“Hi, Nancy,” he said in his deep, musical voice. Kara watched as Nancy transformed from the dour gray woman into a smiling, fluttering girl. “Can you do me a favor and file these papers?”
“Sure, Sebastian,” Nancy practically oozed.
“Thanks,” he said sweetly, chucking her lightly under the chin. Nancy blushed. Seb shot one more unreadable look Kara’s way before walking down the hall to the inner part of the big house.
“You can go in now, Ms. Honeybell.” Nancy returned to dour gray as she spoke, not looking in Kara’s direction. Kara set the cocoa down on the tray regretfully and stood, ready to face her fate.
He sat behind the desk, as large as legend made him out to be—maybe even more so. And yet in spite of his intimidating size, his bright blue eyes and warm smile put her right at ease.
“I hope you’ve enjoyed your time at the North Pole so far, Kara. Please, have a seat.” He indicated one of the chairs in front of him, and Kara sank down into the cozy comfort. “How do you like it here so far?” he asked pleasantly.
“It’s fine, sir. Everyone has been friendly and helpful.” An image of Seb flashed through her mind, but she pushed it away. “I miss my family, of course.”
His face reflected the genuine sorrow he felt for her. “I know you do. But you’ll see them again. I’m sorry you’ve had this upheaval in your life. It must be a very difficult transition.”
Kara shrugged, dropping her eyes, not wanting him to see how difficult it really was. “I appreciate your letting me come here, considering my . . . circumstances.”
“Kara,” he said. The gentleness in his voice compelled her to lift her eyes to his. “You’re an elf with a stellar reputation, both at work and personally. Sometimes life deals us situations which require an adjustment. That’s what happened here.”
Kara nodded. She knew that better than anyone.
“But we’ll make the best of it,” he said confidently, his joviality returning. “Before long, it will be nothing but a bad memory.” Kara’s brows drew together in confusion. Did he think she could possibly forget that she was half fairy? “Now,” he boomed, “while we wait for things to settle, I have a special assignment for you.”
Kara’s eyes widened. A special assignment? What could that possibly mean? Would he send her further north so that she was away from others to protect her secret? Part of her wished he would, so she could fly anytime she wished.
“You are a remarkable young elf. It’s only due to miscommunication and some misfiled paperwork that you were placed in Early Production. Luckily it was brought to my attention. While we have fine elves who ably run Early Production, that’s no place for your particular talents to be wasted. As such, I’m teaming you with another young elf who has proven himself to be very much like you—a hardworking, smart, creative elf.” Kara knew it was vain of her, but still, she glowed beneath his praise. She couldn’t wait to do something other than press wheels onto little cars. She craved creativity.
“Not many elves yet know,” he continued, “that we’ve begun a new project here in the North Pole. I’m sure word will eventually get around, but we’re trying to keep it under wraps for now.” He laughed deeply at his pun about wrapping. Kara smiled. It was impossible to not respond to him. “While I won’t tell you to keep it entirely confidential, I would ask that you at least try to use discretion, and don’t speak about it without cause.” Kara nodded.
“Now, the project is a new dance hall for the elves. Not just any dance hall,” he held a finger up as if Kara had protested the idea. “Something new and different. A place where elves of all ages can come together to socialize, dine, and most importantly, share ideas. It needs to be fun, attractive and appealing. It needs separate areas where elves can meet to make their ideas begin to take form while still keeping them all together.”
Kara nodded enthusiastically as he spoke. She could see such a place in her mind, already the ideas were flowing.
“You and Sebastian will create, design, and execute the building of the place.”
Yes, she thought, Sebastian and I will . . . wait, what? Sebastian? As in Seb?
“I think the two of you will get along very well. You both have very similar creative minds,” he said, apparently not noticing the look of horror on her face. “You’ll begin this afternoon, right after lunch. Sebastian knows all the details, so he can fill you in.”
“Sebastian?” she choked out.
“Yes. Have you met him? He was here just before you. I suppose I should have introduced you.”
“No, I . . . I know him. We’ve met.” She couldn’t keep the flat tone from her voice.
“Good. That’s settled then. He’ll meet you in the dining hall after lunch and you can begin.” He stood as if to indicate their meeting was at an end.
Kara also stood to leave, dejection heavy on her shoulders.
“Kara,” he said as she turned the knob to leave his office. She swung back toward him. “I’m very happy to have you here. I know it isn’t perhaps what you wished, but I promise to do all I can to make sure you’re as happy here as you were at the South Pole.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. She wanted to tell him she’d only be miserable being forced to work with the hostile Seb each and every day, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was an honor above all to be asked to work on a special assignment, especially one of this magnitude. She couldn’t afford to displease the Big Guy and possibly get herself sent away again.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving us!” Pearl said. “You just got here.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Kara said. “Just working on this project for a while.”
“That’s so exciting,” Pearl enthused, not missing a beat in placing the little tires on the small metal cars.
“I guess,” Kara muttered.
Her tone caught Pearl’s attention. “You’re not happy about this?”
Kara shrugged. “It’s not that I’m not excited about it. It’s an amazing opportunity. But I’m going to miss you. Annnd . . . I’ll be working with Seb.”
Pearl actually set her tools down at that. She turned fully to face Kara, jaw gaping. “Seb? As in, Sebastian, Seb?”
Kara nodded.
Pearl huffed out a breath, watching Kara closely. “Well, I guess you’ll have nice scenery if nothing else.”
“Nice scenery?” Kara asked.
“He’s a jerk, but he looks good while doing it, right? So, nice ‘scenery’.”
It took Kara a second to realize Pearl meant Seb was the scenery, but then she burst out laughing. “Yeah, okay, I guess it will be nice scenery.”
Pearl turned back and picked her tools up again, chuckling. Suddenly she reached over and laid her hand on Kara’s. “It’ll be okay.”
Somehow her sympathetic gesture and words scared Kara more than when she was first given the assignment.
Chapter Four
Lunch came all too soon. In her few short days at the North Pole, Kara had come to look forward to the cheerful, social time in the eating hall where she met many of the other elves. Today, though, she dreaded it because it meant leaving with Seb and beginning their project. What would she even say to him?
She got her honey turkey and carrots, then mostly pushed it around her plate. When Pearl explained where Kara was going, the others in their little group were horrified on her behalf—except Aubrie, who Kara suspected was jealous even though she claimed she had no desire to make a play for Seb.
Ten minutes before the end of lunch signal sounded, Seb strode into the room. He caused a stir as he always seemed to do wherever he went, which is why Kara’s attention was so swiftly drawn to him—or at least, that’s what she told herself. He glanced around the room until he spotted her then came her way, causing the others at the table to gasp. As Kara looked at them, she realized that however much they claimed to dislike him, they still all desired his attention. Sad.
“Ready?” he demanded, standing before her on the opp
osite side of the long table.
“I’m still eating,” she said contrarily.
“Fine.” He stepped back, resting his back against the wall. He crossed his arms, causing his biceps to pop impressively, and casually crossed one ankle in front of the other. He didn’t move his eyes from her.
Forced now to eat, Kara picked up her fork and scooped up a mouthful of honeyed carrots. She lifted them to her mouth and slowly chewed the now cold carrots while her stomach threatened to rebel. She glared up at Seb and his knowing smirk. She glanced down at her full plate. It was obvious she wasn’t eating. Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she dropped her fork.
“I’m ready.”
Seb immediately straightened, grabbed her tray from the table and marched to the tray drop. Kara slowly stood, looking at Pearl who gave her a tight smile and a thumb’s-up. Kara turned and went to the door where Seb waited impatiently. Kara suddenly felt like the misbehaving student being called to the principal’s office.
Seb didn’t say a word as she neared, just turned and left. Kara had no choice but to follow since she had no idea where they were going. He led her out of the main building, much to her surprise. Even more shocking, he stopped in front of a snowmobile—more commonly referred to as sleds by the elves. He grabbed the two helmets and held one to her without looking at her.
Kara froze. She wasn’t fond of snowmobiles. Actually, that wasn’t right. She downright despised them. Her mother was killed on one when Kara and her sisters were young, leaving them to be raised by a grieving man. He hardly knew what to do with the three who were normal girls, let alone an additional pariah with secretive wings. In the end, he raised them well, and they were happy. Until the incident, anyway.
Seb looked at her over his shoulder, glancing meaningfully at the helmet. Kara shook her head.
Kara shook her head. “I’m not getting on that thing.”
Seb turned so he fully faced her. Kara nearly had to glance away from his blinding beauty. Not wanting to appear weak, she held his gaze.
“I’m a good driver.”
“No doubt,” she answered.
“I’m careful.”
“I believe you.”
Exasperation marred his features. “Do you want to drive, then?”
“No, I don’t want to get on at all. I’ll walk. Tell me where we’re going and I’ll meet you there.”
His exasperation melted into annoyance. He pointed behind him where an imposing mountain stood in the distance. “We’re going ten miles to the north until we come to the split in the mountain. From there we head east another three miles.” He turned his gaze toward the sky. “It won’t get light here for another month, so that means I had to arrange for some lighting to be set up for us. They’ll only be there for another three hours. It’ll take us half an hour to get there, which gives us two-and-a-half hours to work.” Seb glared at Kara now. “If we took an hour there and had two hours to work we could probably pull it off. If you think you can walk that distance in an hour, be my guest.”
Kara looked at the uneven expanse of ice and snow packed land between where they stood and the mountain. In spite of certain elven abilities—night vision, ability to walk on the snow without sinking, able to withstand cold that would freeze a human within minutes—she still couldn’t trek the thirteen miles in an hour. She could fly it, easily. But only if she wanted the unthinkable to happen. She had a feeling Seb would be only too glad to pack her bags.
“Why do we need lights?” She was being contrary, but tried to delay their trip on the sled. “We can see just fine without them.”
“Maybe, but we won’t be able to see it as clearly. And this is a place to be seen in the light, don’t you think?”
“Where are we going anyway?” she asked, still looking across the rough terrain.
Seb’s anger fell away. “You mean, he didn’t tell you?”
By “he” Kara could assume he spoke of the Big Guy. “No, he didn’t tell me much. Only an overview of what we’re creating.”
Seb shook his head. “I apologize. I thought you knew everything I did. I didn’t realize . . .” He stopped and Kara got the impression he didn’t apologize often. “We’re going to the spot where the dance hall is to be built. We need to measure it and get a feel for it before we can plan it.” He paused. “Everything I said is still true. We’re on a schedule, here.”
He held the helmet out once again and this time Kara took it. If it were only her who would suffer an inconvenience, she could refuse. But since there were others involved . . . She climbed on behind Seb, holding to the side handles.
He grunted, in frustration or humor she couldn’t tell. He reached behind him, grabbed her hands and wrapped them around his waist. Kara gasped.
“No backrest,” he said, which was true enough. “You’ll fall off if you don’t hold on.”
Seb hit the throttle, launching them forward. Kara couldn’t stop the small scream that escaped her throat as she tightly clasped Seb, burying her face in his back in terror. She slid forward, pressing tightly against him, refusing to look up as the world sped by. Panic slid across her bones until she felt as frozen as the Earth’s surface beneath them. He sped around corners and across bumps that lifted the machine airborne. Her breathing was rapid and her heart felt as if it would pound its way through her chest. It seemed as if hours passed rather than a mere thirty minutes when he finally pulled to a stop.
“Woo!” he called.
Kara tried to release him, truly she did, but telling her brain to release her death grip on him and actually doing it seemed to be at opposite ends of the spectrum.
“Kara?” he asked. She couldn’t lift her head to answer him. She felt his hands on hers, peeling them away. He managed to do so, though she still couldn’t move. He half-stood and turned until he faced her. “Kara?” he repeated, his voice full of concern.
Pulling her helmet off, he leaned down to peer into her face. Seb surprised her by pulling her into his arms, holding her tight, safe, enfolded in his warm embrace as she shook, spasms wracking her body. Kara didn’t know how much time passed before her brain began to really process the situation. As she became aware of her reaction to nothing more than a ride on a sled, and the fact that she was now clasped tightly in Seb’s arms, embarrassment seeped through her. Seb seemed to notice the change and slowly released her, keeping his hands on her shoulders.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently.
Mortification consumed her as she nodded. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He gave her shoulders a little shake. “You shouldn’t be sorry. I should. I didn’t know you were genuinely terrified of riding. I thought it was just, I don’t know, some kind of stubbornness thing, refusing to get on. So I guess I was trying to . . . show off, I suppose. Show you what a good driver I am.”
Mortification turned to anger at his disregard for her feelings, and assumptions that she played games. “You couldn’t tell by my death grip on you as we rode?”
He shrugged. “Girls always hold on to me like that. I didn’t know it was anything more than you hitting on me.”
That jolted life back to her limbs and Kara swung a leg over the snowmobile, quickly standing up. Her legs wobbled a little, but she ignored that—and the fact that Seb noticed. In her angry humiliation, she scooped up a wad of snow and threw it at him. He instinctively twitched away, wide-eyed and gaping at her.
“That is the only kind of hitting on you’ll be getting from me, Sebastian.” His eyes narrowed just the smallest bit at her use of his full name. “Don’t hold your breath on me falling all over you because of your extraordinary beauty, you conceited, arrogant, egotistical . . .” She trailed off as she ran out of names to call him.
He smiled, and it was as if the Summer Solstice had come early. Kara spun away from him, refusing to give in to his allure. She stomped away, then stopped. There really wasn’t anywhere to go. She looked around her at the area chosen for the project. Her anger drained. It wa
s absolutely perfect.
The light provided by the tall posts glinted off the ice crystals that overlaid the entire area. It was pristine and untouched, surrounded on all sides by tall ice cliffs with only the opening they’d come through on the snowmobile. Kara felt as if she’d been dropped into a winter wonderland. She sensed Seb come up behind her.
“It’s great, isn’t it?” he asked.
She nodded, overwhelmed by the beauty of it. No wonder the Big Guy wanted a dance hall built here for the elves. One couldn’t be in this place and not feel happiness.
“Ideas?” Seb asked.
His question reminded her they were here to do a job. She turned to face him, nearly colliding with his chest he stood so near. She jerked back and he quickly reached out to steady her. Embarrassed by her overreaction—again—she refused to look at him.
“I think we need to keep as much of the landscape involved as possible,” she said.
“I agree,” Seb said. “But what exactly are you thinking?”
Kara shrugged then turned in a full circle, taking in the glittering ice. “Lots of tall windows where the light can reflect off the ice.”
“Good idea,” he said.
Kara glanced over her shoulder to see if he was mocking her. He was also looking at their surroundings, but his eyes came to hers as if he felt her gaze. Kara was stunned once again by how perfectly blue his eyes were, as if two flawlessly cut sapphires had been placed where iris’ should be. His smooth, unblemished skin stretched taut over high cheekbones and his full lips were utterly kissable. He was gorgeous. If only he weren’t such a jerk. He lifted one brow and she realized she was staring. She cleared her throat. “Do you have ideas?”
He was silent for a moment, holding her gaze. His eyes dropped to her lips and Kara felt warmth bloom in her stomach. She chided herself for being such a fool and turned away.
“Tall,” he said, his voice tight.
“What?” she asked, confused. She knew he was tall.
A Fantasy Christmas Page 3