Page 68 of Ramiel

Veering into the kitchen, Vic put her hands on her hips and glared at her.“What do you need a hand with?”she demanded.

“I’m too short to reach the popcorn on the top shelf of the pantry,” Grace said innocently.“You have arms like an orangutan, so you’ll be able to reach them for me.”

Vic’s lips twitched in reluctant amusement at the insult, then she gave a mock growl.“You little brat!”she shouted, then Grace took off running with a squeal that was part glee and part terror.

Using her speed that no one else could match, Grace managed to evade Vic for a couple of minutes.The other females were laughing in delight at the crazy chase.The knights did their best not to get in their way.Cam was grateful to his favorite sister for distracting his enraged mate.He trotted after them when Vic finally grabbed the teen and raced towards the lake.

Shrieking at the top of her lungs, Grace was spun around wildly over her trainer’s head before being tossed into the water.“That never gets old!”she exclaimed when she came up for air.Treading water, she saw Cam coming with a towel.“Holy shiz!”the teen said.“I’ve just had the most awesome idea!”

Vic was grinning and her bad mood was just a memory now.“What crazy scheme have you come up with this time, shorty?”she asked.

Camriel waited for Grace to swim to shore before handing her the towel.“Thanks, big brother,” she said, giving him a quick hug.“Take Vic inside and keep her occupied for an hour,” she ordered.“Send Wyn and Sin to the lake.Get them to bring the coffee I was making with them, too.”

“You speak and I obey,” Cam joked.He picked his mate up and tossed her over his shoulder before she could protest, then he teleported Vic back inside.

“This is going to be so amazing,” Grace said, drying her soaked hair with the towel.

The duplicator and water manipulator arrived a few minutes later, carrying three mugs.They’d opted to walk rather than getting their knights to teleport them.“What’s this all about?”Wynter asked.Nova was asleep in her nursery and she knew Tolas would check up on their daughter frequently.

“I’ve just come up with a great idea,” Grace said and launched into her plan.

“I love it!”Sinai declared, instantly onboard with the idea.

“Me, too,” Wynter agreed with a grin.“Let’s get to work, girls.”It was dark now, so Sin conjured up some lights to mark the perimeter of their worksite.

An hour later, Cam and Vic returned to the lake and they weren’t alone.Everyone had come to see the scheme Grace had cooked up.

“It’s just a wall of ice,” Jac said in disappointment when he saw the opaque barrier that stretched from left to right.

“Show them, Wyn,” Grace said, beaming with proud joy.

Wynter melted the thin wall of ice and waved her hand at the new entertainment area the trio had created.“Ta da!”she said with a grin.

Vic’s face lit up when she saw a section of the lake had become frozen.“We can ice skate now!”she said, then whooped with joy.Sin had created a bunch of picnic tables over to the left.Fairy lights were strung up on tall poles to mark the edges of the ice, making it even more magical.Sin had created enough ice skates for them all and had conjured up racks to put them in.

“We’ll have to take the skates inside when we’re done,” Sinai said.“They’re the same sizes as our roller skates, so they should fit us.”

“We can leave them in the mud room near the back door,” Zoe decided.

“This is awesome, girls,” Vic said, moved almost to tears by the effort they’d put in.Wynter accepted her apologetic hug, forgiving her trainer’s surliness.She could easily melt and refreeze part of the lake whenever they wanted her to.They just needed to take the fairy lights down and put them back up again each time.

Grace was already pulling her skates on.She was the first to test the ice.Once again, she quickly picked up how to ice skate and zoomed around the freezing surface.“We should have worn winter clothes,” she said ruefully.Her t-shirt and cut off jean shorts were damp from her swim and she was shivering.

“Get over here, short stuff,” Sin said with an eye roll.She used her skill to duplicate the clothes the kid was wearing, putting them on her beneath her current outfit.

“That was awesome,” Grace said in amazement, then hurriedly removed the damp t-shirt.“Can you tear my shorts off, Eze?”she asked Sin’s mate.

“If any other female had asked my mate that question, I’d rip her arms off,” Sinai said wryly.

Ezequiel grinned as he waited for the teen to unzip the top pair of shorts.He ripped them apart with a quick yank while his female held Grace steady on her skates.

“Thanks, guys!”the teen said.

“Hang on,” Sin said in a chiding tone, then held out her hand.A snow-white mink coat appeared a moment later.“Don’t worry, it’s fake fur,” she said before Grace could become upset that any innocent animals had died to create the original coat.

Pulling the coat on, Grace instantly felt warmer.“I’m keeping this,” she said in admiration, stroking the soft fur.“Come on, slowpoke!”she called out to Vic.“What’s taking you so long, Grandma?”

Vic finished pulling her skates on and began gliding around on the ice.“This is even better than roller skating,” she said in a gloating tone.Now she could have fun without feeling like a monster.GG and Dalt were teleported to a nearby warehouse for a date night or to visit Pastor Hogan for a few hours once a month so she could skate.They visited him weekly anyway, so it was a bonus for them.Wynter always gave Vic sour glances when her bestie was kicked out of her own home, though.