Page 45 of Kraved By Krampus

Love.The word echoes in my mind like the toll of an ancient bell.My claws retract slightly from the ruined leather of Nicholas’s chair.

“Your wisdom is noted.” Rising to my full height, I let the shadows curl around me like a second cloak. “But sometimes wisdom and action occupy different realms.”

“Ah, so you admit I’m wise?” His eyes twinkle with that insufferable merriment. “I’ll mark this day on my calendar.”

A grunt escapes me as I move toward the door. The fire dims, responding to my darkening mood. “Don’t push your luck, old friend.”

“When will you return to her?”

My hand pauses on the doorknob, frost spreading from my touch. “When I’m ready.”

“And when will that be?”

When the memory of her denial stops feeling like a blade in my chest.“Soon enough.”

“The longer you wait—”

“The longer she has to discover her own strength.” Ice crystals form in the air as I speak. “As you said, Elizabeth wanted her to develop naturally.”

Nicholas sets his cocoa mug down with a soft clink. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

Drawing myself to my full height, I let my form shift slightly, allowing more of my true nature to show through. The shadows deepen, and the temperature plummets. “What you meant is irrelevant. I have duties to attend to.”

“Krampus—”

“The Norwegian delegation awaits, does it not?” My voice carries an edge sharp as midwinter ice. “Unless you were lying about that as well?”

His sigh fills the room with warmth that battles against my cold. “We both know you’re running.”

Running? I haven’t run from anything in centuries.The thought tastes like ash in my mouth as memories of her rejection surface again. My claws extend fully, scoring deep grooves in Nicholas’s expensive doorframe.

“I don’t run.” The growl in my voice makes the windows tremble. “I bide my time strategically.”

“Call it what you will.” He reaches for yet another cookie. “But remember, sometimes the things we run from chase us the fastest.”

The shadows writhe around me as I step through his door. “Save your proverbs for the children, Nicholas.”

His laughter follows me into the corridor. “We’re all children sometimes, old friend. Even ancient winter kings.”

I don’t dignify that with a response. Instead, I let the darkness swallow me whole, preparing to shadow-walk back to my realm. But as the magic swirls around me, I hesitate.

Clara.

Her name beats in my chest like a second heartbeat, painful and persistent. The rejection burns fresh in my memory, but underneath it lies something else. Something that tastes like possibility and feels like a spring thaw.

Damn you, Nicholas.

The shadows coalesce around me, ready to carry me wherever I command. Winterhaven and its newest resident wait to the west. The Norwegian delegation expects me in the east. Both obligations pull at me with equal force.

I choose neither.

Instead, I direct my magic north, toward the ancient forests where the first winter kings were crowned. If I’m going to face Clara again, I need to remember who—and what—I truly am.

A monster? A protector? Perhaps both.

The darkness claims me fully, and as I dissolve into shadow, one truth remains: I can’t avoid her forever.

But I can damn well take my time deciding what to do about it.

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