Winter Tails: A Limited Edition Winter Shifters Collection

by Fox, Piper

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  Fire And Ice

  A Demon Alicha Novella

  Kish Knight

  About Fire and Ice

  Shifters are unnatural, not supposed to exist….

  In a world where demons and humans co-exist, newly-minted fire demon Kimone has to learn that she’s no longer at the top of the pecking order when the mysterious members of a beastly Pack come calling….and an old lover gets swept up in the midst.

  Chapter 1

  ‘One week.’

  One week since she’d been freed of her demon master and had started out as her own demon.

  No more master. No more being a slave. No more supernatural politics.

  Just freedom.

  And yet, a sense of unease lingered in her gut. Newfound power tended to attract the wrong type of attention; she knew all too well.

  The sudden fall of light flakes along the sidewalk made her freeze. Snow in February wasn’t common in their area, but that wasn’t why she’d tensed.

  It was the taste of magic in the air.

  Mother Nature didn’t have a thing to do with the sudden snow; it was magically driven. Immediately, her demon senses began to prickle at the back of her neck.

  Eyes narrowing as a brisk wind whipped through the air, Kimone Keiko fought a shiver. The temperature seemed to be dropping by the second, and if she hadn’t already tasted the magic, she would have panicked. Fire demons and wintery conditions didn’t mix.

  Calling the dark magic forward, she felt her blood heat slowly, much more slowly than it should have.

  ‘Dammit,’ she thought. ‘Can’t freeze to death out here.’

  It wasn’t surprising that her magic was run down; she’d been up all night. Not to mention the fact that she’d only come into her demon abilities a few days before. Or the fact that she’d had to walk home after a night of fighting Demon-Hunters.

  Which was why she wasn't in the mood when she saw the two men lounging on the doorstep of the building where she lived. The men would have looked perfectly normal, IF it wasn't five am in the morning, and IF they didn't both have the distinctive silvery-colored hair and eyes that screamed 'shifters'. She drew to an immediate stop, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Shifters were something of a taboo myth, the hidden secret of the supernatural world.

  As she knew it, the world had main demons at the top of the food chain, mages next, baby demons or Dream-Walkers like herself, and humans at the bottom. A supernatural anomaly, shifters floated somewhere between demons and mages.

  The ‘men’ were both dressed in biker-style gear, sans bike. Her gaze dropped down. The magic sparking around the fists clutched at their sides was bad too.

  The first shifter glared at her, his eyes cold pools of anger. “The SX Cabal demands blood.”

  “The who?” she snapped back. “Look, get the hell off my steps and go find your blood.”

  Ignoring her feisty words, he continued. “Tell Drew to watch his back. The Cabal is displeased. Pack rules say one human death isn’t enough for the death of a leader.”

  ‘The hell?’ Now she was beyond pissed. The shifters weren’t making any sense, and now they’d just brought her partner Drew into it. She and Drew didn’t screw anymore, but they still lived and worked together.

  Bringing her internal fire to the front, she dipped her head and readied herself. In a second, the shifters would be toast if the conversation continued south. Even so, the fire inside flicked and wavered, and she struggled to hold it in the chilly air. “Watch what you say about my friends.”

  Neither shifter seemed fazed. Instead, the first simply sneered coldly, “Warning to you....the blood of one of yours."

  The menace was evident in his tone, and in spite of herself, everything within Kimone tensed.

  A sudden light flashed in his eyes, and she stared him down coolly. “What does that mean?"

  Completely ignoring her question, both shifters just glared. Elongated canines began to slip from the lips of the second shifter, the one that had remained quiet up to that point. Everything in her pointed to that one being the menacing muscle, and as hair began to spread from below his leather jacket and a low growl sounded, she tensed.

  "You've been warned," the first one said, before they both stepped away from the steps and loped away down the street, faster than any human could move.

  "Thank God," she breathed out, pushing her tired body toward the stairs. Weirdos weren't her favorite people, and were even less so when she was tired. In her life, shapeshifters stayed in their world, and she stayed in hers.

  It was now so cold that she could see her breath coming in quick puffs. A full body shiver ran through her and she fumbled to get her keys out, the thin shirt she wore no match for the blistery cold.

  But at the front door, her day became much darker. Pinned to the wood, was a sheet of white paper covered with sloppy writing. A large knife held the paper in place on the door.

  Ripping the note down, Kimone read:

  You killed Jakeel. So you'll be killed. Watch your back.

  Her brows shot up. “What the hell?” Yeah, she knew the guy Jakeel that the note was talking about. Jakeel had been a hot-headed 2 nd level demon in Tevit's stable, whose insane powers were only matched by his asshole-ness. Unfortunately, Drew HAD killed Jakeel's traitorous ass days ago during a mission gone bad. But Jakeel had deserved it, and both Drew and Kimone had hated him. In fact, it was his fault why their 'no dating friends' rule even existed.

  If it was one thing that just didn’t happen in her world, it was being threatened. She and her team were newly minted demons, formerly dream-Walkers who stole human souls. They didn’t fear danger; they were the danger. Not even when danger came in the form of pissed-off former master demons.

  In the past, Drew and Jakeel had beef over a woman, of all things. But that was in the past. What did shifters now have to do with Jakeel or his death?

  “Don’t know, don’t care,” she muttered, ripping the note from the door and crumpling it.

  One thing she didn’t need was another problem. She was free, as in her nights were finally free. No angry demon Prince calling them to work, no being forced to betray friends and slip into their dreams, no torturing others with nightmares so bad that they signed over their soul.

  Now, she could focus on other things, such as the loneliness that was her love life. Unbidden, a memory of him slid into her mind, making her heart pound before she shoved the thought away. ‘All the loneliness in the world couldn’t make that happen again.’

  Resolving to forget the weird creatures, she let the crumpled note slip to the ground. ‘Odds are good that I never cross paths with another shifter again.’

  * * *

  In no more than three seconds, she was sliding her key into the lock of her apartment.

  The apartment was dark. Slipping the door closed behind herself, Kimone sighed. Just crossing paths with her team a few hours before had gotten her arrested and almost killed. "Damn," she muttered to herself. Her first days of freedom weren’t going as she’d thought.

  ‘More sex, more dates, less fights,’ she thought. Now she was arriving home to the apartment she shared with her partner, Drew, her body bruised and beat up.

  She dropped her keys on the kitchen counter. Their two-bedroom apartment was decently-sized, and they had managed to co-habitate without killing each other. Silence came from the other end of the apartment. Their roommate, Vee, had her own room on the opposite side of the living room. When they’d been a couple, Kimone and Drew had shared the other bedroom and still did. Moving quietly, so as not to awaken Vee, Kimone padded silently toward their bedroom.

  Beyond the kitchen, was a huge l
iving area. It was decked out with all the electronics that Drew liked, as well as with a comfy couch that had been their hookup spot. Those days were long gone, though. They'd realized that they were better off as friends, and since they still worked together, had decided to share the apartment.

  There was only one rule in their house: don't date each other's friends, period.

  As she moved past the living room, a dark figure on the couch caught her eye. Her partner was sprawled there, fast asleep. No doubt he'd been watching YouTube videos until he fell asleep. Pausing to watch him, she bit her lip slightly. She liked watching him sleep. He was so adorable.

  It wasn't that she wanted to get back with him; she didn't. Their relationship was better this way. It was just that Drew, fine with his dark hair and eyes, was always able to find lots of women to date or to hook up with. But she always found herself limited by the 'no friends' rule. All the guys she knew worked for the same Demon Prince that they did, or at least that they used to. And Drew knew them all, so that ruled every guy out.

  Walking to the bedroom, shoes in hand, she frowned. Not that she didn't get her needs met. Every woman needed that, and she wasn't above using Tinder for random hookups at least once a month. No names, no phone calls, just sex....she liked that. But it wasn't the same as having someone to curl up with at the end of the night or day, whichever. A time like now, she could use that.

  Taking one last look at Drew on the couch, she walked behind the divider to their bedroom.

  Their bedroom was wide enough to allow two full beds next to each other, with a few feet walking space in between. Fully clothed, she flopped onto her bed, feeling tired. She had gotten a little sleep after the ordeal, but only a few hours. Her body was protesting for more rest.

  Closing her eyes, she began to drift off.

  * * *

  “Why the hell is there snow outside?”

  Eyes flying open, she swore bitterly. If she didn’t get at least an hour of sleep, she was killing someone.

  Awakening to the sound of someone in the room, Kimone opened her eyes to find Drew standing over her. He was fully dressed for work, all in black leather. He was handsome as usual with his heavy lashes and slightly exotic features. Dark hair curled just over his collar, long lashes and full brows rimmed his eyes, and his face was finished with full pouted lips and an upturned nose. With his dark eyes, Drew forever seemed to be caught between a scowl and a disinterested stare, even when he was listening closely.

  Now, standing at the edge of the bed, he stared down at her with a tough look. "Gonna sleep all day, Kim?" Then his eyes narrowed as he studied her closely. "The fuck happened to you?" he scowled, moving closer.

  She couldn't play this one off. Her bruises from the ordeal the night before were on full display and she couldn't hide them. So, she just shrugged as she sat up. "Nothing you need to worry about. Everything's good."

  "Nah, it's not. You come home beat up and I'm not supposed to say anything?" His brows drew down. “Some dude hit you last night?"

  As he said it, she noticed that Drew's fist had tightened at his side. She knew that her partner was definitely about that life. It wouldn't be anything for him to go out and beat someone up on her behalf. 'Shit, if only there was someone for him to beat up.' "Whatever, Drew. As if I would let some man hit me." Rolling her eyes, she glared at him until she felt her eyes go fiery hot and she knew tiny flames licked at the edges of her eyes. "You forget that I'm not just your average Dream-Walker anymore. I would burn a dude's ass quick."

  “Yeah? You’re tough, huh? So, what’s going on with the weather?"

  “Yeah, yeah." She shook her head at him, then rose from the bed with a stretch. Moving to the window, she peered out. A thin layer of white blanketed the world before her. Even inside, the air was crisp with the frigid chill. Just yesterday, the temperature had been 65 degrees. She shrugged. “Freak snow, I guess.”

  She turned to the mirror, and studied her hair. Before she'd dropped into bed, she had forgotten to tie it down. So now, her corn-rowed sides were fuzzy, and her twisted-out curls were all over.

  A skeptical look settled on his handsome face, but he didn't say anything else. He left the room and she followed, remembering that there was something to update him about. In the kitchen, he grabbed a soda and began to chug it down. Watching as he drank quickly, Kimone instinctively waited for the muffled sound of Vee turning on her radio. It was a running joke that you could set a clock by Vee getting up in the morning.

  “So," she started, flipping her attention back to her partner, "what do you know about shifters on our doorstep?"

  Drew rolled one eye to look at her, still drinking his soda. She knew that look; it was, 'what you talking about, girl?'

  “Shifters from the SX Cabal were here this morning. They left a message with me for you-,"

  The can made a ringing sound as Drew slammed it onto the counter. "Are you fucking kidding? The SX Cabal? Here?"

  "Yeah," Kimone nodded, "you know ‘em?"

  "Hell yeah. Nasty winter demons that take the form of wolves. They wanna be wolves so bad that they have Pack rules and everything. They're not anyone we want to mess with." His face creased in a deep frown. "At all. They're the deadliest Cabal around, and when they have beef with you, you're as good as dead." Drew's entire body was tense as he spoke, and Kimone could feel her own body responding in kind. The shifters earlier had definitely given off the danger vibes, so she knew her partner wasn't exaggerating.

  Still she asked. “How bad?”

  “They belong to Shax,” he replied deadpan.

  Shax was one of the seven Hell Princes. Like her former master Tevit, Shax turned humans into Dream-Walkers who essentially became slave-soldiers. Like Kimone and Drew had been. As bad as Tevit had been, he wasn’t the worst of the hell Princes. Shax, known for his sadistic torture methods, was rumored to be among the worst.

  “You said the SX were here?" Drew asked again incredulously.

  "Waiting on the doorstep for me when I came home. They said 'tell Drew to watch his back, they said one human death isn’t enough, and then they left. That was it, though. But-,"

  She broke off as her eyes fell on the clock mounted on the kitchen wall.

  8:30.

  The bedroom beyond the living room stayed silent and dark.

  In an instant, the shifter's words came back to her. 'The blood of one of yours.'

  Her blood ran ice-cold. "Drew," she said shakily, "Vee isn't up as yet."

  She didn't have to say any more. From his expression, Drew understood perfectly. Together, they stared at the door across the room.

  * * *

  Vee lay limp on the floor, tossed as carelessly as rag doll. It would have been much more innocent if she were breathing. But she wasn't. Even from where she stood, Kimone could see that her roommate's throat was torn and shredded, as if Vee had been attacked with something sharp and powerful, more powerful than a pair of hands.

  Racing back to their bedroom, Drew was only gone for a few seconds before returning with a backpack, belt, weapons. Two seconds later, he was striding toward the front door. "I'll be back when I kill one or all of those bastards."

  Then, with a sizzle of hot magic, he disappeared into thin air.

  A small glint of metal made her freeze. On the kitchen counter before her, lay Drew’s bracelet. It was a thin onyx bracelet that he always wore around his left wrist. Unease crept up her spine as she recalled asking him once why he never took the bracelet off. The intensity in his eyes as he’d responded had chilled her.

  ‘I’m a different man when it’s off. A beast….out for blood.’

  Fingers snaking out to pick up the onyx band, she felt a tiny spark of magic shoot into her hand. Apparently, Drew’s bracelet was more than just a fashion statement. Her gut told her that his leaving it behind was no accident.

  “Dammit!” Always a hot-head, Drew usually leapt before he looked. Right now, she had no doubt that he was charging his way right in
to the middle of the SX Cabal. Most likely, into sure death. Without the magic he always wore to keep his secret beast inside….

  'Shit.' She needed help. And while she didn’t know anything about the SX Cabal and their rules, there was one person who did. Someone who had belonged to Shax’s kingdom, had been tortured, and who knew exactly how to survive the psychotic Hell Prince’s ways.

  Someone who wore the exact same onyx bracelet as Drew did.

  One surly winter demon. Unbidden, another memory slid through her mind, this time lingering on feelings that she couldn’t unpack at the moment.

  A long sigh slid from her lips.

  The problem was that he was the last person she wanted to get help from.

  Chapter 2

  “Reportedly, two inches of snow so far in this sudden snowstorm-,”

  Pulling into a parking space outside of the building, Kimone turned off her car, cutting the special weather report off.

  All she wanted was a location on the SX. That was it. She didn’t need anything else from him. “In and out,” she told herself.

  The instant she stepped out of the car, a brisk wind whipped across her face. Tightening her coat, she hurried inside the building.

  Outside of the apartment door, she hesitated. A fleeting thought of backing down and figuring it out on her own flashed through her brain. Before she could act on it, the door swung open.

  Filling the doorway, was a tall man with a lean physique. Behind the stylish glasses, his eyes were so light, they were almost clear, typical of winter demons. The pale eyes were at odds with the smooth brown skin that she longed to touch once again.