Winter

“Be safe lass, I don’t want to have to kick Atti or Dabriel’s ass for letting you get hurt,” Jaxson says with a slight growl. The growl sends shivers down my spine as he holds me close to his side.

“You could try and I'll leave you on the stage at a strip club, again,” Atti says.

“That wasn’t fucking funny,” Jaxson says loudly as Dabriel and Atti laugh.

“You nearly got eaten alive by those women on their hen night.” Atti says with a chuckle.

“You’re such a little fucker, Atti,” Jaxson moves forward but I stop him with a kiss. These guys argue all the time about the small things, in a way it’s nice to see how close they are to each other.
“I think we should be going,” I say and Jaxson nods.

“Be safe,” Jaxson says and lifts my chin with his one finger. He kisses me once more before I move away. I already said goodbye to Wyatt at the castle, his people need him right now and I can’t expect him to come with me. The same can be said of Jaxson.

Atti holds his hand out for me as I walk away from Jaxson. My crossbow is in my one hand and my arrows are in a drawstring bag, tied to my back. Leigha has two small silver swords strapped to her back and daggers strapped to her leather covered thighs. She looks like a warrior princess where as I, I’m sure, don’t look half as good as she does. Atti doesn't need weapons; he’s a weapon himself, a very attractive one to boot. Atti has his long black cloak wrapped around him, the hood is pulled up and I can only see his bright grey eyes as they slightly glow from what’s to come. Once Atti explained it to me, I finally understood why they use cloaks with large hoods. It’s because the cloak is woven with magic and blocks other witches from speaking into your mind when they have the hood up. I glance over at Dabriel; he’s wearing all white again, his wings folded tightly at his sides and a long silver sword attached to his waist with a belt. The sword is black at the end, with swirls carved all the way up it.

“That’s an impressive sword, almost as big as Jaxson’s,” I say to Dabriel and the guys start laughing.

“I don’t think so, lass,” Jaxson gets out with a laugh.

“It’s really how you use it that matters,” Atti says in between laughs.

“I really don’t want to sit here and compare your dick sizes, can we go?” Leigha snaps, she is in a really bad mood recently. I know why but I’m a little scared to try and talk to her. Her dark eyes meet mine as I giggle a little,

“I didn’t mean,” I trail off when Atti pulls me close to him.

“We know, love,” he says and I blush. Atti lets me go so I can move in-between him and Dabriel.

They both take my hand and I see Atti place a hand on Leigha’s shoulder before his magic moves us. The first thing I see is a large room with high gold walls and smooth silver panelled floors. The room has massive ceiling high windows that overlook a vibrant city with mountains in the background. The mountains look like they surround the city, or very large town, with dozens of sparkling trees in the middle. The houses all have different coloured roofs and the whole city is filled with colour. It’s like nothing I have ever seen. The witches’ hidden city, it's so beautiful and alive. I don't have time to look much more before a massive gush of wind knocks me off my feet and I go flying across the room. A warm arm snakes around my waist and I slam into a hard body. I look behind me to see Dabriel flying while holding me in the air. His sword is out at his side and he’s holding me with one arm like I weigh nothing. This could be good for my ego if it was a different situation.

A bang draws my attention back to Atti and he’s glowing with a lot of different colours. His hands are on fire up to his elbows and around ten people are on the ground, burning and screaming as he moves a whirlwind of air around them in a circle. Most of the witches aren’t fighting back anymore; they’re passing out or holding their throats. Atti doesn’t seem to notice as he continues to use his power.

"Atti!" I shout, and Dabriel flies us over to him. I glance over at Leigha by one of the windows, just as she hits a witch on the head with the back of her sword and he falls into the pile of three other knocked out people near her feet.

“Atti, we didn’t come here to kill your own people. They are only doing their job,” I say loudly when we get near him. The heat from the fire on his arms is catching my skin, causing little burns as I try to get his attention.

“Atti, please,” I say and he finally looks at me. Atti’s eyes are grey and swirling like an oncoming storm. He looks at me like he doesn’t recognise me.

“I’m safe,” I say gently, his eyes don’t lose the stormy swirl but his arm stops setting people on fire.

Atti looks away and waves his arm, which shines a white colour. Cold air shoots through the room and all the burning people get put out. All of them look unconscious, but I don’t think any of them are dead.

"You could have just knocked, Atticus," A sweet sounding woman says walking into the room.

The woman is stunning, with long black hair that hits the floor, and it looks shiny and perfectly straight. Perfect strong facial features make her look like a doll I used to play with when I was a child. On top of her head is a black crown with large black stones imbedded in twirls. It draws me in and reeks of power. She has a long black dress on that reveals way too much and a black cloak that slides across the floor as she walks. Her heels are clicking on the stone floors with every step she makes. Two more witches walk next to her, they stop on either side of her like a practised routine. They both must be witches but I can’t see anything else about them as their hoods are large and stop halfway down their faces.

"You dare to wear my mother's crown?" Atti says, his voice booming around the room. I feel Leigha come to stand behind me, her hand presses on my shoulder once to let me know she has my back. Atti’s still slightly shining a variety of different colours in his hands. The woman, who I’m guessing is the new queen, watches Atti with far too much interest. I move closer to his side, and rest my hand on his arm. That doesn’t impress her; every part of her skin starts glowing a little blacker; her dark eyes watching my hand on Atti’s arm.

"I have a deal for you," she finally says breaking the tension slightly. I don’t think the offer is for me as she stares at Atti; he looks at me once before looking at the fake queen.

"You can be king and I shall be queen. We only need to mate and unite our kingdoms.” She offers, and she watches Atti for his reaction, obviously not caring about me at his side.

“That is never going to happen,” Atti says with a small dark chuckle.

“The demon king is going to rage war on our city when he finds us, and we need to be united." She replies her eyes narrowed at Atti’s reaction. She looks pissed.

Atti laughs deeply. His laugh is spreading around the large room.

"No," he says simply and moves to step forward. The queen starts shaking in anger, black smoke flittering out of her fingers.

“I do not wish to fight you. The battle for the throne was won in the arena. I did nothing wrong,” she says.

“Then let’s go to the arena, call all the witches and we will see who fairly deserves the throne,” Atti replies.

“No, because I am not taking your throne from you. You can still be king,” she opens her arms as she speaks.

“Not with you as my queen. You will die for what you did to my mother,” Atti says darkly. The queen has a glimpse of fear on her features before she cools her expression.

“Yet, I am queen.” She says with a raised eyebrow.

"What if I offer you something else?" I say, stepping in front of Atti before he kills her. I know he is seconds away from doing just that. 

"The human from the prophecy finally speaks." She says.

"My name is Winter," I say and she nods, a little of what I believe is happiness in her face as she looks at me. Why do I have a feeling that I’ve just walked straight into her trap?

"Queen Taliana," she introduces herself.

"A fair fight in the arena for the throne? I will fight you for the right to be queen,” I say, remembering what Atti said about his mother. Apparently witches approve of fighting in this arena. I have no idea if I can beat her but I will train every night and day to try and win for Atti.

“No,” Atti pulls me back by my arm but I shrug him away. He clearly lets me because he could stop me if he wanted too.

“To become queen, I had five fights chosen by the old queen. I won every one and in the last, I killed the queen. Well, nearly did, but she fled.” Taliana waves a hand like it’s not important.

“You fucking bitch,” Atti says moving forward, and Dabriel grabs both his arms to hold him back.

"I will fight three fights of your choice in the arena and when I win, you give me my crown and get out of my city," I say strongly.

"Three fights won of my choice, and I will hand you the crown." She says. A sardonic smirk on her face suggests that she isn’t going to make it easy for me.

"I will fight them," Atti says shrugging Dabriel away and Taliana laughs.

"The offer isn't for you. Winter, the offer is yours alone. The crown will be yours to give back to Atti or mate with him and rule," she says with a smile. She clearly doesn’t think I have a chance. I probably don’t but I’m not giving up. I have to try, I’m no coward and I won’t run.

"No, she would never survive a fight in the witch arena," Atti says angrily.

"Deal, only if you swear on a blood bound," I say and Atti shouts,

"No Winter, you will die," in my mind.

"We don't have a choice; you can't kill her and every witch in the city that believes in her. We need an army to fight the demon king, not a dead one and those who are left at war with their own king." I say to him.  Watching me, he stalks over, neither of us saying a word, the swirling storm of his eyes drawing me in and making me want to be close to him. Atti has never looked this powerful or frightening to me.

“I won’t let you die, but I support you,” Atti whispers in my mind.

Taliana waves me over and Atti stays close to my side, his hand in mine.

She pulls a silver dagger out of the side of her dress and cuts her hand. 

"I swear on my blood to give the crown to Winter, if she wins the three fights I choose in the arena. She will rule," she says and I feel the magic like a vice around my neck. It should shock me, but the feeling is not all that different from when Atti uses his magic to move us.

“One more thing,” I say.

“Yes?” she asks impatiently.

“You swear to let us live safely in the city,” I tell her. She gives me a disgusted look. Like I would be mad to think she would try to attack me or send someone to. I’m not mad, I bet under those supermodel looks, she is just as conniving.

“Fine,” she says and swears the words I asked for over the cut.

"All done, now leave demon child. Atticus, you are always welcome to change your mind." Taliana says, her eyes watching Atti.

Atti glares at her but let's me pull him away. Once we get to Dabriel and Leigha, Atti flashes us away quickly.

We reappear inside an apartment I've not been to before. There are four black leather sofas spread around and a massive TV that takes up one wall, a white rug sits in the middle of the sofas with a small glass coffee table.

There are two doors in the room and one swings open, looking like it leads to a kitchen, a large familiar black cat walks in. I recognise her as Jewels. Jewels looks at us and walks past us to the sofa where she stretches out. She puts her head on her paws watching us, I’m really expecting her to go and find some kitty popcorn or something.

The tension is high when I finally get the courage to look at Atti. 

He is furious.

“Atti,” I start but he waves me away. He moves to the glass windows and looks out, his back to me so I can’t see his expression.

"I will stay close and heal you, Winter. Atti and Leigha can teach you how to fight witches or anything else they put in the arena. It's not going to be easy but I think you’re right. This is the only way the witches will see you as a queen. The wolves have accepted you and the vampires have as well."

"The angels respect warriors, they are more likely to accept you as their queen if you can do this," Dabriel says. He doesn’t look happy about the idea but he isn’t going to stop me. Jaxson, Wyatt and Atti are going to be a completely different story. I don’t even want to be the one to tell Alex.

"I don't know what happened back there, everything somehow got out of control," I say quietly but I know they all hear me.

“Your ass is not dying in that arena. I will make sure you are ready.” Leigha offers. Despite her, sometimes, cold demeanour towards me, I know she cares in her own way.  Harris is right; she does have a heart.

“Thanks, Leigha, I think I can do this,” I say.

"No Winter, you were only human a few months ago and you’re not invincible!” Atti roars and turns to glare at me. His hood falling away, he looks so angry. Not calling me love is a big sign that he is pissed. Atti rarely calls me by my name.

“I’m not human; I have never just been human. I know it won’t be easy but life is not easy. I can’t walk away from this, from everything, because that’s what you want me to do.” I say to him. It’s true, I have to fight or walk away. I won’t ever walk away from my guys. I know Atti isn’t mine yet, and I had trouble planning us all together in my mind at the start but it’s changed now. I want our future, a life for us all at the end of this. We won’t get that if I take the easy route and just let Atti kill half the city, starting with the queen. He would never forgive himself, and we still wouldn’t have anyone’s respect. You don’t get respect from taking the easy route; it’s the hard route in life that will give you it.

“She planned all this, killing you in the arena will be the best way to prove you aren't the one meant to be queen," Atti says, his tone dark and lost.

"No pressure then," I say quietly and Atti disappears, his stormy, hurt eyes embedded in my mind.

"Atti is just grieving, don’t take his words to heart my little wildfire. He’s worried he will lose you, so soon after losing his mother. I’ll explain to him that we won’t lose you, I would never let that happen and I believe the goddess will protect you. You are meant for better things than dying in an arena. Let me show you the spare room in Atti’s home,” Dabriel says and comes over to me. I’m still staring at the space where Atti was and his words snap my attention to him. He gently slides his hand down my arm and entwines our fingers.

“You can sleep with me in the one room, Leigha there's a room for you as well." He says and looks at her.

"I’ll sleep on the sofa.” Leigha waves a hand at the sofas; only frowning briefly when Jewels huffs. Clearly Jewels has no plans on sharing with her.

“I think we should take turns standing guard. I don’t trust that witch’s word, anyone could attack us, despite it. Winter should not be alone while we are here. I’ll start now," Leigha says, all business in her tone and I know she is right. The queen may not attack us but I don’t trust her not to find a way around the blood bond.

"Jewels, will you help Leigha guard the house?" I ask Jewels who stretches out her huge paws, the leather sofa creaking as she moves. I take it as a yes when she jumps off the sofa and comes over to me.  She presses her head against my stomach gently and follows Leigha through the door to the kitchen.

Dabriel takes my hand and leads me through the other door into a small corridor with some stairs at the end. We go up the stairs and there are four doors, two on each side. One is slightly open and Dab takes me into it. It's a small double bedroom, there's a bed with a pile of folded blue sheets on the end and a small wardrobe made of wood. There's a small window and I go over to look out. We’re in a small street with a grey road in the middle. The houses are average and detached. Each one has a brightly coloured roof that matches the flowers outside their homes. I wonder if there’s a reason the houses are painted in such a way. I can see from here that the mountains do surround the city. I open the window, only hearing children’s laughter in the wind and catching a very flowery scent that reminds me of how Atti smells.

The city is lovely and so unusual. 

"The secret city, humans refer to it as the lost city of Atlantis," Dabriel says as he sits on the bed, then lies on his back. I wonder for a second if it’s uncomfortable for his wings to have his body lay on them but he doesn’t look uncomfortable. In fact, he looks at home; he takes up nearly all the double bed. I wonder how I’m going to sleep later, most likely on top of him. I glance at the firm muscles I can see where his shirt has risen up, and a blush fills my cheeks.

"This is Atlantis, like the movie?" I ask, changing the subject and I’m actually interested. I liked that film; the Disney one was the best.

"Yes. When the goddess was alive, the city wasn't hidden and humans were welcomed if they managed to travel over the sea. I’m unsure why the city was hidden but I'm guessing the times when they started burning witches didn't help. You remember what I told you about the witch ancestor?" He asks me and I nod.

“This was the part of the land he ripped apart. The jewel trees in the middle are where she was apparently buried and the trees appeared to remember her. They are as beautiful as she was said to be,” Dabriel says. I can’t see the trees from here but I remember the ring filled with the shiny trees from the castle.

"Where is the city exactly?" I ask, as I know it’s not on any globe I saw growing up.

"In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," Dabriel smirks, like it should be obvious. I shake my head with a small smile.

"How do human scanners not find it? With all our technology and boats, someone must know about this place," I say.

"The higher ups in government know of its existence, much like they know how angels have a massive town in America that humans aren't welcome in. They are aware of the supernatural world, and cover up many of our secrets." He tells me.

"So apparently Google Earth isn't as good as it seems," I say. I never really saw the point of Google Earth anyway; all I ever did was Google my own house. I guess I must be a little lame.

"No, it's not," he laughs. Turning slightly to face him, I watch as he gets off the bed and comes to stand close to me.

"Can I survive this?" I ask, while he looks down at me.

"I won't let you die in that arena. I’ll stop it if I think you can't do it but I believe in you." He tells me. Dabriel always believes in me I’ve noticed, he’s always on my side. My protector.

"Why?" I ask quietly.

"You are far stronger than you look, Winter," he says and he leans down to kiss me.

I pull back when he stops moving and I frown up at him as he straightens.

His eyes are completely white, and he’s shaking slightly.

“Dabriel?” I ask him, I shake his arm but he doesn’t move. He just looks in a trance. Did my kiss break him?

"Atti, Leigha!" I shout, not knowing what to do.

Atti rushes into the room a minute later while I’m still shaking Dabriel and he takes one look at him and sighs.

"I thought something was wrong," he relaxes against the door.

"It is, look at him," I wave a hand at Dab.

"It's normal. He’s having a vision." Atti says and sits on the bed, his huge form taking up all the bed as he lies back and rests his head on his arms. I don’t know how I didn't notice before but Atti's shirt is missing and his hair is messy like he has been running his fingers through it. I get a glance at his tight stomach and pecs, the little blonde hairline that stops at his jeans.

"Winter," Dabriel says, snapping my attention to him. His eyes are back to the normal purple I love and he looks worried.

"The first fight is with a Dentanus." Dabriel says and Atti sits up straight in bed.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me?" Atti roars, he smacks the bed as he stands up and paces by the door. Muttering something rude about a witch and murdering a city. 

"No, I only saw Winter and a Dentanus in the arena. I don't know how it ends." Dabriel says with a worried look in my direction as he crosses his arms. He looks two seconds away from flying my ass back to somewhere safe, and keeping me there.

"What's a Dentanus?" I ask quietly. I know I'm not going to like the answer.

"A Dentanus is a dragon that’s thought to be a demon. When faced alone it can cause its victim to be consumed with everlasting terror, a vicious cycle that renders them helpless. The last one I know being on earth was when I was a baby. It took twenty witches and my parents to kill it. They nearly didn't." Atti answers me but he doesn’t stop his pacing by the door.

“This one was young, not half the size of its adult form. Winter may have a chance,” Dabriel says, yet his eyes give away his lie when he looks at me. I know he doesn’t want to say it but fucking hell, it’s a dragon and I’m well, me. I might as well walk into its mouth.

“Demons are immune to silver! That includes the dragon; the only way the last one was beaten was to remove its head.” Atti says and looks at me.

“Winter loves animals, unless she plans to charm the dragon into some tea and biscuits, we are screwed,” Atti says sarcastically.

“My mother could control animals and my grandmother created a lot of them. Maybe I might be able to at least calm it down. I used to be able to calm any animal growing up; I loved them. I was training to be a vet for a reason.” I say.

"A dragon is a big step up from a cat, Winter," Dabriel says gently.

"This is not happening," Atti says shaking his head.

"Dabriel already saw me there, so it is. We need to find out what weapons work on it and fast. If not, I’m going to work on my blue power and running away fast." I say to them both. They glance at each other.

"Demons aren't weak to silver or anything I know of. This is a major concern considering your demon grandfather likely has a large army full of demons and we have little ways to kill them," Dabriel says.

"Then we have a week to find out anything we can. I can ask Milo. He might know," I say.

“If you can understand anything he says, other than more food,” Atti says and it makes me smile a little.

“To be fair, I understood when he told me about seeing you in the shower. I believe he described your thingy bob as a large stick,” I say causing Atti to laugh with Dabriel and I.

“I think the mini demon has a crush on me,” Atti says and I nod with a grin.

“Oh, I know he does, you do realise he has been sleeping in your bed every night?”

“That’s not at all creepy,” Atti shivers.

“Milo tells me all about you, when he comes to wake me up in the morning. Jaxson and Wyatt think it’s funny, they both said I shouldn’t tell you,” I laugh when Atti groans.

“Didn’t know he was your type, brother,” Dabriel says and Atti chuckles.

“Nope he isn’t. We share the same type,” Atti says and winks at me.

"You could die," Atti says quietly after a moment’s silence. His words are spoken slow as he moves to stand in front of me. Atti moves his whole body close to mine, until we’re touching and I’m forced to tilt my head up to meet his eyes.

"I will destroy the whole city if you die, I will destroy the world if I lose you Winter," he says, each word filled with an image of my fun loving Atti losing it. It reminds me of his ancestor, how he lost his wife and literally tore the earth apart. I could never put Atti through that pain; I care for him too much. I vaguely hear the door being shut behind Dabriel as Atti and I stare at each other. Atti’s sweet scent fills my senses and I breathe him in.

"You won't lose me. We can do this; we can take back what is ours and do what is right. We will always do what is right," I say, each word a quiet whisper but my words powerful enough to be considered a warning to our enemies.

Atti lowers his head and brushes his lips against mine, once and then twice until all I can focus on is his sweet lips. He always kisses me like he is savouring his favourite desert, every kiss slow and leisured, making me desperate for him, more than I can admit. I’m sure my body is telling him everything I’m thinking as I tighten my hands that have found their way into his hair. He groans as his hands slide slowly down my back, until his large hands squeeze my bum. 

He lifts me and I wrap my legs around him, as he deepens the kiss. 

"Winter we can't, not yet." He says and breaks away from me after putting me down. It hurts to see him say no and I don't really understand why.

"Why?" I ask quietly. 

"Winter," he groans and pulls me to his chest.

"I want nothing more than to strip every little piece of clothing off you and show you how much I care about you. We can't because it wouldn't be just sex; I want to mate with you. Our first time, I'm going to mate with you, and make you mine." He says. I understand, the urge to be with him is hitting me strongly too. I never imagined being with more than one person for the rest of my life but it seems impossible to imagine a life without all of them at my side. My life is a lot longer now too, longer than I know how to deal with.

"I want to show you something, I know we have a lot of crap to deal with and you might hate witches after this but let me show you our city," He says and kisses my cheek.

“The city and people are not all evil. I know you haven’t had the best introduction to dark witches or light but I swear that some of the kindest people I know are witches. We survived a war much like the wolves’ and vampire’s war, so I want to show you what we fought for,” he tells me.

"I would love that," I smile and he grins at me.

"Come on then, love," he holds out his hand and I take it happily.

We find Dabriel in the kitchen with Mags, Atti’s other familiar. Dabriel is currently feeding Mags, in her normal form, pieces of chocolate but stops when he sees us. She lifts her big white head to stare at Dabriel until he gives her another piece.

"Not chocolate, man, she gets pissy if I don't feed it to her," Atti groans, she doesn’t even look at him. I don’t blame her.

"Mags loves chocolate," Dabriel shrugs.

"More than anything else, including me. She will stomp and try to eat me if I don’t give it to her when you leave,"

"I think I've found my spirit animal," I say, staring at Mags with love.

"It was only a little," Dabriel chuckles and puts the bar back into the fridge. The kitchen is more modern than I thought it would be. It looks brand new with black counters and white drawers. There are all the appliances you would expect, and a large coffee maker. Atti must be a coffee man. In the one corner are two massive pet bowls, both pink and have his familiar’s names on them. I have to admit, that’s cute.

"We’re going out, I want to show Winter the city." Atti pats Dabriel on the shoulder.

"Count me in," Dabriel says.

"I think Leigha is coming too," I tell them both.

"No, she can stay and watch the house. You’ll be safe with us both," Dabriel replies.

"You’re telling her then," I say and Dabriel gives me a shrug like he doesn’t see the problem. He really doesn’t know the warrior princess.

"Sure," he says and walks out the front door. It takes two seconds before Leigha is shouting her rejection of his idea and threatening to kick his ass.

Atti looks at me and we both burst into laughter.