Christmas Chaos (Christmas Magic Book 2)

by Alexandra Moody

  He didn’t seem sad about the decision to leave their original herd, and he talked about it almost like it were inevitable that it would happen eventually. I looked ahead to where Dash was walking with Vixen. They were talking to each other and far enough away from us that I doubted either one of them were listening.

  “What was the disagreement about?”

  “His father wanted him to mate with another powerful reindeer, but Dash refused.”

  “And his dad kicked him out because of that?”

  Blitz nodded. His expression grew serious, and there was a hint of sadness as he recalled the memory. “Rudolph doesn’t take dissention well.”

  My eyes widened as I glanced at Dash again. “His dad is Rudolph?” I asked. Dash’s dad wasn’t just in charge of his herd; he was the leader of all the reindeer herds. He was practically shifter royalty. The position had been handed down, father to son, for generations. The leader of the herds was always named Rudolph in memory of the great reindeer who had spearheaded the rebellion against shifter slavery centuries ago.

  “Yes,” Blitz replied. “And Dash’s brother will take the position once he dies.”

  Dash had mentioned his brother once before, but he’d quickly changed the subject, and I knew nothing about him. “Is he close with his brother?”

  Blitz shook his head. “They couldn’t be more different, and I don’t think they’ve spoken since the day Dash broke away from the herd. Dash has always been the spare heir to his family, and his relationship with his father and brother is strained. His father only speaks to him when it’s official herd business.”

  “I didn’t realize.”

  “It’s not exactly something Dash spreads around,” Blitz replied. “I think the fact that Vixen joined him when they left the herd is something that Rudolph still blames Dash for.”

  I found myself suddenly feeling sorry for the two of them. They had needed to leave the herd because their father was an ass, and that really sucked. My mom might not be with me anymore, but at least I’d always known how much she cared for me.

  “I’m sorry you guys had to leave your herd.”

  Blitz smiled at me. “Nothing to be sorry for. Leaving the herd has been great for my love life. There’s nothing like a little rebellion to really make you desirable to the ladies.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes at him, but something made me feel like Blitz didn’t really mean it. He was smirking, but the look didn’t reach his eyes, which flicked quickly in Vixen’s direction. I chewed on my lower lip as I looked between the two of them. I’d noticed Blitz always gave Vixen a hard time, but could there be more to it than simple teasing?

  He’d been riling her up before we took the sleigh point to the prison, but he’d only done it because he knew how nervous she was. It was quite sweet really, and the more I considered it, the more I thought I might be onto something. “You like Vixen, don’t you?”

  Blitz’s face immediately dropped. “Shhh!” he exclaimed, his eyes snapping toward Vixen to make sure she hadn’t heard. She was still talking with Dash and certainly hadn’t turned at the mention of her name, so I thought he was safe.

  “So, you do?”

  Blitz nodded, but he looked too nervous about being overheard to pronounce it aloud.

  I was surprised it had taken me so long to realize. He was a horrible flirt most of the time, and Vixen wasn’t the only person he tried to irritate, so it was difficult to tell what he was really thinking. “I always assumed you just enjoyed winding her up.”

  He sighed and shook his head. “It’s the only way I can get her to even look my way.”

  “Wow, Blitz, I can’t believe I didn’t notice before.”

  “Well, I guess you know my deep dark secret now.”

  We both fell silent, and I started wondering how Vixen felt toward him in return. She was so uptight and sharp it was even harder to read her than it was to read Blitz. I don’t think I’d ever seen so much as a soft smile from Vixen in Blitz’s direction.

  “You think I’m screwed, don’t you?”

  “I’m not sure,” I replied. “It’s not like Vixen and I have slumber parties and gossip about the boys we like.”

  Blitz snorted. “I’m trying to picture Vixen at a slumber party, but I really can’t see it.”

  “No,” I agreed.

  We reached the bottom of the mountain, and I paused. Dash and Vixen had already started the climb upward. They were a little way ahead of us and turned when they saw us approach.

  “Will you two stop lagging and hurry up?” Vixen called down to us. She turned and continued onward without waiting for a response.

  “Ah, be still my beating heart,” Blitz said, winking at me before he started bounding up the rocky slope after her. I muttered darkly under my breath as I went to follow him. The reindeer were all far too fit for my liking.

  To my surprise, Blitz didn’t race to meet the others like I thought he would. He hung back to help me over some of the more difficult rocks and kept by my side as we climbed.

  “You both took your time,” Dash said when we finally reached the top.

  “We were having a DNM,” I replied. “Blitz, we should do that more often.”

  Dash raised an eyebrow and glanced between the two of us. “DNM?”

  “Deep and meaningful conversation.”

  He shook his head at me. “You’ve spent far too long in the Human Realm.”

  “Probably,” I agreed.

  Dash crouched down as he hauled a bag from his back. He zipped it open and pulled out four bottles of water which he passed around. I greedily took one and guzzled the contents. The drink wasn’t exactly cold since we’d been wandering through a scorching desert for an hour, but I didn’t care. The tepid water tasted glorious as it flowed through me.

  “You came prepared, Dash.” I lowered the bottle and screwed the top back on. The bottle was almost empty, but I’d been desperately thirsty and couldn’t help myself.

  “You didn’t,” he replied, not seeming too surprised.

  “I’ve had a lot on my mind.” I tried to argue back, but even I couldn’t convince myself that was a good excuse. It would have been so easy for me to summon some supplies for myself before we left. I should have blamed the yeti.

  Dash rummaged around in his bag again and pulled out a flashlight for each of us. I flicked it on, giving it a test run by flashing it into the pitch-black cave.

  “Really prepared,” I added with an approving nod. There was absolutely no light for the first part of the trek through the cave, and I was glad Dash had the foresight to bring flashlights. I really hated the dark; although the dark was hardly the worst part of the cave.

  “You guys ready?” Vixen asked, making her way toward the tunnel entrance.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied as the other two shifters nodded in response.

  Vixen disappeared into the mouth of the tunnel with Blitz trailing right after her. Dash stood back and gestured toward the entrance, indicating for me to go first.

  “Stay close to me in there,” he said as I went to walk past him. “I don’t want you to get a fright like you did last time.”

  My cheeks warmed with embarrassment, but as I looked up into his eyes, I could see Dash was genuinely concerned for me. I didn’t want to admit it out loud, but I’d been somewhat traumatized by my terrifying first visit to the prison. The walls of the entrance tunnel had been lined with the desperate wailing faces of the prisoners, and I was the only one who could see them. I swallowed and nodded at Dash. “Thanks,” I replied.

  I flicked my flashlight on and shone it around the tar-black walls as I entered the tunnel. The passage was wide at the mouth, but I could see it narrowed up ahead where Blitz and Vixen were already walking. The two of them were sharing one flashlight and taking their time as they navigated the cave. It appeared I wasn’t the only one who was nervous about returning to the prison cells.

  “So, what were you and Blitz ‘DNMing’ about?” D
ash asked. He was so close behind me that I jumped in shock as he spoke, and it took everything in me not to gasp out loud.

  “Don’t sneak up on me!” I shot him a glare over my shoulder.

  He frowned in response and shook his head at me. “You need to be more aware of your surrounds.”

  “And you need to learn not to enter other people’s personal space,” I shot back at him.

  He shrugged. “I did tell you to stay close to me in here.”

  I let out a breath, allowing most of my irritation to flow out of me. “I suppose you did,” I agreed before giving him one final dirty look. Maybe I’d summon a bell to put around his neck once we got out of the prison and I had my magic back. That was certainly one way to stop any further sneaking.

  “So, what were you both talking about?” Dash asked me again.

  “Lots of things,” I replied. “But the whole point of a DNM is that you’re not supposed to repeat it to anyone.”

  “I’m not just anyone,” Dash said. “You can tell me.”

  He could ask all he wanted, but I wasn’t going to tell him. I could hardly talk to him about his family issues right now, and Blitz’s infatuation with Dash’s sister was something Blitz could tell Dash himself if he needed to. I really didn’t want to get involved. “Why do you care anyway?” I asked instead.

  “I don’t know. I just wonder what you two could have to talk about.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to live in wonder.”

  I heard Dash sigh and sensed his shoulders slouch as he gave up. We briefly fell silent and continued to trail after Vixen and Blitz.

  “How are you feeling about seeing the nameless one again?” Dash eventually asked. He sure was chatty today.

  “About as good as can be expected.”

  “You know I won’t let him hurt you, right?”

  I frowned and glanced in Dash’s direction. I hadn’t really been worried about the nameless one hurting me. But I guessed that was a possibility. I was more concerned about what he would ask me to do.

  “You may not have a choice,” I said. “I have to grant whatever favor he asks, or the power of the favor coin will kill me. I knew what I was getting into when I entered the bargain.”

  “Maybe he won’t ask his favor of you today,” Dash suggested.

  “Maybe.” I nodded in agreement, but I wasn’t convinced. There was a reason the nameless one insisted he would only talk to me about the problem with the barrier, and I already knew he never gave out information for free.

  I glanced at Dash, and through the dim light in the tunnel, I could see his amber eyes were focused and his jaw was tense. He was clearly just as worried as I was, and my anxiety was growing with every step we took toward the nameless one’s cell. All I could do was hope that, whatever happened to me, the shifters would walk out of the prison with the information we needed to get the barrier around the Northern Realm fixed.

  Blitz and Vixen upturned the large bowls of lava light when we finally reached them. The thick, molten liquid ran down the edges of the corridor ahead of us, lighting the way. It was a comfort not to have to rely on our flashlights anymore, but it also made my stomach drop. We were getting closer to our destination.

  Dash took hold of my hand, giving me a reassuring smile. I hadn’t realized I had stopped. Blitz and Vixen had continued walking deeper into the cave, but I stood with my feet cemented to the floor, frowning at the tunnel ahead. I was considering giving in to the swirling feeling in my gut that was telling me to run back the other way. Dash gave my hand a gentle squeeze though, and I instantly felt calmer.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Dash said.

  I took in a deep breath and nodded before allowing him to guide me forward. We caught up with Blitz and Vixen and stayed close to them as we continued to journey deeper into the mountain. My gaze traced the walls nervously, and I was glad Dash kept a firm hold of my hand. My heart was fluttering with fear and an icy dread ran through me as I waited in anticipation of what was to come. The feelings only grew worse as we drew closer to the section of tunnel where I’d encountered the prisoners who were trapped in the walls.

  I didn’t have to wait long before I began to hear their whispers. The creatures hissed and cried out to me, begging me to set them free. The sound prickled against my skin and sent shivers down my arms. I could see the bodies of the prisoners pressed against the hard rock. They were pushing against it like they thought they could break through if only they fought hard enough. Some of their faces were scrunched up in pain while others had their mouths open wide as they bellowed out agonizing cries.

  My grip on Dash’s hand had grown so tight he was probably starting to lose all feeling in his fingers. “You really can’t hear or see them?” I asked, turning to look at him. He was frowning as he looked around the cave and I desperately hoped I wasn’t the only one witnessing the horrors of the tunnel this time around.

  “There’s something there,” he murmured. “I keep seeing flickers of movement from the corner of my eye but nothing like what you described to me before, and I can’t hear anything.”

  He tore his gaze away from the wall to look at me. “I still wonder why you’re the only one who can see them.”

  “I’m just lucky, I guess,” I said, fixing my eyes on the ground so I could try to shut them out.

  Deep down, I knew it was more than just luck that meant I could see the prisoners while the shifters could not, and as we continued to walk, my conversation with Jack flickered through my mind. He had said that my magic had the power to unleash something terrifying from the prison, and I wondered if the prisoners in the walls were linked to my unique abilities. I wasn’t sure why that might be the case, but I felt like my powers were the reason I could see them.

  By the time we reached the huge cavern where all the prison cells were, I was more than ready for our second trip to Incarceror to be over. The cries and moans of the prisoners had chased me throughout the final section of the tunnel, and the sounds had grown so loud that I was more than a little rattled as we entered the cavern. I needed to speak to the nameless one and get out of the prison as quickly as possible.

  As we entered the cavern, the keeper stood waiting for us. It was the same strange creature that had greeted us last time we’d visited Incarceror, and his big dark eyes lit up when as he saw us arrive. He was standing at the edge of the huge hollow drop that took up the center of the cavern.

  The lava light flowed over the edge of the precipice and streamed down to the floor of the cave that lay hundreds of meters below. The fiery liquid cast the rocky walls and ceiling in a deep orange glow. It revealed the thousands of prison cells that lined the walls of the pit we stood over, but deep shadows remained behind the bars, and it was impossible to see any of the cells’ occupants.

  How the keeper could stand so close to the edge was beyond me. I wasn’t great with heights, and getting too close to the precipice gave me jitters. At least I already knew exactly where the nameless one would be, and he wasn’t down there.

  “You return’d, you return’d,” the keeper chirped as we approached him.

  “We need to see the nameless one again,” Dash said.

  The creature’s black eyes grew wide with delight. “T’is way, t’is way,” he said, leading us along the narrow path that bordered the cavern. He paused at the same spot he had last time and waved his hands over the wall. There was nothing there but rock until the wall started lighting up with golden symbols as the keeper moved his palms across it. Dash stepped forward so he was standing in front of me. I knew he was trying to protect me, and the gesture was sweet, but it was also pointless. There was nothing he could do to shield me from the favor I owed the mysterious creature we were about to face.

  As the wall dissolved from sight, I was surprised to find the nameless one was waiting right on the other side of it, as though he knew we were coming. His dark hood still hung low over his face, but from the glow of the lava light, I could see a smile sp
read across his lips when he caught sight of us.

  “You’ve brought me a present, keeper,” the nameless one said. His voice was just as magnetic as I remembered, and it still made my stomach queasy and set my teeth on edge.

  “I’m here, just like you asked,” I said, stepping forward so I was no longer protected from view by Dash’s hulking figure. “You said you would help us fix the barrier around the Northern Realm but that you’d only tell me the solution. So, how do we do it?”

  The nameless one tutted, and the sound reverberated off the stone walls of his cell. “Not so fast.”

  “So, you don’t know how to do it?”

  “I did not say that,” the nameless one replied. “I can give you the answer you seek.”

  “But…” I knew there was a “but” coming.

  “But first I believe you owe me a favor,” he said, lifting his hand up from under his dark cloak. The golden favor coin flashed brightly as he twisted it around with his fingers.

  My stomach grew taut at the sight of the coin, and a cold dread ran down the back of my spine. Deep down, I knew beyond doubt that the favor was the reason the nameless one had called me to the prison. I’d accepted my fate, but now that I was facing it, I was terrified.

  “What do you want?” Somehow, I managed to speak firmly, hiding the fear that was building in my heart.

  “It’s a small thing really,” the nameless one said. “And I’ll even be generous. I owe you nothing, but once you have completed the favor, I’ll tell you what you can do to fix the barriers the Christmas star destroyed.”

  It sounded too good to be true, which put me even more on edge. I felt Dash move closer to me, so he was pressed against my back, but he kept quiet, which I was grateful for. This was my problem to solve, not his. I still appreciated his support though. I needed it now more than ever.

  “So, what is it?”

  “There’s an object I require,” he said. “It is secured within the chest of Bethalial, which can be found in the old palace ruins of the Dead Lands, deep in the Southern Realm. Bring the object to me, and your favor will be considered fulfilled.”