"Jealousy doesn't suit you…" Christmas Special #4 (Mason version) (Patreon)

At the Agency Christmas Party. Christmas Eve. Late Evening.

It takes me at least twenty minutes before I realise the fairy lights aren’t fairy lights at all, but instead free-floating magical orbs.

“Huh,” I let out. I blink a few more times as I stare at them twinkling near the ceiling of the common room of the Facility.

“What is it?” Mason grunts, leaning against the wall beside me in a haze of smoke. I wonder if he thinks it will be enough of a barrier to keep people away, but his scowl does that well enough without the nicotine fog.

I shake my head. “I’m just still getting used to this world, I suppose.”

“Still think it’s not real?” he asks with a lazy smile.

“Sometimes.” I breathe out a laugh. “Anyway, do you want a drink—Oh, never mind.”

He smiles fully this time, the sharp tips of his canines catching on his lower lip. “One day, I’m definitely going to take that as an offer.”

“I’ll be right back,” I reply with a roll of my eyes. I then make to head away when he reaches out to grasp my arm. I glance over my shoulder back to him.

Anxiety tightens his features for the briefest moment. “Don’t leave me alone too long, all right?”

My heart makes a few erratic beats in my chest. “Of course not.”

He leans back, resting his head against the wall, puffing out a stream of smoke before returning to glare at anyone who moves even an inch too close.

I hold back a chuckle and head towards the buffet table.

Mazing through the slightly-sozzled crowd of Agency employees is like combat training. People trip into my path out of nowhere, almost crashing into me, and I have to arc out of their way before their drink or appetizer ends up spilled down my front.

I’m thankful when I make it to the buffet table in one piece.

Creating a small gap for myself amongst the bustle of people vying for food, I try not to look too closely at the strange variety of things on offer, and instead reach out to pour myself one of the selection of gem-coloured drinks sitting invitingly in crystal cut bowls.

My hand pauses with the ladle in mid-air when I hear a voice I recognize.

“Hello. I didn’t think you’d be here tonight.”

I turn, expecting to find Nat, which I do…but she’s across the room and certainly not talking to me.

A tall, slender woman slinks up beside Nat, her lean figure accentuated in a slinky, sparkling, plum-coloured velvet dress. Streams of purple-pink hair cascade over her slim shoulders that she tosses back with an elegant swing of her head.

“Why not?” the woman asks, a heavy accent to her question that I don’t quite recognise.

Nat drops her gaze to her glass, the amber liquid inside untouched, and clears her throat. “I thought Unit [Redacted] were on a mission.”

The woman narrows her eyes at Nat before sighing. “So, what you actually meant is that you hoped I wouldn’t be here.”

“Alima,” Nat elongates the woman’s name. “You know Mason’s here too, don’t you?”

I can see her entire body stiffen for a moment before her shoulders drop with effort. “I heard.”

At the mention of Mason, I scoot a little further behind the ginormous overly-decorated Christmas tree placed beside the table. Thankfully, they both seem too wrapped up in their conversation to notice my awful attempt at stealth.

“He never came anywhere when I was with him,” Alima continues. “I suppose this is all the human’s doing?”

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you,” Nat replies with a chuckle, apparently trying to lighten the moment.

“And yet I fucking have to wear it anywhere. All because that soul-sucking vampire wouldn’t give me the time of day.” Alima groans out a breath and rubs a hand carefully around the make-up glittering across her eyes. “He barely gave me the time of night.”

Nat lets her head fall to one side with a sympathetic smile. “He did tell you—”

“I know. He doesn’t do long term. If there’s one thing I can credit him for, it’s being bluntly honest.” She sighs and meets Nat’s gaze with sadness washing across her painfully-beautiful features. “I hate that I’m in love with him.”

“Yes. Unfortunately, I don’t think you’re alone in that feeling,” Nat replies, giving a soft nod and taking the woman’s webbed hand.

Alima lifts her eyes beneath her thick, pink-tipped lashes. “What about your human? Has he broken them yet too?”

My stomach twists, my grip tightening on the ladle until I can feel the metal edge bite into my palm.

Nat shakes her head. “No. And, I have to give you fair warning…I don’t think he’s going to.”

Alima’s eyes snap wide. “What?!”

“Are you done yet?”

“Aah!” I yelp at Mason’s voice behind me, the ladle—and its contents—flinging into the air before splashing down onto the floor between us.

Mason stares down at the liquid and then up at me. “I’d ask if you’d seen a ghost, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were actually a few floating around here tonight.”

I try to choke out a laugh, but it strangles in my dry throat.

He lifts a brow at me. “Are you alright?”

Gaining control over my body again, I draw in a breath and push a smile onto my lips. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Good. Can we go back to the corner now?” he asks, taking my hand to lead me away, but I drag him to a stop. He groans. “What now?”

“Why did you come tonight?” I try not to make it too obvious that I’m holding my breath.

He holds my gaze for a moment as though the question is the most ridiculous thing he’s heard all night. “Because you asked me to.”

For some reason, his answer has me smiling brighter than all the magical lights twinkling on the ceiling above us.

As he returns to leading me along behind him, I glance to where a few people are shoving back sofas and chairs to make a dance floor, the music cranking up another level and making a few of the supernaturals flinch.

“I guess it would be pushing my luck to ask for a dance?” I call over the sudden influx of whooping cheers as couples take to the floor.

Mason pauses and swings around to face me, smirking before tugging me against him, his arm wrapping around me.

“It depends,” he purrs. “Are you going to let me lead?”

I tip my head back in a laugh as we join the others, never having had such a merry Christmas in my life…even with a very envious glare scorching into my back as we dance.