Page 9 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cozy Christmas

‘Anyone ready for pie?’ Sig asked.

I couldn’t believe it: I was full to bursting … and yet I could definitely fit in more of Sigrid’s cooking. She had made pecan, apple, pumpkin, banana cream, chocolate, and coconut-cream pies.

When she went into the kitchen to get the gingerbread biscuits, she let out a stream of swear words that I would never have expected to hear from the hearth witch. ‘Someone’s taken all the gingerbread men! Again!’

‘The gingerbread thief strikes one more time,’ Stan murmured, looking at us all suspiciously.

‘Well, it can’t be Liv,’ Sigrid said. ‘She wasn’t here when the first batch went missing.’

‘Naturally,’ Liv said drolly. ‘I’m wholly innocent.’ Gunnar snorted heavily but other than that said nothing.

‘Seriously,’ Sigrid said, hands on her hips once again. ‘Fess up! You won’t get in trouble if you tell me the truth.’

‘God,’ Stan muttered to Sidnee. ‘Flashback to being seventeen.’

Sidnee giggled. ‘Oh my goodness, yes. Sig used to say that all the time.’

‘And it was true!’ Sigrid huffed. ‘So confess.’ The room stayed silent.

Connor was looking at his phone. He cleared his throat. ‘Actually, I think I’ve located the thief and it’s not one of us.’

‘Who is it?’ I demanded.

Connor grimaced. ‘I was pretty sure when they stole the lights so I had Margrave go check.’

‘Check what?’

Connor shot me an amused yet resigned look. ‘You’re going to love this.’

‘What?’ I asked, bouncing on the balls of my feet. ‘What am I going to love?’

He led us out of the kitchen door into the garden. Straight away I spotted where the battery-powered fairy lights had gone: they were now adorning a rock garden where a small tribe of tiny people were singing and partying – hard. As far as I could tell, the little people were all women and they were using the gingerbread men as dates, dancing with them like drunken girls at hen parties would dance with a blow-up man doll. It was a sight you wouldn’t see every day.

The mini-humans couldn’t have been more than the size of my hand. ‘What the hell?’ I asked. ‘Pixies?’

Gunnar grinned at me. ‘Not pixies. Ircenrraat.’

‘What?’

Stan rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t you know anything? The Ircenrraat are the little people.’

Sigrid hushed him. ‘Don’t let them hear you call them that! You know they don’t like it.’

He shrugged mischievously. ‘Oh no!’ he said with faux regret. ‘I guess now they’ll egg Connor’s house.’

Gunnar shook his head. ‘They’re smarter than that. They’ll follow you all the way to your houseboat and you’ll be finding bits of rotting fish in there for days. So shut your trap.’

Connor ushered us back inside so we could defrost. Gods, it was cold outside though it didn’t bother me like it had when I was human. Even so, I was happy to warm myself by the fire.

Liv turned to Connor. ‘You knew you had a colony out there?’ He shrugged.

‘Why didn’t you move them?’ Stan demanded. A beat later he answered his own question. ‘Oh man, you’re afraid of them!’

‘I’m notafraidof them but I’m rightly wary. Doyouwant to ask them to move?’ Connor countered.

Stan flushed. ‘Erm, no. You’re all right.’

‘Wise choice,’ Thomas nodded. ‘They’re not to be trifled with.’

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