If the circumstances had been different, Angelo may have been excited with the prospect of spending a night in a cosy, wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere with his adventure buddy. It certainly could be an idyllic idea, if it hadn’t been for the sharp, frigidness of reality distorting the tempting picture…

The 'thieves' that they had been recruited to take care of had been a very loose term, Angelo would find out as soon as they arrived at the snowy village tucked away in the woodland route. Bandits and treasure that they had been expecting replaced with wintery spectres and the men’s souls that they pilfered. His cold shivers had been the least of his problems then and Angelo might have been tempted to tell them to shove the deal, had the howling winds not started whistling angrily through the trees – a snowstorm turning the night tainted woodland into a dark, dizzying blur.

With Regulus remaining close to himself and Skyler for warmth, they were promptly guided towards a spare log cabin, their employer insisting that they couldn’t risk staying out any longer and to wait out the storm in one of the cold, vacant homes. 

Then they had left, leaving them there to contemplate over the pleas of the women who had sought their help, hoping that the lie could be overlooked in exchange for the lump sum of money that they had scrounged together. That or maybe the pair would feel inclined to deal with the Froslass out of the goodness of their hearts.

Angelo suppresses a conflicted sigh. Their compensation was tempting, tugging at the desperate part of him with a curled beckoning finger that promised to put weight in his pockets. With his share, he could even transfer a little extra home... But was the prize worth the risk of getting his soul potentially siphoned out by a hoard of vengeful, hungry Froslass? That was the question.

And then there was Skyler…

“We don’t have to do it, you know…” Angelo says slowly, voice carefully level as he peers at her out of the corner of blue eyes, sharp emotions and concern both buried beneath the surface. His breath comes out in a swirl of mist from the cold but the chilly climate, no matter how unused to it he was, did little to temper the agitation that swirls hot under his skin. Regulus, with his large fire heated body, steps across the creaky floorboards to linger close to his human companions.

Outside the wind mournfully howls, snowflakes casting the window in a blur of swirling powder white, night settling in unison with a rapidly escalating blizzard. It didn’t matter whether they decided to pursue the grossly downplayed ‘thieves’ or not. They weren’t going anywhere until morning came and the storm calmed, that much Angelo was certain.

skyler dross