Bren let out a long breath, feeling exhausted. He was sitting at the bar, next to Aiden, who was sipping at some non-alcohol beverage. For himself, Bren had some scotch. He needed it after all. It was the only way he could keep his mind off of the one woman who'd ever mean anything to him. And, fucking life as it was, it was the one woman he was forbidden to ever let himself be with. Swallowing back another long drag from his glass, he tried to focus on the burn of the alcohol. He tried to force his mind to feel only it. Turning slightly in his stool, he glanced around the bar. It was surprisingly quiet and deserted, for what he was expecting. But then again, this wasn't a club. So maybe this is just what he should have expected. He turned his gaze to his left, peering at Aiden beside him.

Currently, his boss was leaning against the edge of the bar, looking exhausted. But who could blame him? They had just one more week left before they'd come to the end of this year's Winter. But it came at the cost of more and more of Aiden's very life, in a sense. Of his existence. Every Winter that passed used up a bit more of his life. For places in the Human World that were constantly cold, it was a frequent drain on the Lord's powers as well.

It was a heavy burden, one that the Frosts' had developed a system around to survive through. The Heir took on the Lord of Winter's title and job somewhere between age eighteen and twenty-five, depending on the current Lord of Winter and Heir's powers and condition. On average this meant that the Lord of Winter kept up his job for roughly thirty to forty years...Truthfully, it was the most that they could manage. As such, there was usually three generations of Frosts living in the Winter Palace at all times.

Still, Aiden and Jack-the two Lords' that Bren had served over the past nineteen years-hid it very well. The only people who knew about it was Jack, Aiden, and himself. Freddy, his old instructor had known about it as well, but the man had passed on a year before. As such, Brennan was the sole confidant to the current Lord of Winter, a young man who was four years his junior.

So here they were, with just a week left. Just a week until Bren would have to return to the Other Realm and try to find some way to come to grips with the knowledge that he couldn't be with Sera. That all he would ever be was her best friend. He'd be her confidant she came to talk about her current boyfriend. How she was so sure this guy was the one, the one who she'd fall in love with.

And the entire time, in love with her himself, Bren would have to keep his distance. Try to hide the emotions and wants he held for her. He closed his eyes briefly, already able to imagine her perfume, the happy twinkle in her eye she got when she was talking to him about her boyfriends. The way her long brown hair fell over her shoulder, along her chest, caressing her breasts, in much the same way he himself wanted to...

A noise close by made his bodyguard instincts kick in. He turned his head to his left, seeing a black woman had just moved to sit at the stool past the one right next to Aiden. She was pretty hot, Bren had to admit. She was wearing a long-sleeved red shirt that cut across her shoulders and chest in a straight line. For bottoms, she wore tight black leggings and had on a pair of black knee-high boots. Her hair was framed around her face in a mass of tight, black curls and he could see two large gold hoop earrings. She raised her hand and the barista came over. "Just give me something strong, I don't care what," she muttered in a rich voice.

Bren watched as, from her black purse that she had looped around her shoulder, she pulled out her phone. She dialed a number, her face looking more than a little peeved. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aiden's head had lifted up and his boss had noticed the woman as well. "Alan, what the hell is this?" she demanded in a low hiss. "How many more dates are you going to stand me up on?"

Aiden, straightening in his seat at the bar, tried not to eavesdrop. But there was something about the woman...Something about her that just seemed to be drawing him in. He couldn't tell what, really. So, trying to be as subtle as possible, he listened in to her conversation. Alan? he wondered. Has to be her boyfriend, he decided after half a second.

"No. This is the last one, Alan. That's strike three. I'm sick of it. I'm done, do you hear me?" she raised her voice slightly. "You can go fuck yourself," her voice lowered but the amount of anger in her tone didn't. She pulled her phone from her ear and slammed her finger on the End button. "There!" she exclaimed in a harsh breath. She dropped her phone to the bar surface, right as the barista came back with her drink. "Thank you," she tried to smile at the woman. But it was pretty obvious that she was a mess right now. "I can't believe that ass," she muttered aloud. The barista just nodded before leaving her alone.

Aiden again found himself drawn to her. Before he could really stop and think about it, he had grabbed his drink and hopped over to the stool right next to her. Bren watched Aiden leave in shock. The woman turned wide, startled eyes to him and he saw that hers were black, like coal. Realizing that what he had just done seemed really weird and crazy, he nervously laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Um...sorry. I just wanted to say that yes, that guy sounded like an ass."

Her eyes narrowed. "You were listening in to my conversation?"

Nodding his head, he could feel a blush cover his cheeks. Horrified, he coughed to clear his throat, hoping to hide his embarrassment. "Um...yes. I do apologize, but it was hard not to hear you."

She let out a long breath. "Yeah, I suppose so. I'm just so ticked off with him...I'm so over that guy," she said firmly, as if reminding herself. She turned her eyes to him, studying his face. "What about you?" Her eyes moved past him, to Bren who was watching them from the corner of his eye. "Is your date giving you problems?" she asked in a soft whisper.

Bren heard it and began to laugh, hard. Aiden, who had been about to take a drink, almost choked on the liquid. "What?! You think we're...that he and I are together?!" He turned his head to glare at Bren for laughing as much as he was. "This isn't funny, damn it!"

When he turned his head back to the woman, her hand was a little close to his drink. But it looked like she had just been stretching, as she slowly moved it back. Her face began to brighten, just a little, as it was hard to see with her dark skin. "I-I mean...you're two hot guys. Every one knows the super hot dudes are always the ones who end up gay and..."

Despite his outrage, Aiden couldn't help but think that she looked cute as her hands began to play with the neck of her glass, her cheeks beginning to fill with even more color. As he watched her grow more embarrassed, he took three quick swallows of his drink, enjoying the cold liquid sliding down his throat. "No, that's not how it is. He's my best friend, like my older brother. We've known each other forever and-"

She clapped her hands together, holding them up slightly as she bowed her head. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have said that. I'm just really upset and have boyfriends on my mind and I thought..."

He raised his hand, trying to get her to stop. A few people around the bar were giving the three of them funny looks and he wanted to avoid attention as much as possible. "No, its okay, really. I'm not that mad, I was just shocked. I didn't realize women would think we were gay," he muttered.

At his low confession, her head slowly lifted up. Her black eyes were filled with an amused light. "Well, that's a thing, sure. But you, in particular, have this...I don't know, cold air about you? It makes you seem really unapproachable," she explained.

He blinked, startled. "Really?" He couldn't tell her that the reason for that was his Otherness. "I never realized. I just assumed it was because out of my younger brother and I, he inherited all the good-looks."

She burst out laughing suddenly, quickly slamming a hand over her mouth to hide her chuckles. "I'm sorry...but you can't be serious, right?" she asked. "Have you looked in a mirror today? You look tired, but that doesn't hide the fact that you look really handsome."

He leaned a little closer, feeling warm at her words. His gaze flickered along her shoulders, catching what he could of the view down her shirt. "Am I?" he asked in interest. "Most women seem to ignore me."

Her lips lifted in a sultry smile. "Do they?" she giggled. "I guess they don't know quality when they see it." In the depths of her eyes, he could see an answering heat.

In the back of his mind, he was shocked at himself. He never checked women out like this. He'd never-very bluntly-looked down at a woman's shirt. He always kept them at a distance, too busy with his many duties as Lord of Winter. He maintained a tight control, the complete opposite of Felix's lack of control. Where Felix would spend all his free time partying and banging women, Aiden spent his time enjoying a good read.

He shook his head, telling himself to get a grip. His drink wasn't alcoholic. He always made sure to be careful of avoiding it. Still...the longer he drank in the sight of this woman, this stranger he didn't even know, the more he felt as if his blood was beginning to boil. He actually felt hot, which never happened to him.

Bren, sitting a seat away from the two, expertly read the electricity in the air. Without a word, he grabbed his glass and quietly left to a table on the other side of the bar. It didn't take long for a black-haired little vixen to come wondering over to his table. He welcomed the distraction. His lips lifted in a chuckle. I guess we'll both be getting some action tonight, boss.

O O O

About ten minutes later, Aiden wasn't very certain at this point, the two of them were kissing and stroking each other behind his hotel room door. He groaned at the taste of her. Truly, it was like he was high. He forced his tongue in deeper, licking more of her mouth, wanting to taste even more of that sweet nectar she seemed to be made of. All the while, her hands were quickly stripping him of his shirt.

"Oh God, you are so hot!" she moaned in surprise as her fingers slid up his chest, racking over his pecs.

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Will you sue me if I say something cheesy right now?"

Her lips lifted in a smile as she pulled back. "Like what?"

"Wanting you is putting a fire in my blood," he confessed.

She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner. But her expression was filled with an almost shy pleasure. "You're right, I'll so be suing you in the morning. That was horrible!" she laughed.

He grinned. "Not until the morning, right?" he asked.

She glanced at him in confusion. "Yeah..."

"Then be with me now...I want you."

Her eyes widened and then she nodded her head. "I was planning on it."

"You were going to use and then abuse me?" he asked in pretend hurt.

Her smile had just a touch of predator to it. "How can I help but to? You're so damn fine, it's impossible for me not to use you."

He sighed heavily. "I wish more women felt like that." He reached out and brushed some of her thick curls behind her left ear. "What's your name?" he asked very abruptly, all playfulness gone from his voice. He wanted...needed to know her name. Unconsciously, he leaned slightly closer to her, breathing in more of her scent, taking in more of her dark eyes.

A light blush flushed her cheeks once more. "Tiffany," she answered. "What's yours?"

He smiled, cupping her face as he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. "Aiden," he whispered against her lips. Then he was kissing her, eating her mouth, taking everything he could from this woman for this night. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted all of her. Every brush of her fingertips along his shoulders, over his chest. Every tiny pant, caught breath. Every twist of her hips and shifting of her body in lustful impatience drove him mad. It made him feel aflame and he couldn't help but be swept up by it.

He ripped through her shirt, shoving it off her shoulders. In the back of his mind, he was horrified. How could he do something so...so uncivilized to a woman? But even as he thought it, his fingers were shoving their way past her bra and cupping her breasts. At the contact of her hard nipples against his thumbs, he smiled as she groaned. Gods, yes, he thought. He loved the sound she made. It was crazy, but it seemed to rip away the civilized, cultured man in him.

Like she had grabbed hold of one end of the ball of yarn that made up the walls and boundaries he had maintained for so long. And with just one good tug, he could feel them start to unravel. As they did, he trailed kisses lower, falling to his knees before her dark, beautiful body. He felt like he was worshiping some goddess, encased in a shrine. A shrine he desperately wanted to be inside, to explore, to bask in the holy light and life she gave off.

His mind was spinning in circles-drunken circles-as he jerked her pants down from her hips, then even further. When they were nothing more than a pool of black material at her feet, he felt much better. She was wearing some thin, tiny royal blue thong, with black butterflies and lacy patterns on it. But fucking hell, he just wanted to kiss those black curls above her opening. He just wanted to bury his tongue inside her and soak in the scent, taste, and the feel of her body.

Willow's mind felt so hazy. She wasn't sure what it was...Probably the heat. This dude kicked off so much, it was insane. Especially since he hadn't felt warm in the slightest earlier. She scolded herself for not stopping to think and ask what sort of being she was killing today. Usually it was humans, especially lately. She had dropped her guard and assumed this guy would be just the same.

She moaned, pulled from out of her thinking bubble for several seconds, which made her blink in surprise. She was so use to sex now that when she was on a job, she was able to block it all out and pretend. But this Aiden guy was so hot, literally and figuratively, it was causing her to struggle.

She let out a small sigh as she felt his lips brush over the very thin material of her thong. I should end it now, she decided. No point wasting more of my energy on a dead man. She gripped his shoulders and pulled him up, steering him toward the bed, hearing his throaty chuckle. "Impatient much, Tiffany?"

She nodded her head quickly. "You bet I am," she laughed.

On the bed, he fell down first. She straddled his sides, leaning down to cup his face before kissing him deeply. As she did, keeping her eyes open and latched onto his face, she pulled forth her magic. She called upon the buzzing high that came from sex and stuff like 'love'. That's what this was after all. Her last kiss of love, of death, to her victims. Her magic stretched out, pouring forth from her mouth, exuding that euphoric high she knew her kiss granted. She viewed it as her last apology and gift to the ones she killed. Reaching out like a beckoning hand, her magic called to Aiden's soul. As it did, she heard him moan, his kiss growing much more urgent. In between her thighs, she could feel his erection pressing against her thong, straining in his pants. "How can you taste so good?" he groaned through the kiss.

She shrugged, not answering as she focused. Within another second, she felt her magic grab hold of his soul. Like a hooked fish, the emotions she was 'feeling' called his soul closer and closer to their locked tongues. Just a few more seconds, she thought. Just a few more and he'll be dead. Then I can go home tonight and do my Reading.

Panic flooded through her, breaking through her concentration as she realized. I haven't done it in a month. I can't remember the names! I have to remember the names!

Through the haze of the high Aiden was feeling he noticed something was very wrong. There was a weight...A wrongness about it...It kept climbing and his head kept spinning. Very suddenly, it stopped and he had two seconds of clarity. It was just enough time for him to throw Tiffany off him. He didn't know why, but some survival instinct told him that's what he needed to do. Panting, he threw her across the room. With all the mixed signals running through his brain, he forgot to hold back his strength. He was light-headed, drunk and dazed, burning with need so badly he felt like he'd turned into an inferno. Panting, he rose up to a sitting position on the bed, struggling to think clearly, hand pressed to his chest. Slowly, he felt the wrongness, the weight begin to dissipate. He stared across the room at the heap Tiffany was, having been slammed against the wall.

Her vision blurred for two seconds. Biting her lip, she fought it off. Quickly she rose to her feet. She wasn't completely undressed yet and she pulled a thin, deadly sharp blade from her boots, raising it up in a defensive position.

Aiden's eyes went round in shock. "Holy fuck...are you trying to kill me right now?" he asked in a bewildered murmured.

Smiling as thinly as the blade she held, Willow nodded. "I'm sorry, but I really do have to kill you now." She stepped forward, making it two steps before she stopped. Blinking, she stared at Aiden's left hand. It was unsteady, flickering now and again, but the fireball resting in his palm was the size of her entire head.

"Now...look here. I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I'm most certainly not in the mood for...any of this." He suddenly laughed, raising his right hand to his face. "Oh, gods...I thought I was going to get laid and instead you're trying to kill me...Oh, this is beautiful. Just fucking perfect!"

Eyes wide, Willow fought to keep her cool. She'd never failed at her job before. She'd never had to resort to killing her targets once they were made aware and had their guard up. She had most certainly never faced a fireball-wielding, half-drunk, and aphrodisiac-stuffed Other. For that's all this guy could be.

Her mind began to spin in circles, trying to decide on what her next best move would be. Is he a dragon? A fire salamander? An ifrit? There were too many fire Others this guy could be and all of them spelled bad news for her. Besides heat, light, and death, fire was seen as a element of power. Which meant that most fire-related Others had much greater physical strength than many of the other races, besides how much stronger they were compared to humans.

"I'd like an explanation here, Tiffany. Am I really that bad of a kisser?" he asked in a mutter. "Is that why you're trying to stab me right now?" The fireball increased in size. "Damn it, answer me!" he snarled.

Doing her best to fight down her fear, Willow took in her surroundings and situation. She wasn't wearing her pants or shirt, but she still had her underwear and boots on. She didn't need anything but her purse. Moving her eyes just slightly, she caught sight of her purse five feet away on the floor. Her gaze flickered back to Aiden's face. It wasn't a pretty sight. Especially when she noticed that the temperature in the room was steadily rising. Swallowing back her nerves, she steadied herself. It's now or never.

She shot towards her purse, reaching her hands out for it. Above her head, she felt the intense heat from Aiden's fireball fly by her head, missing her by only a inch. She heard him cry out in rage, could feel the magic in the air begin to compress and heat up even more around him. He must be making another, she realized in a numb panic.

Just then her fingertips looped tightly around the strap of her purse. Victory and relief filled her. Closing her eyes, she focused on her magic, doing something she rarely ever did for how much it took out of her. She focused on making her body no longer solid, and just in time too. As she blinked, feeling her body sink through the room floor, she saw a bright flash of red, orange, and yellow. But she was already passing through the wood floors, leaving behind a very pissed off and frustrated Aiden.

She floated down two floors before finding a hotel room that was currently unoccupied. A suitcase was resting on the bed. She let her body solidify, falling forward on the bed in exhaustion. Sucking in several deep breaths, she forced herself to stand. The weight of her body felt weird after turning herself into a ghost, essentially.

Opening the suitcase, she found it was a man's. But it didn't matter. She pulled out a shirt that mostly fit her and a pair of pants. Zipping the suitcase back up, she arranged everything so that it looked like she hadn't touched a thing. Then, dressed, she quietly left the hotel room. She was on the first floor, which worked out just fine. Acting natural, she left the hotel, catching a taxi five blocks from the place. In the taxi, she gave directions to her home. At this point she was completely exhausted. Paying the taxi's fare, she hurried into her house, using the keys in her purse. Locking the door firmly behind her, she leaned against it and sucked in a deep breath.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed A. On the second ring, he picked up. "Yeah, A here."

"I...I failed," she swallowed. "The target somehow...stopped me mid-way through. I tried to finish it the messy way, but when the target turned up the heat, I had to escape."

There was a long silence. "So now the target's guard is going to be up. Damn it, D...But it was a long shot anyway. Your target is known to be insanely powerful, even among the Realmers. I just thought you might have the best chance..." A sighed. "Alright. We'll have to let things cool down and wait until the target's guard drops once more. I guess it's good this wasn't an urgent request. The client just said they wanted it done before the target produced an heir. It sounds like he's some hot shot back in the Other Realm. It also sounded like our client has a deep-seated grudge against the target's whole family..."

Nodding her head, Willow sighed. "Alright. I've made my report. Now I need to get some rest. It took all I had to get away."

"I'll be contacting you at a later point. And D? If you weren't the amazing femme fatale you are, I'd have a bounty out for your own death," A hissed threateningly.

"I understand," she whispered hollowly.

"Don't fail again," A growled before hanging up.

She stared at her phone for several seconds, jumping when movement in front of her set off her warning instincts. "Oh, Dad!" she gasped once she got a better look. "Don't scare me like that!"

Kazuo watched Willow press a hand to her heart. "I hear you fucked up," he inclined his head toward her phone. "That's a first. You haven't failed at killing swiftly since you were-"

Willow's eyes flashed in anger. "Don't you dare bring that up!" she hissed.

He dipped his head in apology. "Right. I'm sorry, Willow. I was just shocked, that's all." He stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, baby girl. I'm sorry for everything..."

She pressed her face against the skin of his shoulder. As was usual for her father, he was shirtless. He only wore a shirt when he had to. It was just one of his weird quirks. "No," she sighed heavily. "Don't be sorry for everything. After all, I wouldn't be here without you...I love you, Dad," she breathed.

Kazuo's eyes closed in pain as he brushed some of Willow's hair further over her shoulder. "I love you too, sweetheart. Your my little girl, no matter how old you get or what anyone else says. I'd do anything for you..."

Nodding her head, Willow pulled back, wiping at her eyes. "I know, Dad. You've proven that to me ten-times over already."

He dropped his arms, smiling a little, but there was an edge to his gaze that wasn't joking in the slightest. "Yeah, you've said. But I love you and it's as simple as that. I'll choose you and Prophecy over the rest of the world, no matter what, every second of every day."

Feel embarrassed shame at his words, Willow nodded again. She cleared her throat awkwardly, desperately wanting to change the subject. "Prophecy's already asleep, right?"

Kazuo frowned. "Of course. It's nearly one in the morning. She did say something funny. She told me to tell you not to be too afraid of the 'Fire Man'. I'm assuming that means something to you?"

Blinking, Willow shook her head in disbelief. "I swear...Prophecy sees everything..."

Kazuo rubbed at an ache along his shoulder. "C'mon, let's get some food in you and I'll tuck you into bed." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She shot him an annoyed glare. "I'm not a kid anymore, Dad," she grumbled.

He chuckled softly. "Compared to me you are."

Her gaze sharpened. "Yeah, you haven't aged more than a few years have you?"

He shrugged. Shaking her head in exasperation, she went up the stairs, to the second floor where the bedrooms were. "Honestly, Dad, I think I'm just going to head to bed right now. It's been a really long, eventful day. I think just getting some rest will be good for me."

He watched her go up the stairs waving and smiling, just a little. "Alright. I love you. 'Night, Willow."

She turned to look over her shoulder. "I love you too. 'Night, Dad."

O O O

"Wait...wait, back up. Hold on a second," Bren held his hands up in a plea. "So you're saying that the chick you brought up to your room last night tried to kill you? Why? Are you just that bad at sex?" he teased lightly. Internally, his mind was spinning around what had happened, what it could mean, and how the hell he could stop it.

Aiden groaned, holding his head gingerly. "Please don't be such a dick," he grumbled. "My head's killing me right now...I don't know what was in that drink but..."

Studying Aiden's face, Bren nodded, confirming his thoughts. "Sounds like you were drugged," the older man mused.

The blood drained from his face as he stared at Bren. "Are you serious? I...I was drugged?" His pain-filled, exhausted mind tried to think about this logically. When had it happened?

Very slowly, he remembered taking his attention away from Tiffany. She had made a comment, Bren had laughed, and then he had been insanely embarrassed. When he turned his head back...Her hand had been right next to his glass! It was a few sips after that when he started getting that burning need to fuck, to ravage, to claim...and she'd been right there and willing. His knees gave out and he stumbled back onto the bed behind him. "Holy shit," he whispered numbly.

Bren crossed his legs in front of him from the other side of the bed. "Yep. We should go out and try to find something to help with the aftereffects. But I'm going with you. I'm not leaving you alone while I get them and I'm not letting you get them alone." He chuckled. "So I guess that means we'll be tied at the hip, for the time being. You got any rope?"

Aiden turned to glare at him. "Now I want to know why. What the hell did I do to deserve a hit being ordered?"

Bren shrugged again, rising to his feet and stretching out. "Who knows? But I'm sure we'll never see the chick again. Now that she's failed, she'll know we're on guard. So until we can make it back to the Other Realm, I'm putting both of us on high alert. Tons of restrictions. No women for either of us. We'll be stuck together like two magnets."

Rising to his own feet, Aiden sighed. "Very well. I just wish for this Winter to be over with. Gods, I feel so sick."

"Don't worry, Aiden. I'm sure we'll find a cure for what ails you." Without another word, Bren led the way out of their room.