Twelve Dates For Christmas

Chapter 1- Millie

An obnoxious pop song blared through the speakers, barely drowning out the clinking of glasses and laughter. I glanced out the side window, watching the fluffy flakes of white that floated peacefully to the ground illuminated by the streetlamp.

I loved the sight of snow. It calmed me, even amidst the chaos of a busy Saturday night. The bar was full—a fact I was abruptly reminded of by the hand slapping the hardwood bar top.

"Hey there, girlie. Another Bud!" a man in his early thirties with short dark hair and fine lines creasing his forehead barked impatiently. His eyes roamed down my body for the third time in the hour, making me regret the skintight jeans and form-fitting sweater.

The tingle of my magic buzzing through my veins made me want to turn the asshole into a toad, but that wasn't the Christmas spirit my mother was always preaching about. With a deep breath reeking of alcohol and sweat, I pasted on a friendly smile.

"Coming right up."

After pouring the guy his beer, the glass filled with the disgusting foamy yellow drink, I sat it on the counter and collected the payment.

"Keep the change," he said with a sneer.

A whole fifty cents. Super. I flashed him another sickly-sweet smile while chanting Don't curse him. Don't curse him. Don't curse him over and over in my head. A few strands of hair fell into my face as I turned to take the orders from the group of girls that took their seats on the barstools. With a huff I blew the stray hairs back, using the tiniest wisp of magic to keep them in place.

The girls giggled, seeming not to notice my presence. At the opposite end, someone shouted their order for a rum and coke. My head throbbed. The place was packed, and it was only midnight. It would be another three hours until my shift ended. Two if I used magic to tidy the place faster.

Zipping back and forth, fulfilling drinks and ignoring drunken flirtations, I wished for time to hurry its ass up. Somehow, the bar seemed to fill even more, making the heated air near suffocating. There were a few others—otherworldly creatures, that is. I could sense them thanks to my magic, but they mingled among humans unnoticed.

Because it was nearly impossible to see through the crowd, I almost missed the werewolf salivating in the back corner, his silvery eyes locked on me. Every time I caught him staring, his eyes brightened, practically glowing from within. For some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that the intensity had less to do with desire and more to do with hunger. Being as it was near the full moon, werewolves were often more violent, hunting those they wished to turn...or tear apart.

I shivered at the thought.

"You okay, Millie?" Ollie asked to my left. Her blond pixie cut only made her five-foot stature seem like she might be an other herself. I'd heard of pixies, but I'd never seen one.

I nodded, before cutting another look toward the back of the room. The wolf was hidden from view, but somehow, I could still feel him watching.

In the next instant, the door opened. The air shifted. My eyes immediately trained on the three men that entered, my heart skipping into a wild rhythm. They were gorgeous. And very much other.

The first, and easiest to see, was tall with black wisps of hair peeking out from underneath a knitted, navy-colored beanie. Tiny flakes clung to the material, melting in the heat of the room. When his face turned in my direction, emerald-green eyes locked with mine before they filled with black, like ink.

Demon.

His body seemed to expand slightly, as if he could get any bigger. I could have sworn the ambient temperature climbed by several more degrees as the other two turned as well, zeroing in on my face.

One was equally tall with wavy, sandy-brown hair that was artfully tousled by the wind and snow. His cheeks were void of any color and his eyes were a dark brown but lined in blood red.

I swallowed hard.

He was a vampire. I'd only ever seen them in pictures. Since they were usually so bloodthirsty they kept to the shadows, where they could snatch unsuspecting humans for live blood bags.

The third male had shaggy blond hair and the same model-like beauty that was too perfect. Too enrapturing. His brilliant golden eyes flooded to black as well, with a flash of two dark points protruding from his skull. Horns?

Another demon then.

Wait, don't their eyes turn black only when they're mating or hunting?

My eyes went wide. Shit.

I took a step back and they each moved forward as though a tether stretched between us, pulling them with me.

The vampire's nostrils flared, and before I could find the common sense to flee, all three men stood at the bar, having moved so fast not even Ollie noticed.

A tiny squeak bubbled up my throat, but fortunately the booming music covered it up. Though judging by the faintest hint of a smirk on the dark-haired demon's lips, they'd all heard it.

"Well now," the roguish demon purred, "I believe we found what we were looking for after all."

Oh fuck.