Page 34 of Caught By Her Guardian
From the corner of the room, Thale cleared his throat.“We have options.”The turned elf with black eyes and gray skin sounded nervous.And he should be.Jack prided himself on being unpredictable.“I can rally the remnants of the army.We could?—”
Jack cut him off, blowing out another billow of smoke.“No.I’m done wasting time on cannon fodder.”He unbuttoned his suit coat and sat in the desk chair, drumming his fingers on the desk.He’d wasted a lot of magic turning various magical people evil to create an army, but it had been for nothing.They’d lost countless in the battle on Christmas morning, the security for Northernmost aided by tooth fairies, of all people.
Thale thought he was the perfect replacement for his former number two, who had lost his life at the paws of a polar bear shifter.But Jack knew better than to pin all his hopes on an evil minion with delusions of grandeur.
Waving a dismissive hand at Thale, he waited until the door was closed and reached for the phone on his desk, tapping out a number he hadn’t dialed in years.
The line rang twice before it was answered.
“You must really be desperate if you’re reaching out to me, Jack Frost.”
Jack smirked, taking another drag of his cigarette.“I’m not desperate, I’m determined.”
There was a beat of silence, and then a dark and cruel chuckle sounded.“If you say so.”
“In that regard, I do need your help, Nightmare.”
“Finally figured out that fear is more powerful than ice?”
Jack bit back the snarl.Nothingwas more powerful than ice.But ice alone wasn’t going to do the job.And unfortunately, Nightmare, the most powerful evil dream walker in the world, was the last person Jack could reach out to for help to take over the Well of Magic.Nightmare and his followers lived on fear, replenishing their tarnished brand of magic by siphoning the fear from the children and adults they tormented while they slept.
“I need your particular brand of evil to help me accomplish the greatest feat of all time—taking out Santa and turning the Well to darkness.”
“I’ll help,” Nightmare said, his voice a dark drawl.“We’ll make them scream.All of them.”
The line went dead.Jack exhaled a final time and stabbed the butt into the ashtray, his lips twisting into a grin.
Time was running out for his brother and the good magic users of the world.
This time next year, he’d be the one controlling the Well of Magic, and everyone would tremble before him.
Everyone.
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