Free Frost by Phaedra Weldon

the way I wanted to see you again. But given the circumstances, it was the quickest way."  
    Son?  
    I whirled around and looked back where I started. I could've sworn it was empty a second ago—just another group of trees drooping with snow. But not now. Now the space was occupied by a tall man with no shirt and furry pants.  
    Wait—
    I took a hesitant, crunchy step forward into the snow to get a closer look. Those weren't pants. Those were…legs.  
    He shifted and I saw the legs in action. They bent backward at the knees, like a goat's legs. The feet weren't feet, but very large hooves.  
    "Jackson? Are you all right?"  
    "You…your feet…"  
    "Oh. Whups."  
    His legs and feet blurred for an instant. I blinked, thinking it was my own vision going against another attack of heat exhaustion. But the legs were covered in jeans. Boots covered the feet.  
    Had I just imagined it?  
    "Jack—" he snapped his fingers at me. "Son, I need you to pay attention. We don't have a lot of time."  
    "S-son?" He winced at him. "Who—who are you?"  
    "I thought that was obvious the way Jovita described me." He took a step forward but I wasn't ready for this. When I moved back, hands up in fists, he backstepped to where he was. "Did Nik do something to you when he brought you here?"  
    "Nik?"
    "St. Nikolas. Santa. He can travel with a touch of his nose." He leaned forward. "Or not? What did he do?"  
    I didn't see anything wrong with answering him. "He kissed me."  
    The stranger returned my wince. "Oh. Sorry. I told him not to do that. I'm pretty sure he did it on a bet. Don't take it personal. But I'll make sure he gets you back without the invasion of personal space."  
    "Back?" I put my hands to my head and then held them out as if directing traffic, signaling for a car to stop. "Wait…wait just a fucking minute. What the hell is going on?"  
    "I wish I could give you a much longer explanation, Jack. But I can't. Maybe if I'd found you sooner, but you didn't start manifesting your power until yesterday. Given the rate magic travels, Nature's going to know you're alive if she doesn't already."  
    I narrowed my eyes at him. "What?"  
    He tried stepping closer and this time I didn't assume the defensive posture. I just somehow knew he wasn't intent on hurting me. "Jack, you're going to have to listen to me and do exactly what I tell you. Promise?"  
    "No. I don't know who the hell you are or where I am—"  
    "You're in North Dakota. Fargo to be exact. I like it here. And it's a lot cooler than Georgia right now."  
    "Yeah…you noticed the heat?" I lowered my arms. "So you're saying Santa brought me here."  
    "Yes. Now listen. For all intents and purposes, I'm your father. I don't expect hugs or adulation or any kind of emotion. Frankly—I don't know you either. And that's okay. We can deal with that later. For the time being just call me Winter because it's easier. Right now you got about forty-eight hours to survive if you want to avoid Jason's fate."  
    "Jason's fate?" I decided I'd listen. I mean, why not? I was in Fargo, North Dakota for crying out loud. And I didn't have any reason to believe he was lying—there was no where in that hospital they could set this kind of stage up. "You mean his death or his being Jack Frost."  
    "Both." Winter shifted on his feet as I they were uncomfortable. "Most of what your mother told you was true. She and I had a fling. I was drunk. She was adventurous and one night of debauchery and she was pregnant."  
    "And you were human at that point."  
    "Yes. Mostly. Not important. What is important is that I didn't know until after the two of you were born until Jack Frost met an untimely—" He pursed his lips. "—an unfortunate accident. And when a deity dies another has to take its place. We draw from humans for many of the positions. Nature learned I'd fathered two children and sent me to get you. When I discovered all the hell she'd had to go through—I decided to