The high slopes, and a snow ops couple

"So, how do they fit?" Lucy asked Kyle cheerfully.

Kyle finished checking his skis as he fastened and unfastened his boots from them. He smiled down at his bright blue skis before answering. "Yeah, these'll work perfectly."

Lucy turned back to the snowboards on the rental store's wall. "Hmm...I can't decide. Do I go with the black one with the rock n' roll devil's horn, or the red with the hot rod flames?"

Kyle couldn't resist a snicker. "You don't think that's a little on the nose?"

"Hey, what can I say?" Lucy asked. "I kind of like some of the symbols and motifs some of you humans gave me."

She turned around again and grabbed the red snowboard with flames on it. "Yeah, can't go wrong with the classics."

Grant quickly turned to the side as a couple approached the counter beside him. The man was wearing a snow white ski suit with white boots, a white winter cap and white-lined snow goggles. The woman beside him wore a bright pink hooded parka with yellow altitude glasses and purples sweatpants and boots.

Before Grant could say anything, the man in white spoke. "Didn't want to believe the rumors about you, but here we are."

Grant raised an eyebrow. "What rumors?"

"The bickering between you and your girlfriend," the man said. "Kind of confirms the stories about you two running nude through a city."

Roxie grimaced as she lowered her newspaper. "Hey, that was a fucking fluke, okay? Grant and I are prepared this time!"

"Right, right," the man said. "Hopefully, more prepared than Elise, who has never heard the word 'camouflage!'"

The woman, who was busy eating snacks from the counter, glared at him. "Hey, I like pink, okay Ben? Sue me!"

Ben rolled his eyes as he stared at Grant. "Look, despite Elise's inability to read a room, we're the best team for going after snow-based creatures and doing winter-based ops."

"Right, winter monsters," Grant scoffed. "So, you don't know shit about hunting, say, the Devil?"

"Actually, we saw her coming in with her enslaved human," Elise answered. "We've also brought extra supplies to deal with her, including holy water, crosses, and blessed ammunition."

"And we know that you two not only failed spectacularly, but you also let two other hunters turn their backs on our organization," Ben added.

"Hey, those two idiots were not our fault!" Roxie shouted.

"Right, right," Elise mocked. "So, they didn't run off because you two are constantly making fun of them? That kind of thing makes humans ripe for demons to seduce them with their so-called 'love.'"

"Point is, we're not taking any chances with you two on our backs," Ben said. "So, you two just follow my lead, and we'll get what we're after. Deal?"

Both Grant and Roxie hated taking order from other people, but Elise didn't wait for them to respond. She looked at a device strapped to her wrist while peeking out the window. "Okay...they're on the ski lift heading for the top of the mountain now. I've synchronized the beacons around the resort."

"Okay," Ben said. "On my mark, hit the button."

"Beacons?" Roxie asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Special nullifying devices," Ben said. "Really complicated. You wouldn't understand."

Grant shared an insulted look with Roxie as Elise began to count down.

"Oh, finally!" Kyle whispered as the ski lift began to set them down at the top of the mountain.

"You okay there?" Lucy asked. "I thought you were frozen to the lift down there."

"Yeah, well, I'm not that great with heights," Kyle admitted.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "You've seen more demons and monsters than most people even dream of, but you're afraid of heights?"

"Heights don't look nearly as sexy," Kyle said.

Lucy chuckled at the compliment. She helped Kyle position himself at the top of the slope. "Does this bother you as much?"

"Nah, I'm on the ground, so I'm good," he said. "Besides, the training video was pretty thorough."

Lucy balanced on her snowboard as Kyle steadied his skis. Both slipped on their goggles and crouched down, ready to race.

"Ready..." Lucy said. "Set..."