by Siren Allen
The males of their coven could move out to attend college as soon as they turned eighteen. And once they turned twenty-one, whether they’d graduated college or never attended, they were free to leave home.
For ladies, it was a different story. The females had to remain in Yazoo Mississippi, protected by the coven until they were strong enough to become a Guardian. And they usually weren’t deemed strong enough until they turned twenty-one.
Once deemed strong, they went through two years of intense training before they qualified to take their final test. Once they passed, they were able to get their guardian tattoo. The magical ink magnified their powers, making them stronger and acting as a beacon to their coven when they needed help.
Those who never passed the Trials, or who simply didn’t want to be a Guardian, they had to remain in Yazoo for the rest of their lives. How freaking dumb was that? As soon as Sin was able to start training for the trials, she did.
And when she passed, she’d been so damn happy. Yet, she’d failed to realize what her passing the test meant for her little sister. Shade had never lived apart from Sin. Once it dawned on Shade that Sin would soon be assigned a charge to protect and move away, Shade became depressed.
That feeling had made Shade determined to start training for the Trials herself. Since Sin hadn’t yet been assigned a charge, she was willing to help her sister train. When it came to fighting, her baby sister was a beast.
That was because their dad, A Fire Wizard, was a beast in battle. And he’d taught his girls well. Both Sin and Shade were great at wielding fire. And while Sin was pretty good at spells, thanks to their spell-casting mom, Shade was below average in that department.
Sin was living proof of that. She was currently on the Frostlands plane because Shade had tried to use a spell on her that would send her to Frosty’s Emporium, their favorite ice cream/cookie shop in Mississippi.
Instead, Sin ended up here. The Frostlands. How? She had no idea. Tonight, she’d wanted to talk to her sister, to see if her sister was any closer to figuring out a spell to free her. To do so, she needed to visit her friend who lived in the Frozen Region of this plane.
Unfortunately, this shifter had gotten in her way. Now, she had to decide whether or not she wanted to handle him on her own or allow Rhen to handle him. Sin stood up. A gust of wind blew.
She pulled her hoodie lower over her face as the sound of snowmobiles roared around her. She remained staring down at her new captive as the snowmobiles circled her. She hated it when they did that.
Rhen knew she hated it when they did that. That was why he made them do it. The vampire with the slanted eyes enjoyed infuriating her. Officially irritated, Sin raised her head and stared around her.
She was searching for the black snowmobile that had a pair of fangs painted on the side with three drops of blood dripping from the right fang. Everyone knew Rhen was a vampire, yet, he felt the need to advertise it.
There he is.
Sin placed her hands on her hips and glared at Rhen. Though she couldn’t see his eyes, due to the black helmet he wore, she knew he was staring at her. He was always staring at her when he was in her presence.
It made her uncomfortable. She tried not to let it show. Not to a vampire. Never to a vampire. Vampires loved the blood of fire witches. It made them feel alive. It temporarily took away the coldness that ran through their veins and provided warmth.
Her blood was like soul food to vampires. This was why The Deciders were hell-bent on capturing the only fire witch on this plane, her. Sin lowered her hands from her hips when the snowmobiles circling her slowed down.
Every encounter with a vampire was risky for her. Even more so here, in this frozen hell. Though she was on good terms with the bandits right now, that didn’t mean she’d always be. Hopefully, today was one of those good-terms days.
She’d soon find out.
Chapter Two
SIN TOOK A DEEP BREATH and released it slowly.
The bandits came to a complete stop. Directly in front of her sat Rhen. She watched him remove his helmet and dangle it from the handle of his ride. Tonight, he had his long black hair pulled back into a low ponytail.
As usual, she felt some type of way when her eyes connected with his. Don’t be attracted to a vampire, silly girl. It won’t end well for you. His black eyes roamed over her and then he smiled.
“Hello, beautiful. Did you miss me?”
Just because she was attracted to him, didn’t mean she liked him. “No. I didn’t. I was hoping I could catch the train before you fools showed up.” Engines revved around her. Apparently, they hadn’t liked her comment. Screw them.
“If we hadn’t shown up, you would’ve had to deal with this bastard by yourself.”
“This wouldn’t be the first time. It’s not like you always keep up your end of the deal anyway.”
Rhen clutched his chest. “You wound me with your words. You’ve only had to defend yourself twice in your two years of being here.”
“That number should be zero. I give you my blood, you give me your protection. That’s the way this works, remember?”
“Of course. How could I forget?” He licked his lips as his gaze drifted over her.
Sin rolled her eyes. “Why did it take you so long to get here? I could’ve been dead by the...”
“He wouldn’t have killed you. This irritating as hell shifter doesn’t take kill missions from The Deciders. Only capture and turn over missions.”
“Being captured is worse than being killed. You know what happens when you fail to keep up your end of the deal, right?”
That gorgeous smile disappeared from his face. Good. She didn’t like it when he smiled at her. Vampire charm was a real thing. It was how they lured in their victims and made them compliant enough for the vamps to feed off them. Sin refused to be swayed by Rhen’s charm.
“Don’t be like this, little witch. I knew you were in no real danger.”
“Whatever. You failed to protect me. Therefore, you don’t get any blood this time around.” A faint red ring formed in his eyes. Sin swallowed but didn’t back down.
“I’m low on supply,” Rhen told her. “The other vamps at the camp will be upset when they hear this.”
“Screw them.”
“Will you be saying that when they show up at your front door?”
“The protective wards will keep them away.”
“For how long? Not forever.”
He always tried to intimidate her with threats. “Your veiled threats won’t work. No protection. No blood. That’s what we agreed on.”
The tick in his jaw let her know he was pissed. He wouldn’t attack. Having her alive and as an ally was better than killing her and draining all of her blood. Plus, there was no guarantee that he’d win against her.
He’d seen her fight. She’d almost killed him upon their first encounter. Though she was short and on the thick side, she could handle her own. Even against six bandits. They may win. But a few of them wouldn’t make it back to their camp.
And the rest would regret ever having fucked with her. Rhen didn’t want those problems. Yet, for a moment, he appeared ready to lash out. Then he gifted her with another one of his charming smiles.
“Don’t be like this, witch. Look around you. What do you see?”
“Bandits on bikes.”
“They’re snowmobiles. Not bikes.”
“Bandits on bikes.” He hated it when she called his ride a bike. Oh well. She liked irritating him just as much as he liked irritating her.
“I’ll let it slide this time. But what else do you see? Look carefully.”
With a sigh, Sin stared around her. What was he wanting her to see? “I see a train station that looks abandoned. Someone really needs to work on fixing this place up. It would be great if we could open the station up, so people could wait inside rather than standing outside.”
“Fuck all that. What else do you see?”
“Rude. You don’t hav
e to curse.”
“You’re purposely ignoring what I’ve done for you.”
What he’d done for her? Sin looked again, carefully this time. What did she see? Oh, wait. Sin smiled. She’d been so caught up with what the agent next to her was going to do, that she hadn’t even noticed the Christmas lights hanging from the columns of the station.
“There’s that smile I was looking for.”
Her gaze returned to Rhen. “You didn’t do this, did you?”
He nodded. “I heard you say the things you missed most about the Mortal Plane was your family, the food, and seeing the houses in your town decorated during the holidays. If my calculations are right, today is December 1st on our old plane. Which means Christmas decorations are going up.”
He was absolutely right. In some households in her neighborhood, Christmas décor went up right after Halloween. No one seemed to appreciate Thanksgiving anymore. Sadly, Black Friday had replaced Thanksgiving.
Sin was able to keep track of time here because of her sister. Tonight, she was supposed to watch her sister decorate the Christmas tree. The only way she could communicate with her sister was to travel to the FR.
Her friend and most trusted ally here, Winter, had a Mirror of Realms. With that mirror, Sin could communicate with her family back home who had been trying for two years to find a way to get her out of here.
She was starting to believe leaving this plane was impossible. Her only comfort was that she could still communicate with her family and get updates on her coven thanks to Winter’s mirror. Because of Kaede, she would probably end up missing out on family time.
And when Sin didn’t show up tonight at Winter’s home, her friend would worry. And when Sin didn’t communicate with her family tonight, her family would worry. All of this potential worrying was Kaede’s fault. For that, he deserved to be punished.
“I won’t be able to meet Winter tonight, will I?”
Rhen stared up at the camera posted on one of the train station’s columns. “The conductor probably witnessed this failed kidnapping. He won’t stop here if he sees any misconduct going on. He won’t risk putting the passengers on the train in danger.”
Sin nodded. The train was a safe haven. While on it, there was no killing or fighting allowed. They wouldn’t stop here tonight, thanks to Kaede.
“I’ll send one of my guys to Winter’s place. They’ll tell her what happened.”
“Thanks. I don’t want her to worry.”
“Neither do I. Now, back to what I did for you. Do you like the lights?”
“I love them. I’m surprised by your thoughtfulness.”
“I’m more than just my fangs, witch.”
“I see, vampire.”
“Good. Does this mean you’re willing to let me spend the night with you?”
And here we go again. This was one of the reasons why she’d never date a vampire, especially Rhen. All they thought about was sex. The undead sure as hell wasn’t dead down there.
“Never,” Sin told him. “Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not ever.”
“One day, witch. One day. Until then, I’ll continue keeping up my end of our deal. And you’ll keep yours. Tonight doesn’t count as a fail. We knew he wasn’t going to hurt you. In exchange for blood, I’ll return this agent to his home and make sure he never bothers you again.”
“Return him to his home? Don’t you mean, kill him?”
“Not this one. We have a deal with this one.”
“What?”
“Sorry, witch. I can’t kill this one.”
“He’ll just come after me again.”
“He won’t. I’ll make sure of it. Normally, you don’t like it when we kill the agents sent by The Deciders. Why do you want this one dead?”
“I mean, I don’t want him dead. But, you can at least rough him up a little. Take him to the brink of death and leave him there. Otherwise, he’ll only return again.”
“Let me handle it.”
“No. Not this time. This is a creature you’ve made a deal with. I don’t trust you to take care of him. I’ll handle this one myself.”
“That’s not a good idea...”
“There’s a conflict of interest here, Rhen. I need this male to be taught a lesson. Just like the others were taught a lesson. That’s the only way to keep him from coming after me again. Because of the deal you’ve made with him, you’re unable to teach him a lesson for me, right?”
“I’ll make sure he stays away and...”
“But you won’t be able to harm him, right?”
“He’ll stay away, witch.”
“Answer the question, vampire.” There was that tick in his jaw again.
“Right,” he finally admitted. “I’m unable to harm this one because of the truce I have with him.”
Sin nodded. “Very well. I’ll take care of this one myself.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“For three CC’s of blood, I’m sure you can let me do that. In fact, for three CC’s, I’m sure you’re willing to give me and this agent a ride back to my place, right?”
Rhen licked his lips. “Three, instead of two?”
“Yep, three. That should keep you and your vamps fed for a while.”
“As long as we only add a few drops of it to our normal blood stash, we should be okay for a while.”
“Do we have a deal?”
“You can’t tell him that we transported him to your place.”
“I won’t.”
“And you can’t kill him.”
“You have a deal with him. I don’t.”
“Witch, killing isn’t your style. Don’t let this place turn you into someone you’re not.”
He’d been telling her that for the past two years. She’d come close to killing a few times. The bandits had always pulled her back and did the dirty work for her. Sin gripped her red scarf and stared down at the agent.
“I won’t kill him. I just want to ask him a few questions.”
“Why? You know who sent him? You know why they sent him. What could you possibly want to ask this shifter?”
“That’s between me and this shifter.”
“Stubborn ass witch. Fine. I’ll return him to your place in exchange for three instead of two CC’s of the good stuff.”
“Make sure you send one of your guys to Winter’s place to tell her what happened here.”
“I will do that for you. Rome,” Rhen called to one of his guys. “Go to Winter’s cottage. Her place is warded, you’ll have to throw ice at her front door to get her attention. Tell her about Sin and the shifter.”
Rome nodded. A few seconds later he was heading in the direction of the Frozen Region. Rhen returned his attention to her.
“Witch, I seem to do a lot for you. Are you sure we shouldn’t become fuck partners?”
Sin chuckled. Rhen had no chill button. He was always full steam ahead. And he said whatever came to his mind.
“Yes, Rhen. I’m sure we shouldn’t become fuck partners.”
“I’ll try again next time.”
“How about you try loading him onto your bike. I’ll ride with Nathan.”
“You’ll ride with me. Nathan will load the shifter. Hey, Nate,” Rhen called to his right-hand man. “Load Kaede onto your ride. We’re taking him to my woman’s house.”
“I’m not yours, Rhen.”
“Yet. Get on. You can wear my helmet.”
She waited until she was seated behind him with his helmet on before whispering. “I told you to stop calling me your woman in front of your bandits. I’m not yours.”
“Why?”
“Because fire witches can’t date vampires.”
“I promise not to kill you.”
Sin chuckled. “We are not compatible.”
“Yeah, I’m big. But I’ll fit.”
“I’m not talking about that, you jerk.”
Rhen laughed out loud then signaled for his friends to ride out. Once his friends were driving o
ff, he stared over his shoulder. “We’re stuck here. Neither one of us will ever find our fated mates. Why not just be together? I’ll be faithful.”
“Really? Faithful? I can smell perfume on you.”
He sniffed his shirt. “Shit.”
“Right! Let’s keep things the way they are. Now, take me home.”
“One day, you’re going to want me for more than protection and a ride on my awesome snowmobile.”
“Yeah, when hell freezes over.”
“Haven’t you heard? It already has. We’re living in it.”
“Shut up and drive.” Sin laughed.
“Hold on to me tightly, witch.”
Having no choice but to obey, Sin wrapped her arms around him.
“Not that tight,” he groaned.
With a sneaky grin on her face, Sin squeezed even tighter.
“Witch...”
“You’re not going to die. You’ve done that already, vampire. Drive.”
A deep chuckle was his only response. Seconds later, they were off. Wind whipped against them as they sped in the direction of the place she called home, for now. It wasn’t that far away.
Within walking distance, just through the frozen forests. They made it there within five minutes. Well, they made it close. The wards she had on the trees closest to her cottage kept Rhen and his guys from coming any further.
Rhen glanced over his shoulder. “You’ll have to remove your wards so that I can bring him in.”
Sin bit her lower lip. It wasn’t like Rhen had never been on her land before. He’d even been inside her cottage. Still, having him in her place was always a risk she was nervous to take.
“You know you can trust me,” he told her. “I won’t hurt you. I joke around a lot. But I won’t do anything to hurt you or break our deal.”
“Unless you run out of blood.”
“There’s always someone to bite around here.”
“I’m just a last resort, huh?”
“Don’t think like that.”
“It’s the truth. You won’t hurt me, as long as there are other options. But if there’s ever a shortage, if you ever run out of food, you won’t hesitate to come for me. I know this. You know this. Your crew knows this.”