Fonn turned the truck onto a major thoroughfare. The snow became a blur of fast-falling, large flakes. Despite the wider, well-traveled road, all I could see ahead of us was a vague sense of the center line and ice crystals glistening in the headlights. The truck barreled ahead confidently, but I snaked a hand over to Sebastian’s and squeezed tightly.

Lilith rippled across my abdomen—a warning.

Okay, so Fonn was crazy magical, but what was Lilith saying? Was Fonn dangerous, too? How?

Despite the Ford’s heater going full blast, I felt an icy breeze on the back of my neck. My muscles tensed involuntarily. I snuggled a bit closer to Sebastian, who seemed to be feeling the chill also. The arm he wrapped around my shoulder shuddered slightly.

“Cold?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” he said, raising his shoulders as if to ward off a wind. “Just now.”

“The storm is picking up,” Fonn said, as if that explained why the temperature suddenly affected my undead vampire lover. “We might need to find shelter,” she added, using her gloved hand to turn the wipers up a notch. They beat furiously against the glass.

“We’ve got to be getting closer to town,” I muttered to myself. Sebastian’s farm was no more than ten minutes from the edges of Madison’s suburbs. It seemed like we’d been driving twice that long, especially given that when we’d broken down we were almost halfway to the edge of town.

“I may have missed a turnoff,” Fonn said. “Visibility sucks. I think I might have gotten turned around. We’re a bit lost.”

We’re not lost, I thought. We’re being taken somewhere. Madison wasn’t exactly a bustling metropolis. Okay, sure, it was the capital city of Wisconsin, but there weren’t that many roads that led in and out of it. Provided you stayed pointed in the same direction, getting lost was actually kind of difficult. Fonn knew where we were, I was sure of it, especially when I noticed that slight, malicious smile twitched across her lips again. I was just about to call her on it when Sebastian piped up.

“A bit lost? Isn’t that like being a little pregnant?” Sebastian asked, though his question was clearly rhetorical and sarcastic. “Lost. That’s fantastic.”

I rolled my eyes and shrugged out from under his arm. “This is not your curse,” I said with a long-suffering sigh.

“Are you kidding me?” Sebastian snapped out of his funk long enough to let out a rant. “We’re stuck in an ice storm with the creature from the black lagoon, and you don’t think it’s because my parents are sinners and I practiced the dark arts on the holy days?”

“No, I don’t. You’re suffering because your parents had sex on a night they weren’t supposed to? Do you even realize how insane that sounds?” I asked, giving him the she-can-hear-you glare.

“I’m from Norway,” Fonn added, sounding only a little put out. I started to giggle at the absurdity of her correction, when she continued, “And I’m not a ‘creature’; I’m a demon.”

“Oh, well,” Sebastian said dryly. “That makes things much better.”

I gave Sebastian a little nudge to say Go ahead, idiot, poke the demon.

The wipers smeared ice and slush uselessly across the windshield. We were surrounded in whiteness. The storm had become a full-on blizzard.

Pulling off to the side, Fonn slowed to a stop. “We need to wait this out.”

“Yeah, great,” Sebastian muttered.

Even though she’d identified herself as a demon, I still figured a little common courtesy could go a long way. “Thanks for picking us up,” I said, staring out into the shifting white. “We’d be dead otherwise.”

Fonn smiled.

Lilith tightened the muscles in my abdomen.

The chill crept along my spine again, like fingers of frost.

“Jesus, it’s cold in here,” Sebastian said, reaching for the heater.

Sebastian huddled near the vent, hugging himself for warmth. I looked at Fonn and the gleam in her eye.

Fonn pushed a button on her dash, and suddenly the cabin was filled with the droning voice of some announcer on Wisconsin Public Radio talking about the stock market and Bulgarian politics or some other esoteric subject. I didn’t really listen. I was too busy freaking out. Sebastian looked miserable. He shivered pathetically. I ran my hand along the back of his neck lightly to comfort him. His skin felt cold.

Cold? That wasn’t right. Yeah, okay, he was a vampire, and most vampires have cold skin. Not my boy. His magic made him hot-blooded. I pulled my fingers away in surprise.

“Sebastian,” I said. “You’re cold.”

“Damn right. I’m freezing.” He rubbed his arms in the classic style, trying to get some heat from the friction.

Wind rattled the windows of the truck. Everywhere was white on night, and where the headlights beamed, it reminded me a bit of the image of hyperspace from Star Wars. Sebastian shouldn’t be cold; this storm shouldn’t be so strong, so soon.

“You’re sucking the life from us to make this storm, aren’t you?” I demanded of Fonn, who sat smugly watching the snow pile up on the windshield.

Midshiver, Sebastian glanced up at Fonn. “Hey, I don’t have any life,” he pointed out.

“Energy,” Fonn interjected. “And, if I may say so, you’re both loaded.”

That would explain why Lilith didn’t like Fonn much. An energysnarfing demon would probably consider a goddess an all-you-can-eat-buffet.

“That’s fan-fucking-tastic,” Sebastian said. “Happy birthday to me.”

A knock on the driver’s side window made everybody jump, even Fonn. She powered-down the window, letting in an arctic blast of wind and snow. I noticed the faint flash of blue lights behind us and the reflective paint at the tip of a snowplow’s blade.

“Everyone all right in here?” a male voice asked. I had the impression of a mustache underneath the fake fur of a parka hood wrapped tightly around his head.

Fonn eyed the newcomer in a way that could only be described as hungry.

“We could use some help,” Fonn said, her voice abruptly shifting to that of a feeble older woman’s. Fonn was going to eat this unsuspecting stranger, too! I suddenly realized she’d been out trolling for victims and anyone would do. Of course, she’d lucked out and got a goddess-toting Witch and her supernatural vampire boyfriend. Good day for Fonn; bad day for us.

Lilith pushed against my stomach, like a snake uncoiling. But before I could react, Sebastian spoke up.

“Actually, we’re fine. Just waiting out the storm a bit.” Sebastian’s voice was liquid glamour. For a moment, I swore the cab of the truck smelled faintly of cinnamon toast and hot cocoa—very comforting smells, very homey. In fact, even I was feeling pretty safe and a little bit sleepy.

The snowplow driver nodded, completely duped by vampire charm. “Yeah, this weather sure is a doozie. You take care now.”

He disappeared into the snow, and I let out my breath when I heard the plow’s engine spring to life behind us.

Fonn did not look happy with either of us.

The temperature inside the cab dropped ten degrees. I could see my breath come out in white puffs. Sebastian took in a ragged breath at the same time, as if he also felt the shift. The snowy wind coming through the open window tossed Fonn’s curls about wildly. Her eyes flashed a stormy gray. Wind howled around the truck like a wolf.

Heat leeched from me in waves. I could see steam lifting from my body, rising to curl around Fonn like smoke. Fonn’s expression was pure triumph. She was going to suck the heat from us and make the mother of all blizzards.

So I kicked her.

I’m not usually a big proponent of violence, but I found her self-satisfied grin too annoying to bear.

I’d like to pretend that after my swift kick to the shin Fonn crumpled over in abject pain and suffering, we overpowered her, and that was the end of things, but in reality she gave me a do-that-again-and-I-will-squash-you-like-a-bug frown and continued stealing our life force.