Page 47 of Of Magic and Reindeer
The picture frames on the wall beside me began to rattle, and I swore I could feel time wobbling around me again, stretching and contracting with my panicked breaths. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Controlling weather was one thing, but time? That wasn’t just dangerous; it was impossible. Even in a world of magic and shifters, some things were supposed to remain fixed.
My hands were weapons now, dangerous and unpredictable. I needed to get away from everyone before I froze them in time permanently, or worse.
They started to stand, and my anxiety shot up to new levels. “Don’t come near me!”
But Rudy moved toward me anyway, closing the distance between us with purposeful strides.
I pressed myself against the wall, holding my glowing blue hands out in warning. “I said stay back! I don’t know what will happen if… if…”
He seized my wrists in his hands, his grip firm but not painful. I jerked backward, trying to wrench free, terrified of what my touch might do to him.
“Let go! I’ll hurt you!”
Instead of releasing me, Rudy pulled me forward, straight into his chest. His arms wrapped around me, enveloping my smaller frame completely.
My entire body went rigid with shock. In all the days since they’d arrived, Rudy had never touched me. Now he held me like he’d been doing it forever, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other splayed across my spine.
“Breathe,” he commanded, his voice vibrating through hischest and into mine. “Find where the magic is coming from and push it back.”
I shook my head against him, hands trapped between us, still pulsing with that eerie blue light. “I can’t.”
“You can.” His chin rested atop my head, warm and steady. “Close your eyes. Feel the center of it.”
My panic began to ebb, replaced by the strange awareness of his heartbeat against my ear. It was slower than I would have expected, almost hypnotic in its rhythm.
I closed my eyes, focusing on that steady thump instead of my fear. Somewhere in my chest, beneath my sternum, a cold knot of energy pulsed in time with the glow of my hands.
The magic resisted when I pushed at it but then gradually receded. The blue light dimmed, the frost stopped spreading, and the crackling energy in the air dissipated until the room felt normal again.
Rudy’s arms loosened slightly, but he didn’t release me. His hands moved to my shoulders as he pulled back just enough to search my face, his eyes sweeping over my features with an intensity that made my breath catch.
For a moment, his gaze dropped to my mouth, and I thought he might kiss me. Iwantedhim to kiss me.
But then his expression shuttered closed again, back to that impenetrable mask. He stepped away, hands falling to his sides.
“We leave in an hour.”
Chapter 15
Flying Reindeer 101
“Absofuckinglutely not.” I stared at the backyard full of men who had just informed me we would fly to Klarhaven. Not on a plane. Not in a helicopter. Not even strapped to a hang glider.
But on their backs. While they were reindeer.
“I’m not riding any of you.” I jutted my chin out, ignoring the way Dane’s eyes sparkled with amusement at my choice of words. “That is not a mode of transportation the FAA has approved.”
Vix snorted. “The FAA doesn’t know we exist.”
“My point exactly!” I gestured wildly at the sky. “There’s probably a reason magical flying reindeer aren’t covered in the transportation safety guidelines!”
Don stepped forward with a bundle of clothing in his massive arms. “You’ll need these.”
I reluctantly accepted what turned out to be the thickest, fluffiest winter coat I’d ever touched, accompanied by snow pants, boots, gloves, and a hat with a stupid jingle bell on top. At least they were a neutral gray and not red.
“Where did all this even come from?” I ran my fingers over the impossibly soft fur lining the hood. “I don’t own winterclothes.”
“Magic,” Blitz said, like it was the most obvious answer in the world.
