There was this giant sense of relief when I pulled into my driveway. However I was given the greatest present I could imagine, a mouthwatering Gavin sitting on the hood of his cla.s.sic muscle car looking like a decadent piece of candy.

Hmm.

Boogeyman forgotten, my eyes ate him up as I shut the door to my aging, pathetic car. He had a silly grin pasted on his face, and his eyes lit brighter than the moon. Someone was definitely up to something.

"Well this is a treat, not that I'm complaining. What are you doing here?" I asked, walking around the side of his car.

He pulled me between his legs and planted a kiss that made my head reel. "I missed you," he murmured low, his eyes running over the planes of my face.

Fireflies frolicked in my belly. I laid my head on his chest. "Me too." His heart beat under my ear.

Even though I had felt the p.r.i.c.kles on the back of my neck all day, I still wasn't prepared when a shadow jumped out of the darkened trees. Neither was Gavin. We had both been so wrapped up into each other that nether of us had felt the strands of magic until it was to late.

The witch appeared from darkness, immediately on the attack. Stifling a scream, my hand covered my mouth. His face was hidden by a hood with only his sneering mouth visible. I barely had time to register what was going on before Gavin pushed me out of the way.

"Stay behind me," he warned low, between clenched teeth.

Like I could do anything else, fear froze me in place. I grabbed onto his arm as he stood protectively in front of me. His muscles under my hand bunched, readying for an attack. A surge of magic gathered in the air, building. I shivered in fear and from the iciness rolling off Gavin's body.

Instantly he turned from loving boyfriend to the ruthless dark witch. I knew better than anyone what his magic could do to someone. With our lives possibly at stake, it was a gamble I was willing to risk.

"My quarrel is not with you young defender," the cloaked witch called from the trees. "I just want the girl." He began to walk toward us.

Gavin stiffened in front of me. "Sorry. She's already taken." His voice was dripping like icicles.

Without a warning, the mysterious witch charged. Apparently he hadn't liked what Gavin had to say. Magic charged through the air, singeing like green acid. It sprayed the s.p.a.ce around us like a grenade, heading right for us. Gavin, turning on the b.a.l.l.s of his heels, engulfed me in his arms, throwing an invisible shield over us. We barely escaped the shrapnel of a searing ball of emerald fire. I wasn't familiar with fire magic, but this guy meant business. And I was pretty sure that business involved killing me.

I could only hope that Gavin was a stronger and faster witch. My bet was always on him. It didn't matter if this a.s.sa.s.sin was a seasoned witch. My faith was on the guy I loved. Gavin circled the witch like a wolf, going into predator mode. Sleek. Lethal.

Gavin's eyes were tiny orbs of flaming sapphire, intent on only one thing keeping me safe. "Two can play that game," he growled, sounding like a threat.

Instinct took over. With a snarl, Gavin lunged for an attack of his own. Spitting shards of metal spears, he flung them into the intruders midst, catching him in the shoulder. Fire guy flinched for a brief second and leaped forward, the spears disappearing from their mark.

"Hmm. I might have underestimated you," hissed fire dude. "Time to correct my mishap."

The shadowy figure blinked from my sight, only to appear in front to me. My heart rate dropped. Precious seconds ticked by as my life teetered on an invisible thread. Staring into the gleaming eyes of a witch intent on taking my last breath, I could think of nothing. One handed, he laced strong fingers over my neck, ribbons of magic crashing into my windpipe cutting off all oxygen.

Everything happened so fast. I gasped at the loss of the substantial substance I needed to live. In cold fear my brain shut down. It never occurred to me to use magic to save myself. I was just too stunned to believe that this was really happening. Someone actually wanted to kill me.

Why?

In those split seconds, Gavin in a deadly arc pivoted to face the nameless witch. The eyes that I loved where like jagged slivers of frozen ice. They showed no emotion, turning himself off, he looked like a natural born hunter a killer.

Only an idiot would not fear Gavin, my dark witch. Even as the a.s.sa.s.sin's hands squeezed around my throat, I felt a quiver of fear at seeing the transformation. I knew Gavin would never hurt me, but that still didn't mean he wasn't a formidable force to be reckoned with.

Out of thin air, a magical dagger appeared in Gavin's hand. He was just full of surprises. It was ominous and onyx in color, shimmering with colossal power. I didn't have to be told that this dagger was something to fear. It rippled in the twilight.

"Play times over." Gavin glared in the pitch black of night.

I watched as the mysterious witch's eyes went wide right before Gavin plunged the knife into his heart. I heard the whoosh of the blade before it struck. He was so close to me that I felt the gasp of his last breath right before he exploded in front of my eyes. Glittery remains rained where he had last stood. I shrieked. Turning my head away, I shut my eyes only a moment later to be swooped into Gavin's secure embrace. I buried my head into his chest.

So that's what happens when a witch dies. At least there wasn't a gruesome amount of blood. I couldn't have stomached that right now. Hovering over the pile of witch remains, I wondered who he was. What he had wanted? Why me? So many questions I would never have answered.

I shivered in the night against Gavin's solid chest. Would this be the last attempt on my life, or was this just the beginning of things to come? There was something in the starry sky that whispered of trials I had yet to face. Things were bound to get worse before they got better.

Panting slightly, I lifted my head and focused on Gavin, his midnight eyes speckling with concern. "Bri are you all right?" His hands ran over my body checking for injury, cuts, and broken bones now that our adrenaline was spiking down.

"He's dead," I whispered still in shock.

Those dark blue eyes sought mine. "I'm sorry. I wish you hadn't seen that, seen me kill." His words were heavy on the heart, his heart. I felt him tremble.

My arms tightened around his waist as I searched for a way to ease his heart. Looking down at the pile of confetti glittering the ground at our feet, the wind suddenly churned, carrying it away.

"At least we don't have to dispose of a body," I said in what was such a lame attempt at lightening the dreary mood that settled over us.

I felt a tiny smirk against my hair, and his arms settled over my shoulders keeping me close. "Bri, I didn't have a choice, if I hadn't" There was regret in his tone, along with vulnerability.

Pulling back, I embraced his face in my hands, needing to touch him. "You saved me. I don't know what he wanted with me, but if you hadn't been here..." I shuddered to think.

Gavin had killed another witch for me. Yes it had been self-defense, but it didn't stop me from wondering and worrying about his soul. Would his aura be damaged now like mine? Would he have black holes?

Chapter 27.

SNUGGLING THE TOP OF MY HEAD, his arms came around me, keeping me close, keeping me safe. "You're okay," he sighed into my hair, a vast weight of tension leaving his body with it.

"Thanks to you."

"That jerk spoiled my plans." He sounded like a sullen two year old.

"What plans?" I asked suspiciously, not sure my heart could handle any more surprises. I think I had just about reached my status quo. Looking up into his face, tiny stars reflected in the pools of his blue eyes.

He blinked at me, his expression unreadable. "It can wait another night. I think you have had quite the evening as it is. I'm not even sure it's appropriate after what just happened."

Well now my interest was peaked. "You can't do that to me, tease me like that. Now you have to tell me," I pleaded against his black shirt. "And right now I could use a distraction." I glanced up under my lashes.

Like a dam had been broken, he dropped the mask hiding his emotions and grinned like a little boy. "It's nothing really. I just noticed the lack of Christmas at your house. The store looks like Santa's workshop, but here it's... dull and sad."

I sighed, looking over my shoulder at my house. There it sat in the dimness looking alone, while the other houses down the street beamed with glittering bulbs. "I know. I just haven't had the energy or the time to drag all that stuff out, and my aunt's been too busy." Especially now with Chad in her life.

He gave me a lopsided grin, trailing a finger down my nose. "You forget you're a witch. This will be a piece of cake," he a.s.sured me.

I narrowed my eyes. Judging by his devilish grin, this wasn't going to be normal, but after the night we just had, I needed this, a reminder of things that were normal, like decorating for Christmas. I chewed on my lip, meeting his beaming eyes, I asked, "Is this going to involve magic? Cuz' I've just recently sworn off magic." Like ten minutes ago.

He rolled eyes and grabbed my hand. "Not today you don't. Come on. Let's get started. You haven't lived until you have done an enchanted Christmas."

Oh goodie snowflakes.

"It sounds pretty," I admitted, starting to warm up to the idea. I would totally be lying if I didn't say how intrigued I was. "Okay. Where do we start?"

With a flick of his wrist and a wicked grin, a dozen strands of lights started to trim the house in a pattern of beautiful colors. No ladder necessary. I had to admit, his way was much easier and less dangerous. "Just so we are clear, I don't want a Lampoon Christmas house. We don't want to p.i.s.s off the neighbors." Thank goodness it was dark and my house was pretty secluded, or we might have had some strange behavior to answer for.

Glancing at Gavin, I caught his unruly gaze. "It's a good thing you said so now."

I rolled my eyes. "I bet Christmas at your house is like the Griswald's."

"You have no idea," he said, but there was just love and admiration in his tone. He adored his family, and who could blame him. They were great.

With each tendril of magic we cast, the horror from earlier faded from my mind, never completely but enough so that I was able to enjoy something as simple and traditional as decorating for Christmas. Well not really traditional considering Gavin's methods. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little jumpy being outside where the attack had taken place, but I didn't want to run and hide, to live in fear. I needed to make myself feel safe again. Somehow. Doing this with Gavin helped.

In each window we plunked a pine wreath with a large red bow. They appeared literally out of thin air. The house looked glorious, like something from a postcard. All the trees in the yard twinkled with blinking lights.

Standing in the middle of the yard we admired our handiwork. His arm was draped around my shoulder, and I huddled into his arms, needing the heat from his body to chase the cool night. "It's perfect," I raved, and far more extravagant than I ever could have come up with on my own.

He propped his chin on my head. "It's only missing one thing."

"What else could you possibly add to this?"

The grin on his face said he was up to no good. "There is always room for more. Make it snow Bri. It's not Christmas without it."

"It hardly snows here," I argued.

He fixed me with his playful blue eyes. "It can if you will it, weather girl."

Hmm. He had a point. Snow would be glorious, a real white Christmas. I could already envision the treetops sprayed with ornate white flakes, and the gra.s.s covered in a blanket of snow. Powdery white carpeting the roofs and unique designs frosted to the windows. We get snow, just not buckets of it., but I could picture it so clear in my head, like it was real.

"You're doing it," he murmured in my ear.

Opening my eyes, I tilted back my head as teeny, wet snowflakes dusted my eyelashes and tickled my nose. Laughing I threw my arms around Gavin's neck, and he lifted me off my feet, twirling us in circles with the snow falling around us. I felt like we were encased in one of those picture-perfect snow globes that someone had shaken up.

Setting me back on my feet, his hands embraced either side of my cheeks. The snow glistened on his ridiculous long lashes making the sapphire of his eyes glow like a thousand blue moons. "You look good with snow in your hair."

The way he was staring at me and the sinfulness of his voice had my breath catching in my throat. I could have said the say same thing about him. There was such a dark and white contrast with the flakes beading in his hair.

When I was finally able to speak, my voice was thick and gruff. "Thank you for doing this. I didn't realize how much I needed this." Needed him, I added silently before he lips softly brushed over mine. It was light and innocent, but I felt the zing all the way to my boots.

There was an exhilarated rush from doing magic and kissing his lips. The combination was slow-burning and left me spinning. His lips brushed the corner of mine before he dipped his head and kissed me again.

Intoxicating.

"I love the taste of strawberries," he whispered softly against my parted lips.

My heart beat erratically and I willed it to slow down. It hardly cooperated. He was so fixated on my lips that he hadn't notice the round ball of snow I produced out of nowhere. Nor did he seem to notice the gleam in my shining amethyst eyes. Even as he sent crazy, exciting, pesky fireflies in my belly, I still couldn't help myself. "s...o...b..ll fight!" I screamed right before plummeting him with a freshly packed ball of snow.

The shocked expression on his face was priceless and had me giggling. It was Polaroid perfect. "You are so going to pay for that," he warned in a voice that promised nothing less than retaliation.

I only laughed harder. Running was useless really, but instinct told me that I needed distance before I got a face full of snow. Taking off, my hair spun out around me, but the s...o...b..ll I was antic.i.p.ating never came. Instead, I was swept off my feet by a pair of strong arms and hauled effortlessly over his shoulder.

I only laughed harder. "Is this my punishment?" I asked, barely getting the words out between giggles and squirming.

"Oh no, I definitely have something in mind for you." The smile in his voice was anything but virtuous.

I shivered. But it wasn't fear his words enticed, it was anything but. I could all too well envision what kind of punishment he had in mind, and I wasn't exactly going to fight him off.

Wiggling closer to him, I gripped the back of shirt. I love the feel of his strength under my fingertips. He carried me all the way into the house before depositing back to my feet. Shaking off the powdery, wet flakes in the entryway, we kicked off our shoes.

Decorating a tree with a witch was indeed magical, mystical, and memorable. Everything happened in a snap of finger. Ornaments, lights, tinsel all hung in the background until needed and just plucked from thin air.

By the time we finished, it was late. After all our hard work, which really hadn't been physically hard, I was starving. My stomach was in the mood for cookies and hot chocolate, the perfect end to a perfect day.

"We need cookies," I declared. "And I'm doing this the old fashioned way," I informed a smirking Gavin. "No magic."

He bit the hoop at his lip to keep from grinning. "You're the boss."

"In the kitchen, you got it buster." I b.u.mped the cabinet closed with my hip.

The scent of artificial pine and sugar cookies filled the house. This whole enchanted Christmas thing had woken up the holiday spirit inside me. It was possible that I could listen to Jingle Bells another gazillion times before I thought about chucking it out of the storefront window.

He made me laugh. A ton. It felt like I hadn't really laughed in years. This day went on my mental list of the best times in my life, right under our first kiss.

While we were waiting for the cookies to finish baking, I made us some hot chocolate with the little colored marshmallows. They were fun, just like this evening had turned out. Good overruling the bad and ugly.

My aunt walked through the garage door. "I see the two you have been busy little elf's. I can't thank you both enough. The house looks wonderful. Can you believe that it is snowing?"

I couldn't hide the grin I aimed at Gavin, but I tried to cover up any weirdness by handing her a mug of steaming cocoa. Plopping on of the kitchen chairs, she took a sip and sighed.

"Just the way I like it. You are a G.o.ddess in the kitchen. What am I going to do when you leave next year for college?" Her eyes got misty.

My stomached dropped when I thought of her alone in this house. "Maybe you won't have to miss me," I said.

A beam of hope lit her mahogany eyes. "You decided to go to a school locally?"

"I'm thinking about it," I admitted unable to disappoint her. It was true, I was considering it. I was also considering other options, like no college.

"Where ever you go, I want you to be happy... and safe," she added as an afterthought.

It wasn't that she mentioned safety that I found sort of found odd, it was the way she said it. For the first time, I wondered if my aunt knew more than she let on. Was it possible that she knew about my heritage? That she had known all along and not told me?

The night ended with a sour taste lingering in my mouth, regardless that I had managed to shovel six cookies down my belly.