic worked. Nine Rein Dears or none at all. Frankly, Jack couldn’t give two berries about the Big Flight, not when Rudy looked so pale and fragile; even his fiery red hair taking on an ashen hue.
Some loose strands of hair fell over Rudy’s brow, and Tim gently brushed them away. “What about you, Jack? Are you all right? You had quite the fall.”
“I’m fine.” Jack paced the bedroom, missing Rudy already—his smile, his rich laughter, the feel of his arms around Jack. Even the sweet scent of cinnamon had abandoned him. “I should have been there.”
“You couldn’t have known.”
“Blast it!” Jack slammed his fist down against the fireplace mantle. If only he hadn’t gone to that blasted pub, he would have been there on the tarmac. He might have been able to stop Rudy from getting into the plane. If not, he surely would have known something was wrong right away and had more time to do something, anything, that wouldn’t have resulted in Rudy lying here like this.
“Jack, please. Blaming yourself isn’t going to help him heal any quicker.”
Jack was about to argue the fact when Noel entered the room, his gaze going from Tim to Rudy and back.
“Well?” Jack asked impatiently.
“Kringle’s on his way.” Noel went over to Tim’s side and pulled him into his arms, his sharp gaze on Jack, who couldn’t keep himself from pacing.
“Good.”
Kringle couldn’t drop everything and rush over, but one would think he’d make haste, considering his top Rein Dear was out of commission. Was that all anyone around here cared about? Their precious Christmas? What about Rudy? What about what he meant to Jack? What if Kringle couldn’t heal Rudy? What then? No, that was impossible. Rudy’s magic was linked to Kringle. If anyone could set things right, it was the Spirit of Christmas.
Who would want to hurt Rudy? The more he thought about it, the angrier he grew.
“Jack, the cold,” Tim reminded him softly.
“For the love of holly!” Jack stormed out of the room, cursing under his breath. If it wasn’t bad enough he hadn’t been there to help Rudy, now he couldn’t even keep it together long enough to be in the same room as his lover without hurting him. He thundered through the palace, ignoring the concerned gazes of all the servants, and burst through the doors leading out into the gardens where he would have plenty of room to let off some steam without hurting anyone. What good was all his power if he couldn’t help Ru
dy? If all he brought him was harm?
The moment he saw the beautiful red roses, he regretted coming out here. Around the meticulously carved ice sculptures of swans and forest animals, of sea creatures and dragons, were clusters of red roses which Jack had planted for Rudy, the crimson a stark contrast to the sea of white snow, symbolizing their own differences but highlighting how well they fit together. Frost covered the branches of the surrounding pine trees, whose white lights twinkled bright enough to rival the stars in the evening sky above him. The garden had once been unkempt and empty, overrun with thorny vines and weeds until Rudy had come into his life, bringing his radiance with him, showing Jack what it was like to have love in his once-cold heart.
Jack stood, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Did they know who they were trifling with? Someone had tried to take that love away from him. Who would be so arrogant, so foolish as to attempt such a deed? He would hunt them down, would go to the furthest ends of the earth until he had his hands on the culprit, and then…
The snow swirled around him in a flurry of white, thunder exploded high in the night sky, and dark clouds gathered to smother the stars. The pine trees trembled, snow falling from their quivering branches. Had the North Pole not learned the first time what happened when someone he loved was ripped away from him? Is that what they wanted? Did everyone want the same as his father? Did they want a monster instead of a prince? He could become that monster.
“Jack, I’m speaking to you!”
Jack spun around, the snow surging outward toward the figure, whose reaction was as swift as the impaling ice, throwing a hand up and putting a stop to the impulsive assault. The snow dropped to the ground at his father’s feet, the thunder faded, and the skies cleared. There was something in those eyes as black as Jack’s that gave him pause. Concern? Confusion? Whatever it was, Jack had no time for it.
North Pole City Tales: Complete Series Page 10
