Chapter One

C andace

Candace Juniper twirled playfully among the candy trees, her laughter ringing through the faery Kingdom of Sweets and Dreams like the tinkling of a thousand tiny bells. Her golden curls bounced around her face as she danced between the frosted branches, her feet barely touching the ground. As a sunsidhe fae, Candace exuded an aura of pure joy.

"Lady Candace," a young gingerbread boy called out to her, his gumdrop eyes beseeching.

"Hello there, sweetie." Candace crouched down beside him. "What can I do for you today?"

"Can you make it snow powdered sugar again?" A hopeful smile spread across his icing lips.

"Of course." She wiggled her fingers, and a soft flurry of powdered sugar began to form a confectionary snowstorm.

"Thank you!" The gingerbread boy ran off to join his friends.

Candace rose to her feet, a fond smile curving her lips as she watched the children play. She glided through her land, checking on each inhabitant and offering words of encouragement. Approaching a young snow fae who was struggling to finish her dance routine, Candace gently guided her through the steps. As she watched the girl's face light up with pride, Candace knew this was why she had become the protector and nurturer of her people: to help them achieve their dreams.

As she wandered deeper into her realm, Candace paused by a grove of peppermint trees, their crimson and white stripes giving off a scent of crisp happiness. Closing her eyes, she let her senses expand, taking in the dreams of the people throughout the mortal realms as well.

"Lady Candace, when will you be visiting other realms during the Yuletide season?" a curious candy fae asked, her gossamer wings shimmering with iridescent colors as she flitted closer.

"Soon." It wasn't yet Yule, and she was still preparing to bring them the best dreams she could to make hope and joy last through the new year.

"Even to the humans in Whitlock?" another candy fae chimed in, her tone frightened.

"Why? What's going in in Whitlock?" Candace asked.

But the candy faes twittered away without answering her.

Whitlock was a small town in Connecticut, hidden from mundane humans. It was a town of supernatural creatures run by a vampire mayor. And the territory was well within the moonsidhe realm.

Closing her eyes again, she focused her power on the people of Whitlock. She didn't like what she sensed in their dreams—nightmares, rather. She needed to investigate further. Singling out a farmer, she entered into his dream of planting crops. But it was a volatile mix of both dream and nightmare. One moment, he had enough to feed his family through the winter. The next, the crops withered on the vine and rotted in the field faster than he could harvest them.

In the midst of this conflict, she glimpsed a figure through the haze. Candace wasn't surprised to see Roderick Stone, her counterpart and exact opposite. The Ruler of Nightmares was a tall, imposing stature draped in dark. His elegant attire absorbed the shadows around him. He had an infuriatingly chiseled jawline that gave way to full lips that always held a hint of a smirk—one that her palm itched to smack off his smug face. He had messy black hair that framed piercing, stormy gray eyes. A shiver of desire ran through Candace at the sight of him when their gazes locked. She hated this attraction she always felt toward him. They had been on opposite sides of the dream realm for eternity.

"Go away," Candace whispered, not wanting to wake the Whitlock man before she turned his nightmare into a more pleasant dream.

"I was here first," he replied. His tone, low and velvety, sent unwanted shivers through her.

"What's going on in this town?"

"None of your business. Whitlock is my territory, not yours." He could no more stop her from gifting people with happy dreams than she could stop him from providing nightmare material to them. But they each had their own territory where they were allowed to flourish.

"You can't doom an entire town to nightmares. That's not how this is supposed to work."

"You need to mind your own business. Unless, of course, you'd like me to flit around in Radiance?"

Radiance was another supernatural town, this one in the neighboring state of New York. "I find you there anyway," she grumbled.

"You can't stop their minds from turning to darker thoughts."

"But I can stop you from terrorizing them."

Roderick chuckled, a deep, throaty sound that sent chills down Candace's spine. "Are you sure about that?"

"What do you mean?"

With a slow, deliberate step forward, Roderick closed the distance between them until they were scant inches apart. The air crackled with tension as he reached out to gently trace a finger along the line of Candace's jaw. His touch was like icy fire against her skin, sending conflicting sensations throughout her body.

"Darkness and light are two sides of the same coin," Roderick murmured, his voice low and hypnotic. "They are intertwined, bound together in an eternal dance. You, my dear Candace, cannot deny the allure of the shadows forever."

Candace's heart fluttered erratically in her chest as his words sank in. She could feel the pull of something unfamiliar and dangerous, a magnetic force that drew her closer to Roderick despite her better judgment.

"I don't have time for this," she said. But she couldn't bring herself to step away from his magnetic presence. "Stop scaring my candy fae."

Roderick smiled, but there was no joy in the expression. It was a smile that held secrets and hidden desires. "They are choosing to be afraid."

"How so?"

"They don't like the truth."

"Nonsense," she scoffed.

"They do not want to face reality."

"Reality isn't blighted crops and starving during the winter."

"Oh my sweet sunsidhe, how na?ve you are."

Candace jammed her hands on her hips. "I am not na?ve."

"I find you irresistible." Roderick leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.

The touch was electric, a jolt of fiery darkness that sent shockwaves through Candace's body. A part of her, the part that thrived on light and joy, recoiled at the sensation, wanting to push him away. But there was also a sliver of her, a small spark of curiosity, that longed to explore the forbidden allure of his darkness.

Candace's eyes fluttered shut as their lips slid against each other, the taste of him like bitter chocolate. Roderick's arms snaked around her, pulling her close to his hard body as if he wanted to consume her with his darkness.

It took every ounce of willpower to push away from him. "I know what you're doing, and you won't corrupt me."

Roderick's eyes flickered with a mix of frustration and curiosity, his lips twisting into a wry smile. "How long do you think you can resist me?"

Cocking her head at him, she said, "Or maybe we should continue this. Maybe I will corrupt you with sunshine and joy."

Roderick's stormy gray eyes bore into hers, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his features. "You speak as if you are untouched by pain or suffering," he said, his voice tinged with bitterness.

Candace felt a pang of sympathy for the moonsidhe before her. She knew all too well the weight that darkness could carry, the tendrils of despair that threatened to consume even the strongest souls. "Of course I have felt them. Everyone has. But I believe that there is always a glimmer of light within each of us, waiting to be embraced."

He barked out a laugh, a harsh sound that reverberated through the air. "Perhaps then, light and darkness cannot coexist. Maybe they are oil and water, forever at odds with one another."

"Even the smallest flicker of light can banish the darkness," she said. "You'd do well to remember that."

The connection between them intensified, electric currents surging between them until the man from Whitlock jolted awake, severing their momentary bond.

Candace's eyes opened as she was rudely thrust back into her own realm.

He kissed me. He had the nerve to kiss me. She rubbed her lips thoughtfully.

"Whitlock"—a candy fae fluttered back to answer her question from before—"is struggling. They need our help."

Had the darkness crept out of the dream land and into the real world? It had been hard to reach the people of Whitlock. They seemed overly burdened by nightmares. Candace couldn't blame them for falling for Roderick's enigmatic allure. He haunted her thoughts as well. She needed to investigate, both the town and Roderick.

Candance still felt the phantom presence of his mouth on hers. She wasn't sure if she wanted to slap him or kiss him again.

"I will visit Whitlock in person." Raising her arms, Candance summoned her magical carriage—a creation of spun sugar and frosted gingerbread, pulled by unicorns with shimmering manes.

"Are you certain?" A candy fae fluttered its wings nervously. "It is not our usual place, after all."

That was true. Although Candace often fluttered from dream to dream, visiting the world as it slumbered, she very rarely physically left her realm. This time was different. This time she felt pulled to Whitlock and to the moonsidhe who watched over it.

"I'll need your help, of course. Go into Whitlock as if you were visitors just passing through. See if you can find out why they are struggling this Yule season and let me know if there is anything we can do to help."

"We're on it!" The candy fae saluted her and wisped off.

As Candace climbed aboard her carriage, her thoughts strayed to Roderick once more. What would he think of her decision to visit his domain? Would their paths cross again? Anticipation tingled in her veins at the thought.

RODERICK

Roderick Stone took great satisfaction in his role as Krampus. This time of year, it was his duty to balance the scales. While Candace spread joy and light as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Roderick ensured that those who had been naughty were reminded of the consequences of their actions.

Krampus, a figure cloaked in darkness and adorned with horns, was both feared and revered by those who knew his name. He crept through the night, visiting homes where misdeeds outweighed good deeds, leaving behind a harsh reminder of the importance of virtue. Some received small tokens of coal, others faced more severe repercussions—but all understood that Krampus held the power to instill fear and keep them in check. He was the counterbalance to the excessive merriment brought about by the holidays. It was, in a way, his own twisted version of spreading cheer.

"Psst, Roderick," a voice whispered from the shadows.

A small creature emerged, its luminous eyes piercing the darkness. Roderick had named the creature Nox, for it was a living embodiment of the night itself. Nox nudged Roderick playfully, its spindly limbs like tendrils of smoke.

"Your brooding is really taking a toll on the ambiance around here," Nox teased, rolling its eyes dramatically. "And that's coming from me, a literal shadow."

Roderick smirked at the creature's antics. Nox was an oddity in his world, bringing unexpected moments of levity amidst the gloom.

"What news do you bring of the mortal worlds?"

"Word among the shadows is that your sunsidhe counterpart, Candace, has plans to visit Whitlock," Nox informed him, a mischievous glint in its eyes. "Seems she's taken quite an interest in the supernatural settlement."

Roderick's amusement evaporated as quickly as it had come, replaced by a mixture of annoyance and concern. The thought of Candace's light encroaching on his domain was infuriating. Anger rose within him like a storm. That insufferable sunsidhe meddling in his territory was more than he could bear. With a growl, he slammed his fist down upon the table, causing Nox to flinch.

"I won't allow her to intrude upon my domain."

"Perhaps it's not all bad, Roderick," Nox offered hesitantly. "Maybe she can bring some joy to the people of Whitlock."

"Joy?" Roderick snorted derisively. "They don't need her false happiness. They have their own ways of coping, and I'll be damned if I let her interfere."

Nox tilted its head. "You know," it mused, "it wouldn't hurt for you two to meet in person. Maybe some of her sunshine could rub off on you."

"Hardly," Roderick scoffed, his mind already racing with strategic countermeasures. But deep down, amidst the turmoil of his thoughts, he couldn't help but wonder what might happen if it did. If he dared kiss her in reality instead of in the relative safety of the dreamlands.

Banishing those traitorous thoughts, he stormed over to a map of Whitlock that hung on the wall, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the town. It was small and unassuming, yet the potential threat it posed to his realm if he lost it to the sunsidhe weighed heavily on him. He considered his options, his mind calculating each possible outcome.

"Ben Whitlock will need to know about this." Roderick reached for a quill and parchment. He scribbled a hasty note, his hand shaking with barely suppressed rage.

"Warn him about the sunsidhe," he instructed Nox, who took the scroll with a nod.

The moon illuminated the courtyard as Roderick stood at the window, his eyes fixed on the horizon. He could feel the cold seeping through the glass, but it was nothing compared to the icy tendrils of anger wrapping around his heart. Candace's carriage, a confectionary delight pulled by unicorns, soared in the distance, its path traced by a trail of shimmering fairy dust.

"Of all the realms she could have chosen," he muttered, his breath fogging the windowpane. "Why Whitlock?"

"Perhaps she finds it... charming?" Nox ventured, its luminous eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Charming," Roderick snorted, rolling his eyes. "It is a small town. No more. No less. She's looking to lessen my influence and broaden hers. I will not allow it. I'll go down to Whitlock myself and toss her out on her pretty little ass."

His conviction echoed through the dark chambers of his castle, a reminder that while the sun might rise, the night would always follow. And Roderick Stone, the god of nightmares and despair, would not be easily vanquished.