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  Stealing Christmas

  Cori Sloane Witchy Werewolf Mysteries

  Tegan Maher

  Published by Tegan Maher, 2018.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  STEALING CHRISTMAS

  First edition. December 21, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Tegan Maher.

  Written by Tegan Maher.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Author’s Note

  Connect with Me

  Other Books by Tegan Maher

  About Tegan

  CHAPTER ONE

  "IT SEEMS SO WEIRD TO be packing a bathing suit for a Christmas vacation," I said, digging through my dresser for my favorite pair of jean shorts. Since it had been two months since it had been warm enough to wear them, they were buried underneath all my winter clothes. Or at least I hoped they were.

  "Yeah," Chaos, my Arctic fox familiar, said, running her paws down the black stripe on her fluffy white tail. "I'm not sure how Sean talked you into this. It's the first vacation you've taken in forever."

  Sean was the vampire who’d founded Castle's Bluff, the small southern Georgia town I'd called home my entire life. He was also a good friend and a force to be reckoned with. When he told me he was buying me an all-inclusive trip to the Enchanted Coast, a beach resort built exclusively for paranormals, there was no talking him down.

  "That's not true," I protested. "We went to North Carolina just a few months ago."

  Chaos drew her fuzzy eyebrows together and snorted. "Going out of town for a pack meeting doesn't qualify as a vacation, Cori."

  My mother had spearheaded the creation of an interspecies national treaty, and I'd gone up as the werewolf rep for my region. Sure, I'd spent most of my time in meetings, but I'd done a little shopping, too.

  "I don't know why not," I said as I pulled open another drawer in search of the elusive shorts. "I was out of town and I brought back souvenirs."

  "You did not," she said, rolling her eyes. "You brought back a bag of treats for me that your mom made and some salt-water taffy for Sam. That doesn't count. Admit it—you're a workaholic."

  She wasn't wrong, but it wasn't like I'd had much time to breathe over the last several months. "And what would have happened if I hadn't been here when a spiteful werewolf went on a rampage, or when Sean's best friend was murdered? Or what about when the second in command of the one pack against the treaty was slashed to bits just days before the final vote?"

  "Sam would have called you and you could have been back here in a blink," she said. "You are, after all, a witch as well as a werewolf."

  It was my turn to snort. "I suppose you think I could have just clicked my heels together and been back."

  Tilting her head, she examined me with thoughtful emerald eyes. "I suppose you could have done anything you set your mind to. You know, you've only dipped a toe into the witchy waters. If you focused on your magic as much as you throw your back into everything else you do, I have a feeling you'd be surprised what you can do."

  Without thinking, I reached up to touch the blue crystal that hung around my neck. It helped me separate the two halves of myself—the witchy side and the werewolf side—so I could use my magic. Before I'd been given the amulet a few months ago, I'd never had control over my magic. Shoot, for most of my life, I hadn’t even known I had any.

  I pushed the second drawer shut in frustration, sans shorts, rocked back on my heels, and huffed a curl out of my face. "Yeah, well right now I'd be elated if I could just snap my fingers and make my shorts magically appear."

  Chaos straightened and wrapped her tail around her black-tipped snowy feet, then shrugged a shoulder. "So snap your fingers and do it."

  "Sure, just let me get right on that." I snapped a finger just to prove a point and teetered back a little, surprised when the shorts actually appeared in my hand.

  "See," she said with a Cheshire Cat smile, "now how hard was that?"

  Torn between hating that I'd proven her right and loving that I'd found my shorts, I opted to just stuff them in the suitcase without commenting either way. Still, I smiled a little in delight. That was a trick that'd come in handy.

  "You all packed and ready to go?" my roommate and best friend Kat said from the doorway.

  "Sure am," I said, zipping my suitcase. "Sure you don't wanna go with us?"

  She groaned, disappointment in her almond-shaped eyes. "I'd love to, but there's no way Rocks could do without me right now. The bar's hosting four different Christmas parties over the next week."

  Kat was the lead bartender at the local watering hole, the Rusty Hook, and was the right-hand woman to Rocks, the vampire owner. As a vampire herself, she was well over two centuries old, but didn't look a day over thirty, a perk I was sure I'd envy in a couple decades.

  "I've heard amazing things about the place, though,” she continued. “You're gonna have a blast, and I'm glad you're finally getting your tail out of here for a proper vacay." She gave me a quick hug, followed by a stern look. "And you better leave work at home. Sam's perfectly capable of holding down the fort for a week."

  I scoffed. "It's not a matter of trusting him; shoot, he's probably more capable than I am. It's a matter of feeling guilty for dumping it in his lap."

  Sam, a former Army man in his early sixties, was my second in command. The only reason I was sheriff and he wasn't was because he'd refused to run for the position. He’d claimed dealing with fussy little old ladies who complained just to hear themselves talk would cut into his fishing time.

  "And that's your number one problem," she said, following me down the stairs. "You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. It's okay to share the load, you know."

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said. "I'm taking this vacation now, aren't I?"

  She arched a brow as I reached the door. "Only because Sean's making you."

  That was accurate, but to be honest, I was glad to be going. The last year had been a tough one and I was excited to see my cousin Destiny, who worked at the tiki bar at the resort.

  I'd also never been in a place that was supernaturals only and was eager to see how people behaved when they didn't have to hide their magic. She said all sorts of creatures from mermaids to unicorns hung out there too, so I was feeling a little like a kid on Christmas, which happened to be three days away. Until she'd taken the job there, I'd thought many of the beings she talked about were myths.

  "True, but I admit I'm excited to go."

  "If you ride a unicorn, you better send me a pic," she said, her eyes glittering. "I've been all over the world in my two centuries, but have yet to lay eyes on one."

  I grinned. "Bet your booties if I get a chance to do it, I will!"

  A knock sounded at the door and Alex, my boyfriend and fellow witch/werewolf hybrid, poked his head in.

  "Ready?" he asked.

  "Yup," I said. "Chaos?"

  "I've been ready," she said, her tail twitching impatiently. "I can't wait to see Tempest. Do you think we'll be able to meet up with Mila and Calamity while we're there?"

  Tempest and Calamity were her sisters, and Mila was another of my cousins. We were all raised together and we were as close as sisters. Destiny and
Mila lived close enough that they saw each other all the time, but I hadn't seen either of them in almost two years.

  "I don't see why not," I said. "We're gonna be there for five days. Surely we can manage something. I'd love to see them, too."

  "Well we're not going to see anybody if we don't get there," Alex said.

  "That's right," Kat said, pushing me toward the door. "Get her butt out of here and don't you dare let her come back early. I've already told Sam we're here for him if anything supernatural comes up, so soak up rays and have some tropical eggnog. Do whatever you want, as long as it's some form of relaxing and having fun."

  I gave her another quick hug then followed Alex to the car. We had to drive to Atlanta to access the magical portal to the resort, but after that, we were in the clear.

  And man, was I looking forward to getting my toes in the sand.

  CHAPTER TWO

  TRAVELING THROUGH THE portal from Atlanta to the resort was surreal. In anticipation of the south Florida weather, we'd dressed in shorts and tee shirts even though the weather in Atlanta was a balmy thirty-five degrees.

  I'd left my coat in the car in the parking garage, and as soon as we crossed over, I was glad I had. The portal opened into the main lobby of the hotel and I was gobsmacked when I took it in. Not only was the place massive, it was opulent on a level I'd never experienced. The floor was tiled in gleaming black marble shot through with gold, and the glass ceilings had to be at least thirty feet high. The bluest sky I'd ever seen shone through them, dotted with a few fluffy white clouds. The ding of slot machines and the smells of steak, baking bread, and sunscreen filled the air.

  The place was decorated to the nines for the holidays, from massive, elegant Christmas trees to tasteful white lights laced and twinkling through pine swags. That's as far as normal went, though. Palm trees were lit with white lights running up the trunk and green ones through the fronds, and a huge Santa's Village featured a cutout of Santa rocking a pair of surfer shades.

  I laughed at the discord and was happy to see Alex was just as awed as I was.

  "Cori! Chaos!" A familiar voice rang through the air just as a near duplicate of my familiar darted between legs and around brass posts to bump shoulders with Chaos. Destiny, sun kissed and looking amazing as always, was grinning to beat the band as she rushed forward and pulled me into a hug that about crushed my ribs.

  "I can't believe you actually came!" Her green eyes sparkled and her hand shot toward Alex. "Destiny Maganti. I've heard so much about you!"

  I laughed. Destiny had always been both the ray of sunshine and the barrel of monkeys of the three of us, though Mila wasn't far behind her. We'd spent more time in trouble than out of it.

  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Destiny," Alex said. "I've heard great things about you, too."

  "And this is my sister, Tempest," Chaos said. The two definitely looked similar, though Tempest, or Tempe for short, had sapphire eyes and was carrying a bit less junk in the trunk than Chaos.

  "You're right, sister," Tempe said, leaning back on her haunches and examining him. "He is hot."

  "I told you so." Chaos looked smug. "And he likes onion rings better than fries."

  Tempe licked her lips. "My kind of man!"

  Alex cocked a brow. "You know I'm standing right here, right?"

  Destiny scowled at her familiar. "Seriously. Don't be rude right out of the gate."

  "Yeah," I said, "at least let us step away from the portal before you two gang up on him, so escape isn't such an easy option."

  Alex looked around at the casino and all the restaurants surrounding us, then out the front doors toward the sandy beach visible in the distance. "It's gonna take more than a couple of lewd foxes to scare me away from this place." He draped his arm over my shoulder. "This is our first vacation, and we're gonna enjoy it."

  "C'mon, you guys," Destiny said as she led us toward a bank of elevators flanked by two small, squat palm trees decorated with lights. "Let's get you settled. I scored you one of the suites since my place it too tiny to hold us all."

  "You didn't have to do that," I said. "We'd have been fine on an air mattress."

  She shrugged a tanned shoulder. "I'd love to take full credit, but all I did was upgrade you. Your friend Sean had already booked you into a beach-front room." She tilted her head and cast me a sideways glance. "What's his story, anyway? When he popped up on the reservations list, a VIP notice went out."

  I smiled. "That doesn't surprise me. I'm pretty sure the man has connections everywhere and more money than God. You'd never know it to meet him though. He's a good egg. A little odd, but good."

  The elevator doors slid open with a whoosh and, after what I guessed to be two leprechauns stepped out, we stepped in. I tried not to stare, but as soon as the door whispered closed, I turned to Destiny.

  "Yep," she said before I could even ask the question. "And don't gamble with 'em. As a matter of fact, avoid them altogether if you can. Tricksy bastards, and they'll con you right out of your last dollar if you give 'em half a chance."

  "Okayyy," Alex said. "Good to know, considering I'm planning to spend some time in the casino. Anybody else I should keep an eye out for?"

  Destiny pursed her lips, thinking. "Not really. Since the casino's bespelled to null magic, you don't have to worry about any kind of cheating other than the garden-variety bluffing. One of the tooth fairies is here right now, and she's been on a bit of a bender, though I have no idea why." She sighed. "Last summer, it was Cupid, now the tooth fairy. I don't get it—they have the best job security ever, yet they fall into these existential crises. Let 'em try my job for a week—they'll never complain again."

  "Yeah," I said, "and if that doesn't do it, they can come do mine for another week."

  Chaos snorted. “No way would they be able to deal with that. One good round listenin' to Mrs. Wilson complain about everything under the sun, and they'd be screaming to trade back."

  Mrs. Wilson was our neighborhood busybody and tattletale, and she complained about everything under the sun. We had to deal with her at least once a week, and I had no doubt she was one of the main reasons Sam had refused to take over as sheriff.

  "Before we get out," Destiny said as the elevator slid to a stop, "I wanted to give you a heads up. There's only one suite up here besides yours, and I took some serious flak for putting you here."

  Tempest scowled. "How were you supposed to know who Mr. and Mrs. Pelznickel are, though? I mean, for cryin' out loud. Somebody that high-profile, they should have blacked out the floor."

  Chaos gave a little gasp at the name. "No! You're not serious. Here? Now? But ... it's almost Christmas Eve!"

  "I'm dead serious." Tempe nodded, her eyes big and earnest. "They got everything wrapped up early, pardon the pun, and decided to take a few days of vacay before the big night."

  Now she'd piqued my curiosity. "Pelznickel? They must not be too famous because I've never heard of them."

  Destiny rolled her eyes as we walked out of the elevator. "Yeah, it's an alias. Well, not so much an alias as an alternate—"

  A large bearded man with plenty of padding around the middle, wearing a tropical shirt and bright blue board shorts, rushed toward us. "Great candy canes, young lady," he said with so much vigor his white man bun vibrated. "You have to help me—somebody's stolen my hat!"

  An elegant yet pudgy gray-haired woman wearing a green and white sarong and a floppy hat strode down the hall behind him. "Kris," she called, a little out of breath as she caught up to him. "Get ahold of yourself. Are you sure you didn't put it somewhere else?"

  "Of course I didn't put it somewhere else, Carol," he snapped, his blue eyes snapping with irritation behind his round spectacles. "I may be almost two millennia old, but I'm still sharp as a tack. And I would have never put the hat anywhere but in the safe."

  The woman glared at him. "I told you not to bring it to begin with." She wrung her hands. "Oh, this just won't do at all."

  I did a do
uble take; surely my eyes were deceiving me. I mean, Destiny had said we'd encounter faeries, mermaids, and even unicorns. Shoot, she'd even mentioned Cupid and the tooth fairy, but this was just too much. Even though humans falsely believed all paranormal creatures were a myth, there were some that just ... were.

  I chanced a glance at Alex to see if he was having as much trouble processing as I was. His gaze was darting back and forth between the man and the woman in disbelief, then Destiny confirmed exactly what I was struggling to believe, even though the magical beings were standing right in front of me.

  "Tempest, go tell Blake to lock down the resort. We can't let Santa’s hat leave this property," my cousin said. Tempe nodded and grabbed Chaos's paw, then they both disappeared into thin air. Within seconds, I felt a wave of magic wash over me and my ears popped.

  "What was that?" I asked, rubbing my ears with my knuckles.

  "That was the security field coming down," Destiny said. "Now nobody can come or go until we lift it." She put her hand on the man's pale, hairy arm. "Don't worry, Santa," she said. "We'll find it."

  "We better," he said, a worried frown marring his not-so-merry face. "Or else the Spirit of Christmas is lost."

  I pulled in a deep breath and released it as my brain automatically switched back into cop mode. I wasn't sure what was going on, but if that was the risk, this just turned into a working vacation.

  CHAPTER THREE

  DESTINY LED THE COUPLE back to the end of the hall with us trailing behind, then stopped before a set of opulent doors. Using a keycard hooked to her belt loop via a retractable cord, she unlocked the doors.

  "Is it okay if my cousin and her friend come in?" she asked. "She's a police officer and a gifted witch, as well as a wolf shifter with a humdinger of a nose. So's he, for that matter," she added, tilting her head toward Alex.

  For the first time, the man and woman gave us more than a cursory glance.