“I really could use a scarf,” I said, huddled in my coat. Hel laughed and flicked one of the horns on my winter hat. “Why does Skadi have to make it so flipping cold?”

“Maybe she’s doing it to get back at that kitsune,” Hel said, “Maybe she just likes messing with all those global warming people. She did have a laugh freezing those ships that were trying to prove the ice caps were melting.”

“That was pretty funny,” I said through chattering teeth. “But that doesn’t make me any less miserable.”

“Awww, my poor wulf,” Hel said, wrapping her arms around me. Her chin rested on my shoulder as she looked up at me with bi-colored eyes. Her pale skin pink in the winter’s chill. Few knew she could look completely normal, she just had to have something about herself that was two different colors to show her nature. “Thousands of years of Scandinavian’s in the cold, and you can’t take it at just below freezing.”

“Shut it,” I growled, stamping my feet.

She kissed me, and I caught a brief image of her, naked and lovely, dressed only in a pair of scarves that hinted towards modesty. “There,” she teased, “That should warm you up.”

“Bitch,” I hissed while she vanished with a laugh.