Mistletoe & Mischief

by Selena Page

  He broke out into a run toward his prize, but smacked into Rafe’s boot as he put his foot between him and the Barbie. "Fix the clock," he said.

  "But--"

  "Fix the clock. Get the girl."

  "It's a trick! I've been tricked!"

  "Joe, this is going to go one of two ways. Either you can fix the clock and have your very own very personal happy ending. Or you can stubbornly refuse, at which point I will destroy her. Now, if I were you, I would count my blessings."

  "But--"

  "She will let you touch her breasts."

  "Deal!" Joe let loose a flourish of pixie dust. Sparkles swirled around the clock, and when they dissipated, the clock was as good as new. It began to tick again.

  Miriam sighed in relief.

  Rafe stepped out of the way.

  Joe tackled the Barbie, burying his face in her chest. Her animated arms and legs wrapped around him. The sound of the teeny-tiniest motor boating nearly distracted Miriam from her next step.

  “He’s not,” she said to Rafe.

  “He is.”

  Miriam shook her head. But with the lovebirds on the mirror, she drew a circle around them while Rafe used his bleeding finger to make warding symbols on the floorboards.

  Joe looked up from between the Barbie’s boobs just in time to see what was happening. “Hey waitaminute!” he shouted. “That’s not very nice!”

  “No,” Miriam said. “Nor is it very nice to interrupt folks who are trying to have a good time in peace. So, here’s the deal, Joe. You leave us right now, and in return, you can take your new girlfriend with you.”

  Rafe gripped her arm. “You can’t do that,” he whispered.

  “Why not?”

  “It’s a possessed doll--”

  “Deal!” Joe declared.

  “...in Fairyland.” Rafe finished his thought, but it was too late.

  Joe grabbed his plastic lover, and with a devious cackle, phased through the mirror and back from whence he came. Before the pixie could change his mind, Miriam used the golf club to smash the mirror.

  “Demon doll in Fairyland is a tomorrow problem,” she said.

  Rafe crossed himself.

  Chaos surrounded the pair. Pieces from broken mirrors and family heirlooms littered the floor. Book and boxes were tossed about. Dust and fragments of paper were scattered everywhere. Rafe reached over to pull Miriam into a kiss, his tongue encircling hers. As she melted into his arms he lifted her off her feet, and with a few short steps, planted her safely on the bed.

  “Where were we again?” he asked.

  “You were a man with a profound need to put me on your naughty list.”

  He smirked devilishly... “You do realize if you rearrange the letters in Santa--”

  Miriam kissed him quiet, and this time nothing was going to stop her from having a very happy Christmas.

  MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY

  Miah & Finn

  Saratoga Springs at Christmastime was her favorite place in the world. Particularly when it came to the shopping. Miah Caprice trailed her fingertips over the antique bassinet, her other hand resting on the swell of her stomach. She was reveling in the peace and joy of her beloved home at the holidays, a break she deserved after the hell year she’d experienced.

  Strong arms encircled her from behind, the scent of vanilla and cinnamon filling her mind. She smiled as she leaned back into her boyfriend, Finn McKinnon, relishing in the safety she found with him. His low baritone voice, touched with an accent from his homeland of Ireland filled her ear, “Now, what is this, Little Bird of mine? I thought we were supposed to be hunting fairies for your Grandma.”

  Miah laughed, turning to face him and draping her arms over her shoulder. She leaned up to kiss him softly, “We are!”

  “Mmhmm.” Finn chuckled, his hips swaying slowly to the Christmas music playing in the upscale Antique shop she had dragged them to, “I don’t see any sprites around, just lovely baby furniture.”

  “Well, since we’re moving into the north wing, I figured we should start talking about the nursery! Six weeks and counting, and baby girl is going to need a place to sleep.”

  “Don’t I know it.” He rested his forehead against hers, exhaling slowly. In the month since Finn had returned to her, Miah had seen a new side of the man she had fallen helplessly in love with while convalescing from a vampire attack in Europe. The werewolf former Alpha had taken to smiling more, his eyes and hands always showing her his love and affection. He was relaxed and calm. Happy.

  When he had walked through the door of Rosie’s Diner in San Antonio, where she was hiding from her family, she was sure that he would be furious over the fact that she was pregnant. Instead, Finn had reentered her life, filling a hole deep inside her. He had convinced her to return to her family home in Saratoga Springs, New York, and had even been the one that suggested she move back in with her family. His gentle words and soothing demeanor had helped to heal her broken heart. He had even started talking with a local pack about potentially joining them. Life was perfect, if you ignored the little fairy problem currently plaguing their quaint little village.

  Finn lifted his head, peering down at the beautiful bassinet. A slow smile spread across his face, his eyes twinkling as he considered the piece. It needed work--a fresh coat of stain, and some of the pieces needed to be tightened, but it would be the perfect bed for their child.

  “I’ll make you a deal, darling. We’ll buy the bassinet, and then no more shopping until we find our little monsters and get them home.”

  Miah beamed up at him and nodded her head once, “Deal.”

  Miah watched as Finn loaded their new bassinet into the back of the small SUV. She felt a chill run up the back of her neck and she turned to look back at the store, frowning.

  “What’s wrong?” She hadn’t even heard him approach, but she was used to that. Wolf super powers and all that.

  “Something feels...off...about this place.”

  Finn quirked a brow and lifted his chin, sniffing twice at the air. He grimaced and shook his head, “It smells like sour milk.”

  Miah groaned quietly, and Finn looked down at her, worry in his dark eyes. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “You know the fairies we were supposed to be hunting? Well, I think we found them. Or, rather, they found us.”

  Miah settled onto the tailgate of the SUV, frowning deeply as her eyes moved around them, her voice pitched low, “Boggarts are little mischievous fae that tend to wreak havoc. Doing things like spoiling milk. Grandpa said he thought he saw one running away from the house. I bet they’re holed up here.”

  Finn nodded once, a grave look in his eyes. He reached into the back of the vehicle, pulling out a bag and strapping it onto his back, “How do we deal with them?”

  “They’re notoriously difficult to get rid of. They find a dark hole, and they hate to let themselves be seen. Some people can drive them away by being more annoying than they are, but we might have to take a more direct route. I’m not sure we have time to wait them out, and I’m pretty sure Mr. and Mrs. Andrews don’t have the time or knowledge to deal with the little beasties.”

  She frowned slightly, closing her eyes. She could feel the energy of the world around her, and the slight waver that came from the Antique store. Miah nodded once, fingertips drumming on her belly, “Yeap. I’m pretty sure that they’re holed up in there somewhere.”

  The werewolf grinned viciously, “Brute force it is, then.”

  The basement of the antique store was in ruins, the only light coming from the flashlights Finn had produced from the back of the SUV. Miah felt a twinge of guilt at breaking into the store, but at least Finn was handy enough to pick the lock on the backdoor, and they’d been able to gain entry without breaking anything. Still, she hated the thought that the Andrews would have to find their beloved family business in shambles like this.

  Miah laced her fingers through Finn’s, both of them staring in wonder at the wreckage of the p
lace around them. Miah knew this store well--she’d worked here for two summers as a teenager, her love of old things beating out her desire for the higher wages offered at the movie theater.

  “You know, I expected it to be cluttered. Maybe full of boxes or crazy old magical mirrors or something. But this?” Finn gently nudged a fallen box that was spilling its contents of old comic books across the floor as he whispered, “This is fucking ridiculous.”

  Miah shook her head, frowning slightly, “It probably was like that, before the boggart moved in. I mean, I have a hard time thinking that Mr. and Mrs. Andrews would let anything like this slide in their store...they’re both kind of neat, tidy, and full of perfectionism.”

  “Hm. Neat, tidy, and junk store don’t exactly mesh well.”

  “Antique store, thank you very much!” Miah smiled up at him for a moment before squinting into the darkness of the basement, lowering her voice, “I could probably create some light in here, but I don’t want to scare it off.

  Finn turned, his mouth stretched in a toothy grin. His normally dark eyes glowed slightly in the dim lighting, yellow wolf eyes set in his handsome face. His voice was low and guttural, more growl than words, “I can see for both of us. Stick close behind me, Little Bird.”

  He turned and moved silently into the depths of the basement, carefully picking his way through the debris of antiques. Miah watched as he prowled into the darkness, appreciating the line of his shoulders as he moved. After a moment, she hoisted her bag further up on her shoulder, following him into the wreckage that was the Andrews’ basement. As they moved further away from the stairs, the dark began to press in around them, and Miah felt a shiver of unease.

  The ancient stacks of treasures were in disarray, but she could still identify where items should have been. A section for books, the section for dolls, a wall dedicated to mirrors and clocks. She swallowed a small cry as she stepped over the shattered remnants of a beautiful porcelain doll. Even if they sent the boggart back to his hole, the Andrews would still have to deal with the loss of their treasured items.

  Miah shuddered as Finn led them deeper into the basement, through the small space between stacks. Her breath caught in her chest as her field of vision narrowed around her. The world was closing in on her, and she struggled against her fight or flight instinct. It was too small here, too dark, and all of a sudden--too hot.

  The world felt like it was closing in on her. The basement, once a place where she had felt safe and filled with wonder, felt all too much like the holes that the vampire had kept her in.

  Miah swallowed her fear as she groped blindly for Finn’s hand. She couldn’t stay here longer without risking a complete breakdown, and she had suffered through enough of those over the past nine months. He would understand, though. He always did. She would just call Andrew and ask him to come help; big brother always knew how to make it all better.

  As she opened her mouth to admit to her fears, a pair of tiny hands that reeked of peat moss clamped over her lips, stifling her cry. Miah struggled against the many hands that had appeared on her limbs and face, trying to draw a breath to scream around the block. As she tried desperately to surge away from her assailants, she heard a brief, soft tune, and the world around her went dark.

  “We could take her to Him! He would be so very pleased!” A whiny, nasally voice whisper-screamed next to her head. Through a haze, she could hear hundreds of small creatures moving and shifting around her. Terror struck her as she tried to wiggle, only to find out she had been firmly tied down.

  “He doesn’t want that, stupid! He only wants the baby!” The high-pitched, feminine voice sounded excited and anxious.

  “Why don’t we cut it out, then? She’s big! It would be easy!”

  At that, Miah began to wiggle in earnest, her chest closing up as she immediately thought back to her time with Thaddeus. She tried desperately to draw a breath, but terror from her previous ordeal threatened to swallow her whole.

  “Shh!”

  “She’s awake!”

  “Shove a sock in her mouth!”

  Hundreds of hands seemed to roam over her for a moment, as tiny fingers shoved something that tasted like dirt and time into her mouth. Miah gagged around the rag, whimpering pitifully behind it. Her eyes began to adjust to the dim light, and she saw at least a dozen creatures around her.

  Short and squat, they looked almost like toddlers, if you could get past the ugly squashed noses and the heavy jowls. They were dressed in what she assumed were clothes they’d found here in the basement--one had taken what appeared to be an antique ivory wedding dress adorned in seed pearls, and a glittering tiara completed the ugly creature’s look.

  The largest of the bunch squatted down, peering at her with oversized, intelligent eyes. He grunted at he poked at her cheeks, “You. You’re one of ‘em, aren’t you?”

  “She can’t talk, Pole! I shoved a sock in her mouth!”

  The leader grumbled, and Miah pleaded with him with her eyes, mumbling around the sock. She was pretty sure she was resorting to begging, but her mouth seemed to be trying to move without her brain’s input.

  Screams echoed through her mind, her senses suddenly flooded with pain and the sharp tang of copper. Blood. Her blood. A memory of her time with the vampires.

  “Yer a witch, aren’tcha? Like the old ones that let us out?”

  It took a moment for the boggart’s words to set in. Her mind raced as she struggled to remind herself that she wasn’t in Europe, and that she was at the hands of a relatively non-threatening group of faeries rather than a fearsome ancient Vampire intent on possessing her.

  Miah groaned around the sock as she shook the fog of terror from her mind. She should have guessed that Grandma’s letter was leaving out some very important details about how these creatures got here.

  “Yup! The old man-thing wanted helpers for his sparkles and baubles!” The creature giggled and shook his head, looking around at his motley crew of monsters, “We showed him, didn’t we! We don’t work fer no one!”

  Giggles. Faeries, right. Not vampires. She sucked in a deep breath around the rag and closed her eyes, counting to ten slowly. The fear didn’t subside completely, but she hoped that it would be enough to get her out of this mess.

  Miah hazarded a glance around. It looked like the creatures dragged her into some kind of old tunnel system. But Finn, he could find her anywhere. He could track her.

  She had to tell herself that, had to hope she was right.

  The creature grumbled again, sounding annoyed at her lack of response. He ripped the sock out of her mouth, hissing, “You! You speak when I talk to you, little witch-girl.”

  Almost as if on cue, a vicious growling filled the tunnel she was in, and at the end of it, she could see the yellow glowing eyes of her boyfriend.

  Miah grinned, feeling all of her fear melt away. Finn was here. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She turned to eye the leader, “You’re in deep shit now, Mister.”

  The wolf slowly stalked closer to the boggarts, and Miah was once again struck at the beauty of his beast. Nearly 200 pounds of sheer muscle, Finn seemed to fill the mouth of the tunnel. Around her, Miah could feel the boggarts trying desperately to devise a way out. Apparently, their little hidey-hole only had one entrance.

  Their leader drew himself up with a scowl, and Miah had to give him credit. The damn boggart had a pair of solid brass balls on him. Or he had no idea what kind of pain the werewolf in their midst would rain down upon them. “Begone, foul beast! This is our tunnel, and you are unwelcome!”

  From the corner of her eye, Miah saw several of the boggarts scrambling to bring their weapons up. She would have laughed at the comedy of hideous toddler-like people waving varnished butter knives and dull scythes, but she knew that at least some of it was probably silver. While they likely wouldn’t kill Finn, they would piss him off enough that none of them survived, and although the little cretins had kidnapped her--apparently, it was just her
fucking luck to get snatched again--her grandparents wanted them returned to their place relatively unharmed.

  Miah inhaled deeply, wiggling against her restraints again. She closed her eyes, reaching deep inside herself to where her once-dormant magic now lived. She had spent the last seven months working to harness and control her magic, and now, she felt the ropes binding her slowly starting to smolder and burn away.

  The leader turned to stare at her with wide eyes, and his companions suddenly seemed torn as to who was the greater threat--the growling monster with glowing eyes, or the small witch with glowing hands. She drew herself to her full height, pursing her lips and looking at the creatures. They all backed away slowly, and Miah did the same, backing toward where Finn was. It was a tight fit, but she could only imagine the picture they painted. A witch with fire licking up her fingertips snuggled up to a monster wolf. Classic.

  “Now, you little bastard boggarts. You have two choices. We can escort you back to where you belong, and no one will get hurt. You can return to your homes and live out your days in Faerie. Or my wolf friend here can rip each and every one of you to shreds and lick the gristle from your bones. The choice is yours.”

  Finn’s responding growl echoed through the tight space as the diminutive fairies exchanged looks of pure terror.

  Miah watched as the last of the boggarts tromped back through the small portal that her grandfather had apparently opened in the backyard of Caprice Manor. The leader of the troop turned to Miah and Finn and gave them a jaunty wave with everyone’s favorite finger before leaping through.

  Beside her, Finn let out a quiet groan as he slowly returned to his human form. He stretched, his joints cracking as they settled back into place, before reaching into the bag on her back to retrieve his clothes, “Well. I suppose that could have gone much worse.”