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“I’m good with that,” Winter said. “Thank you all.”
He hugged True tighter, his bear rumbling in his chest.
“I love you, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” she said, wiping at her wet cheeks.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before too.”
“Nothing like a little danger to make us realize the words we didn’t say,” Sebastian said, putting his arm around Emberlin.
“Sweet love?” Winter asked.
“Yeah?” True asked.
“Let’s get you some clothes.”
Winter grabbed a sweater off a hanger in the bedroom closet, and the long mirror True had hung up so she could look at her whole outfit made him pause. In the reflection, he could see the feather scar over his heart from when he’d nearly died.
That had been a week ago.
It seemed like both yesterday and a hundred years ago.
Time and trauma were funny like that.
After his healing, when he’d spoken to Sebastian about the measures to save him, they’d realized that Seth was more powerful than they’d been led to believe. The Guardians gathered the day after Winter’s healing to discuss it, and while they’d been told Seth was a warlock joining the security team, none of them had seen him on patrol or actually worked with him.
Something was definitely up with the young warlock who looked a dang lot like Santa. But as Hunter had said, if they were supposed to know, they’d know. Clearly Santa wasn’t sharing everything with the Guardians, and they just had to keep on keeping on.
He touched the feather scar and smiled.
He didn’t really care what Seth’s situation was. He was just glad he’d been there to lend his magic to Santa’s, Emberlin’s, and Ana’s, along with what he personally figured was True’s love magic.
“Are you ready?” True asked, coming into the closet. “Ooh, sexy male.” She wiggled her brows, looking good enough to eat in a pale blue sweater, leggings, and knee-high boots.
“You’re pretty sexy yourself,” he said. “We could skip this.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve never been to a Solstice party before. And we can be sexy together later. I heard the bakery elves have sugar-dusted kringle twists, and I’ve wanted to try them since Zina told me about them. So chop-chop.”
“Did you just say chop-chop?”
“I did!” She grinned and stuck out her tongue.
He laughed as he pulled the sweater on and grabbed his boots to finish getting ready. Santa had given everyone the night off. No patrols, only the automatic security system watching the perimeter for a few hours while Frost was busy spreading his particular brand of dark magic in the form of his Jack Frost duties around the world. Northernmost would get slammed with winter weather, but the space between buildings where the festival was being held had been outfitted with a magical dome like the one over the rooftop garden. It would keep out the wind and snow while floating heaters warmed the air.
When he and True stepped out beneath the dome, he felt like they were inside a crystal bowl. The dome was clear but shimmered with the Northern Lights. The area was crowded, lanterns floating above everyone to light the space, and music drifted from a group of elves playing instruments on a small stage.
“Oh, this is amazing,” True said. “I thought the rooftop garden dome was neat, but this takes the cake.”
“It takes a lot of magic to do this kind of thing,” Winter said. “We’ve had gatherings out here before and heaters kept things cozy, but Frost has really been going nuts with the weather this month.”
She leaned against him with a happy sigh. The courtyard had been transformed into a winter festival. Tables overflowed with food of every kind, from roasted meats to pastries and comically large bowls of steaming spiced cider. A dance floor had been set up near the band, and couples danced, while others played games and a few souls braved the elements to ice skate on the frozen pond beyond the warmth of the magical dome.
They found their friends and joined them at a table with plates of food, including the coveted sugar-dusted kringle twists.
Winter watched True fall easily into conversation with Emberlin, Pixie, and Aralyn, then turned to the plate of food when his stomach growled.
“I’m absolutely not going ice skating,” Sebastian said.
“Spoilsport,” Emberlin said.
