Blizzard of Heat (3 page)

She quirked her lips. “Do you own this place?”

“No, but I have defended the owner a few times. We have never lost a defense against a spurious suit.” He smiled.

“What kind of suits?”

“Everything from paternity to slip and falls. There was even a tooth broken off in one of the desserts. It is amazing what folks will think to sue about.”

She smirked. “Not amazing. Sad. Personal responsibility seems to have launched itself out a window. Let me guess. The broken tooth was already broken, the owner is gay and has never been near a woman, and the slip and fall was a setup.”

He shook his head. “The broken tooth wasn’t human; it belonged to the man’s dog. The slip and fall was as a result of a patron over-imbibing at the bar. He couldn’t stand up on his own and wondered about why he was bruised the next day. That was security footage worth its weight in gold. As for the paternity suit, the owner used to be a woman, so there is no testicular activity to start a child. It was his brother that participated, and she thought that the connection would be close enough to pass the testing.”

“Was it for a share of the business?”

“That is correct. This is a very exclusive and very successful enterprise. Also, Antoine is very handsome, but few folks know about the transition.”

“If few people know, then why tell me?”

“You won’t tell anyone else; you value secrets.” Tyr smiled.

The server returned with the drinks, and when Cwen had her selection in front of her, he smiled slightly.

She smiled back and said, “I am a heavy drinker.”

He chuckled and asked, “What can I get for you?”

Tyr ordered something French and complicated for an appetizer.

Cwen ordered her chicken, and Tyr got something with slices of beef. Her French wasn’t great, but it could make out that much.

When he had taken their orders, he disappeared.

“This is rather surreal. So, what are your plans for the holidays?” It was a topic that she was used to fielding and hearing around the office.

He shrugged. “I had hoped to spend it with a special someone, but now, I will be travelling on the twenty-third so that is out of the question.”

She looked at him and cocked her head. “Really? Me too.”

He looked genuinely surprised. “You are?”

“Sure. Time to go home again. I have enjoyed my time out and about, but there is no place like home. Besides, I have obligations.”

“At Christmas?”

“Christmas Eve, actually. It is a tradition going back a very long time, and I have no intention of breaking it now.” She snorted and sipped her soda. The sugar hit helped her wake up, and when the soda was gone, she felt moderately better.

She cleared her pallet with some water, and she looked at Tyr as he rubbed his forehead.

“You look like you are in pain, elf.”

He jerked in shock. “What?”

“Oh, don’t be an ass. I know what you are. I have known since I looked into your win rate. You have huge gaps of time when you simply ceased to exist and your department went on without you, as if you weren’t even there. I only know of one type of person who could have that effect on the human world and it is an elf. So, did Santa send you?” Her smile was genuinely amused.

He scowled. “So, you have known all along?”

“More or less. I had my doubts, but now that I have eaten with you a few times, I am very sure. Your manners give it away. Human males, for the most part, would have begun pressuring for intimacy after spending all that money on takeout. Sad but true.”

He blushed. “I never thought having good manners would have been a giveaway.”

“Well, that, and when you were arguing with Anthony, your ears peeked out. That sort of finalized it for me.” She wagged her eyebrows.

He laughed. “Fair enough. So, you wanted to come home anyway?”

“It was always the plan. We just needed to shake him into doing something different.”

Tyr cocked his head. “Do you think it worked?”

She put her right hand on his left and gave it a squeeze. “Pretty sure.”

“Me?”

“Yup. He had us segregated from anyone else, but we don’t age. We were all born to humans and taken away. When we joined the workshop, we became part of Christmas the same way Santa is. Everyone knows our names. By now, we are a form of demigods, the same as he is.”

Tyr raised his brows, but as he would speak, he paused. The server came back in and set a stuffed-mushroom appetizer in front of them.

He took a spoon and a wide fork, scooping up a serving and setting it in the smallest plate and placing it back on the stack of graduated plates in front of them.

When Tyr had been served, she watched his hands and mimicked the selection of cutlery.

As the server left, he raised his brows and said, “Demigods?”

“Our power used to come from Santa, but since humanity has acknowledged us, the children watch for us, sing of us, wait for us. We have icons in yards, in schools, lit up in tiny lights on the darkest, coldest nights. The elves used to hold that position until they faded in the eyes of humans. Now, they think you are tiny and cute. Your energy comes from the ancient world and Santa.”

He paused. “I have never thought about it like that.”

She shrugged. “There is no reason you should. He won’t make a fuss about it, because you are his kind, but you are now powered by Christmas.”

Tyr blinked, and he sat frozen in time.

Cwen ate the appetizer and smiled. “It’s good; you should eat yours before it gets cold.”

He mechanically ate the mushroom and slowly came back to life.

“How do you know all of this?”

She snorted and set her cutlery down. “Well, you see, the team and I have three hundred and sixty-four days a year to look into this kind of thing. About fifty or sixty years ago, they started chanting our names and our blind work ethic went out the window. We started to want to know more about the human world for the first time since we had been taken out of our times and trained to pull the sleigh.”

“Do you miss your home?”

She shrugged. “I was born in the eighteenth century, and my father made harpsichords. He made a good living, but he tithed me to the church. I was on my way to join the abbey when Santa and Ru appeared, asking me to help them.”

“How old were you?”

“Eleven. I had shifted once, but our local priest said I was possessed by a forest spirit, and he did an exorcism. Nothing happened after that, so I thought it was over until I ran into the two on the road. My escort froze in place just as you did, and I was whisked away on Ru’s back.” She smiled at the memory.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because until that moment, I never realized that the reindeer magic made them bigger than horses.”

“Seriously?”

“Oh yeah. We are freaking huge. We have to be to keep our bodies warm as we fly above the cities, through the cloud layers. Magic only goes so far and then a solid circulatory system has to kick in.”

He chuckled, and the server returned to whisk away the appetizer plates, and then, he was back a moment later with their meals.

The next hour was spent eating, enjoying each other’s company and finally discussing the details of what Tyr did in the human world.

He sighed. “I really do help to get folks off the naughty list. Everyone can have a moment of bad judgment. If they are genuinely remorseful and want to change, I can help them do it. If not, they have to pay. They need to have someone actually see them for what they can be and believe in what they are.”

She swallowed to stop the tears that wanted to appear. “So, that is why you hit Legal Aid during the season.”

“All around the world, I find my way into the court system using the magic and I work on freeing those who deserve to be home with their families. I can’t do it for everyone, but I do it for those that I can.”

Cwen smiled. “And here, I have just been baking cookies.”

“Do not undersell the meaning of that small gesture to those who are in danger of losing everything. They have come in to sit with me with crumbs on their lips, and I have my own crumbs on mine, so we meet as equals. They are being treated as someone who matters and that is conveyed by that one small cookie.”

She blinked rapidly to clear the tears that were forming. “That is a heavy burden for one cookie.”

He chuckled and squeezed her hand. “Those are really good cookies.”

She laughed. “Thanks. They are team recipes. With nothing else to do, bake-offs are common.”

They were offered dessert, and she declined. She might make sweets, but she didn’t like to eat them.

Tyr ate a confection with ice cream, poached fruit and a glossy sugar cage.

Cwen sat and sipped at a nice cup of coffee while he had dessert.

She sighed. “Well, we have covered a number of topics. I am guessing that you have my collar?”

He nodded. “I do. I didn’t expect Cupid to be a redhead.”

She snorted. “I am no cherub, and I was born with the red hair. The nuns were planning on shaving my head to let out the devil.”

He frowned. “That would have been a crime.”

“I think so. It is hard enough to keep it under control. It wants to curl, and it drives me nuts.” She grinned.

His dessert was finished, and a new face appeared in the doorway, approaching them with a smile. “Tyr, you are looking well.”

“Antoine. Everything was delightful, as always.”

Antoine and Tyr shook hands.

When the newcomers gaze settled on her, Cwen raised her brow. “Good evening.”

Antoine came around and bowed over her hand with a flourish. “Dear lady. Did you not find something on the dessert menu to tempt you? Or are you a delicate flower who eschews sweets?”

“Sweets are not my vice. Point a loaf of bread at me, hand me butter and stand back.”

Antoine stood up and chuckled. “You should have said something. It could have been arranged.”

“Everything was wonderful. I am quite satisfied.” She smiled.

“Too bad for you, Tyr. I have managed to satisfy your lady friend, and I wasn’t even in the room.”

Tyr rolled his eyes.

Cwen smirked. “It is true talent that he will never achieve. We can only mourn for him.”

Antoine cackled, kissed the back of her hand and left them alone.

“I am fairly sure you have won yourself a table here whenever you want one.” Tyr smirked.

“Too bad I won’t be here to take advantage of it. I don’t know what will happen next year, but I doubt I will be able to get free again in this way.”

“Why?”

“Because I am pretty sure that Santa freaked and he won’t want to experience that again.”

“There will be an entire year to get through before you need to worry about it. I am sure that there will be something we can do.”

Cwen blinked. “We?”

“Yes. I am always willing to work with those who deserve a chance at justice. You are definitely one of them.” He leaned over and kissed her.

Her heart thumped in her chest, and she kissed him back, leaning in until she heard the cutlery on the table clink.

He tasted like apples, cinnamon and ice cream. It was definitely a dessert she wouldn’t mind sampling again. All the flavour, none of the calories.

He was moving his head against hers, and she leaned further over until her chair tilted under her and she yelped. He caught her and righted her chair.

“I think that we should call it a night. I will see you tomorrow at the Christmas party, and if you are still interested then, we will pick things up from there.”

She wanted to pout, but she was still dazed. “Well, I guess that is all for tonight. Can your driver give me a lift home?”

He sighed and stood, helping her to her feet. “Of course.”

He opened his wallet and pried off several large bills. He dropped them on the table and offered her his arm again.

She took his arm, and they walked together to the coat check where their coats were waiting and he just had to hand over the tags to claim them.

He held her coat for her, and she wrapped herself up as she normally did. Her first kiss was still occupying her mind, and her thoughts were spinning.

The town car pulled up as they left the building, and she had to ask, “Is he one of you?”

Tyr chuckled. “He sort of is and sort of isn’t. You are not the only odd thing to come out of this world.”

She wanted to ask him for more details, but he opened the door for her and politeness meant she had to scoot into the seat.

The drive home was quiet but different. Tyr held her hand as they drove back to her home, and it was as if her mitten wasn’t even there.

When they pulled up outside her apartment building, she moved to get the door, but he pulled her back for another kiss. Her soul melted a little at the touch of his lips moving over hers, and she was in a cloud when he released her, got out of the car and opened her door for her. She dug in her coat pocket and fished out her keys.

When she stepped out of the car, she gave him a tight smile and headed for her front door.

“Cwen, I will see you tomorrow night and pick you up here at six thirty.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Fine. Six thirty. Good night, Tyr.”

She unlocked the door and closed it behind her without looking back. The moment she looked back, she would jump into his arms. That wasn’t a good idea.

Cwen leaned back for a moment against the security door, and then, she began the arduous march up the stairs until she got to her apartment. She opened her door and walked into the dark space, shucking her clothing as she went. Her door locked automatically, and she was naked by the time she reached the bedroom.

Her bed called, and she crawled into her cool sheets, reliving her first kiss over and over until sleep claimed her.

Cwen wrapped her shoulders in glittering velvet, and she settled a cloak around her, her gloved hands closed the clasps while the small purse swung from her wrist. Her keys, some cash and a credit card were all that she brought with her. Well, that and some lipstick.

The clock displayed six twenty-seven, so she headed downstairs and waited in the lobby.

At precisely six thirty, the dark car glided up and Tyr got out. He was wearing a dark suit, and she smiled. If she had one day to play fancy dress, she was going all out.