“Holy Hell on Christmas,” Gemma gasped out as we landed on an ice covered tundra in an explosion of black fire and crackling glitter laced wind.

Her words were apt if not a bit of an oxymoron. Kismet was a bleak frozen landscape of the starkest beauty I’d ever witnessed. The sun was blindingly bright and bounced off the ice making it look like the land was layered with priceless dripping diamonds. There was a chill in the air different from anything I’d experienced and a feeling of despair floated on the cool breeze.

An enormous mountain range of razor sharp glaciers stood majestically in the distance. They were clear, sparkling, crystal ice—not any color in sight. The land was cold in every way imaginable. How life existed here was an enigma to me. I would think the land of the Sirens would be lush and gorgeous.

“Is this what you remember of Kismet?” I asked The Shelia who was as awestruck as the rest of us.

“No. I recall an incredible Ice Palace. I’ve never been to this area,” she said, narrowing her eyes at something on the horizon.

“What do you see?” I asked, glancing in the direction of her gaze.

She shook her head and shuddered. “Nothing. I thought I saw something, but there’s nothing there.”

“Do we know where the Ice Palace is located?” The Kev asked, keeping Gemma close at his side.

“No. I don’t even know how time runs here,” I stated the facts as I knew them. “All I know is that Elle and Sadie are here. This is the home of the Sirens and Fate has frozen them in an eternal enchantment.”

“Are we going to rescue all the Sirens?” The Shelia asked.

Shrugging, I gave her a grim smile. “If it’s convenient or they can help us, yes. If not, no.”

“That’s awfully cold of you, Devil,” The Shelia commented. “I’d think you’d want to save them. They’re a notoriously bad bunch—right up your alley.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said.

“Wasn’t meant as one,” she shot back.

“Yes. I know.”

“No bickering,” The Kev chastised us as if we were children. “We work as a unit or we die. Is anyone having issues with l’appel du vide?”

“I don’t think so—or at least I’m not,” The Shelia said, still scanning the horizon. “Do we have any clue as to the size of this place?”

The Kev glanced at Gemma who giggled and then grinned from ear to ear.

“Do you think it will work?” Gemma asked with childlike excitement. “Can I do it?”

“Don’t know until you try, my beautiful one,” The Kev said to her with a wink.

“Okay you guys,” Gemma said. “I’m not exactly a pro yet, so you might want to back your asses up.”

“What is she going to do?” I asked, backing away. Fairies were insane, but that was one of the things I liked best about the creatures.

“Gonna measure the island or blow us straight into oblivion,” she said, rolling her neck and cracking her knuckles.

“Are those the only two options?” I asked dryly.

The soon to be Fairy Queen pursed her lips in thought. “Umm… yes. As far as I know, yes. I’ve never actually done this one before.”

“And you think you should work out the kinks now?” The Shelia asked, concerned.

“Do we wanna to know the lay of the land?” Gemma asked, slapping her hands on her hips and getting quite spicy.

“We do,” I said with a laugh. “There isn’t an Immortal atlas handy so we might as well trust the Queen. Get under my wings,” I instructed the others. “You’ll be safe.”

No one moved. I could tell The Shelia was tempted, but she stood her ground and supported her unbalanced Queen.

Fine. I didn’t care. I’d be fine. Them? Not so much.

Closing her eyes and chanting in a lovely language I was certain had been long forgotten, Gemma popped like a balloon and evaporated into a fine silver mist. Oddly, I was still very much aware that it was her. There were no discerning features, but simply an essence. It was a nifty trick. I was going to have to learn that one.

The Kev dropped to his knees and began to chant a staccato rhythm in compliment with Gemma’s using the same lilting tongue. It was hypnotic and I watched with wonder as the mist rose into the cloudless sky and twisted and danced. Coming apart and melding back together, the silver haze darted even higher until I was sure it had disappeared.

Glancing over at The Kev with concern, I relaxed as he simply smiled and continued to chant. I really didn’t want a several thousand year old Fairy pissed off at me because I’d forced him to come only to watch the love of his life fade away into the atmosphere. That would seriously fuck up my plans. Even wearing women’s clothes was preferable to that clusterfuck.

With a pop and a giggle, Gemma reappeared startling all except for The Kev—who simply grinned with pride.

“I did it,” she squealed and threw her arms around the man who clearly adored her. “I really did it. And no one died! I’m amazing!”

“Congratulations,” I said with an eye roll. “What did you see?”

“It’s freakin’ huge and all ice,” she said with a shiver. “The Ice Palace is on the other side, I’d estimate about three hundred miles away. And it’s definitely an island. The water surrounding us is the clearest teal blue I’ve ever seen.”

“An island makes perfect sense as far as mythology goes,” Lizard spoke up for the first time since we’d arrive.

I’d almost forgotten he was here except for the incessant sound of his gum popping.

“Sirens lured sailors with their song,” he went on. “And when they drew them close enough… BAM — they ate the stupid bastards.”

“And you really want me to save the Sirens?” I asked The Shelia with a raised brow.

“Reserving judgment,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “That BAM sounds quite unappealing.”

“Let’s get started,” I said, letting my wings expand and breathing deep. “Everyone here flies, correct?”

“Don’t move,” The Kev whispered harshly, crouching to the ground and pulling Gemma and The Shelia down with him. “Dead ahead—about five hundred feet. Do you see it?”

Lizard choked up on his bat, turned in the direction The Kev was pointing, gasped and went pale.

Pivoting on a dime, I scanned the horizon and sucked in a swift breath. What the Hell was I looking at?

“Twelve of them,” The Shelia said, tightly. “Ugliest green bastards I’ve ever seen. I’m not even sure what they are.”

“They’re not green,” Gemma whispered. “They’re blue and bleeding yellow blood.”

“No,” The Kev contradicted both of them. “They’re orange with enormous bloody tusks and hairy pink horns.”

“What in the ever loving Hell are you people talking about?” I snapped, going to a squat beside them. “They’re minty green with about a hundred eye balls and more teeth than a fifty fucking T-Rexes.”

“Wait,” Gemma hissed. “What is it that you see? Not the color. What is the creature?”

“I see twelve monsters—kind of a mutation of an ape. Each about the size of a large barn,” The Shelia said.

“The Kev?” Gemma questioned.

“I see twelve snakelike fiends. Size of a large car.”

“Satan?”

“I see dead people,” I joked with a grin.

The painful zap from Gemma was no joke at all. However, I deserved it. I just couldn’t help myself.

“I see the monsters that I dreamt of as a child—twelve of them,” I admitted.

“Lizard?” Gemma asked him.

“I see puppies,” he replied with a shudder of horror.

We all turned to the idiot in confusion.

“You see fucking puppies?” I demanded.

“I hate puppies. They scare the Hell out of me,” Lizard replied, completely serious.

“You’ll behead a Troll with a baseball bat, yet you’re terrified of puppies?” I asked, squinting at him in disbelief.

“You got it, boss,” he said with a tight nod. “Terrified of them.”

Pausing in thought, I stared at the row of twelve hideous things. I smiled at them, but the smile came nowhere close to reaching my eyes. “The l’appel du vide might not be making us inflict self-harm, but I do believe it’s playing with us—bringing our greatest childhood fears to life,” I said, taking a better look at what seemed to be before me.

“I agree,” The Kev said, not taking his eyes from whatever the Hell he saw. “That’s definitely a creature from my nightmares.”

“Wait,” Gemma said, grabbing my arm. “Can you blast one from here?”

“I’m fucking Satan. I can blast one from Hell with my eyes shut,” I snapped, insulted.

“Umm… okay,” Gemma said with a giggle. “How about you do yourself when we’re done here. I just need you to blast the one on the far left.”

Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I pulled my shit together before I blasted my laughing allies.

“Why?” I asked. “Why can’t I blow all of them up?

“Just do as I say,” she snapped, reminding me of my mother right before she electrocuted me. Gemma was kind of ballsy. Who in their right mind talked to Satan like that?

“Fine,” I huffed in a pout, raising my hand and throwing a glittering black fireball at the monster on the far left end of the line.

The fire ball hit the monster square in the middle of its massive chest, but nothing happened—no explosion—no screaming—no death.

“What the Hell was that?” I asked, surprised.

“Watch,” Gemma instructed as her eyes stayed riveted to the beast I’d shot.

It was like watching eerie special effects in a movie. The beast shimmered for a brief moment and then simply faded away.

“He wasn’t really there,” Gemma said, her eye glowing with excitement. “Only five are truly there.”

“How can you tell?” The Shelia asked, looking at Gemma with impressed awe.

“Auras,” she said quietly, lest they hear us. “Only the five in the middle have auras. The rest have nothing. They’re figments of our imagination.”

“That’s just fucked up,” Lizard grumbled. “So you’re telling me only five of those puppies are real?”

“Umm… yes,” Gemma replied, with a wince and a small shake of her head. “Five puppies are real.”

“Five of them. Five of us. I say we bust on the real ones and get the Hell out of here,” I suggested with a wide smile, ready to take on my childhood nightmare and put it to rest—permanently.

“I’m in,” The Kev said.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to take out all the puppies myself,” Lizard offered. “Might get me past my fear.”

“Heads up,” The Shelia shouted as she shifted into her own special kind of monster. “It’s seems they’re making the first move.

The Kev, Gemma and Lizard followed suit in the blink of an eye. Fairies could morph into other forms—monsters of their own sort. However the majestic beasts they became were a thing of beauty—glittering scales and the sharpest, largest fangs I’d ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Well, not Lizard. He looked somewhat like a freak. But then again, he was a little odd looking normally.

The screams of the beasts were deafening. All of them came charging at us, but I kept my focus on the five in the center. Letting my body go to its most natural state, I grew three times my size and became a blazing inferno of death. It was time to end the beasts and find my beauty.

And no man is an island…

I would have never known that only five were real. Elle’s hints were golden and Gemma’s powers were necessary. I would forever be in debt to the four Fairies with me. I seriously hoped I’d never have to admit this appalling fact aloud, but I would.

For Elle… I would do anything.

Anything.