misplaced || l. valdez

14 || the snow angels give us a hotel room 100° too cold

° ~ •. ♆ chapter fourteen ♆ .• ~ °
"the snow angels give us a hotel room 100° too cold"

After a couple more hours, the bustling city of Quebec came into view. The sunlight had already started fading when Mari shook Leo awake. "We're here."

Below them, a city sat on a cliff overlooking a river. The plains around it were dusted with snow, but the city itself glowed warmly in the winter sunset. Buildings crowded together inside high walls like a medieval town, way older than any place Mari had seen before. In the center was an actual castle—  at least, Mari assumed it was a castle—  with massive red brick walls and a square tower with a peaked, green gabled roof.

"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop." Leo said.

"Yeah, Quebec City." Piper confirmed. "One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded around sixteen hundred or so?"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "How did you know that, beauty queen?"

Piper stuck her tongue out. "You know, I do this thing called reading, I don't know if you've ever done it."

"Shut up, Piper." Leo said. "If you know so much, then what's that castle?"

"A hotel, I think."

Leo laughed. "No way."

As they got closer, Mari saw that Piper was right. The grand entrance was bustling with doormen, valets, and porters taking bags. Sleek black luxury cars idled in the drive. People in elegant suits and winter cloaks hurried to get out of the cold.

"The North Wind is staying in a hotel?" Mari said, surprised. "This can't be—"

"Heads up, guys." Jason interrupted. "We got company!"

Mari looked below and saw what Jason meant. Rising from the top of the tower were two winged figures— angry angels, with nasty-looking swords.

° ~ •. ♆ .• ~ °

Festus didn't like the angel guys. He swooped to halt in midair, wings beating and talons bared, and made a rumbling sound in his throat.

"Steady boy." Leo muttered, petting the dragon's head.

"I don't like this." Mari said. "They look like storm spirits."

But as the angels got closer, she could see they were much more solid than storm spirits. They looked like regular teenagers, except for their icy white hair and feathery purple wings. Their bronze swords were jagged, like icicles. Their faces looked similar enough that they might've been brothers, but they definitely weren't twins.

One was the size of an ox, with a bright red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants, and black leather cleats. The guy clearly had been in too many fights, because both his eyes were black, and when he bared his teeth, several of them were missing.

The other guy looked like he'd just stepped off of a 1980s rock album cover. His ice-white hair was long and feathered into a mullet. He wore pointy-toed leather shoes, designer pants that were way too tight, and a god-awful silk shirt with the top three buttons open.

The angels pulled up in front of the dragon and hovered there, swords at the ready. The hockey ox grunted. "No clearance."

"'Scuse me?" Leo said.