Page 2 of Yule Be Mine

My breath hitched, and I involuntarily took a step back.

He took a step forward—toward me—but then stilled.

Suddenly, I realized the girls were back, now standing beside me, as Clara shoved a new mug of hot wine at me.

“Did you see that guy again?” I whispered to her, hearing the tremble in my voice despite my efforts to sound calm.

“What?” she asked, her voice a little slurred.

I glanced at her, then pointed to where Krampus stood. But he was gone, only shadows left in his wake.

She waved me off, clearly already a little buzzed. “You’re being paranoid. You’re going to see them all over the place, Sophia. The point of them is to look scary as hell.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said, and I heard the lie laced in my words.

But deep down, I knew this wasn’t part of the celebration. This was something else—something darker. Something sending a tremor through veins causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.

In fact, I knew exactly what was happening.

I was being hunted.

2

SOPHIA

We found ourselves inside a tavern on the outskirts of the festival, and I was another two mugs of wine down and having the best time of my life. Any unease I felt previously was gone as my body heated from the alcohol and the warmth of the bar, and the atmosphere made anything negative fade away.

After another twenty minutes, everyone was ready to call it a night. We left the tavern, my breath visible in the icy air, the noise and music of the festival not quite as loud as it had been before. The heat and alcohol of the wine warmed me from the inside out, but now that I was outside with the monsters still acting for the crowd, the memory of that masked figure came back full force.

I thought about the weight of his gaze… about the way he seemed to track me through the crowd, stirring something dark and devious inside me. I couldn’t name what this feeling was. It was a mixture of anxiety and something far more dangerous that had my panties damp.

I looked around the crowd, but I didn’t see my Krampus.

My Krampus?

It was getting late, so the streets were thinning out as the air became chillier. I said goodbye to the girls, and we parted ways. The snow was coming down harder, and it crunched beneath my shoes, muffled and rhythmic as I moved down the cobblestone and toward home.

Fire-lit lanterns lined the street and flickered, casting a yellow glow and making the festivities seem even more ethereal. The golden hue made long shadows across the stone walls and pebbled ground. Because the entire atmosphere gave off spooky vibes anyway, the shifting shadows made things seem a little more ominous.

The wind picked up, and I pulled my wool coat tighter around me. The chill settled in my bones, but there was something else that made me shiver. I glanced over my shoulder. The crowd became thinner the farther away I got from the festival. I took a few turns, moving quicker, wanting to get into the warmth of my little flat.

The stillness of the alley pressed in on me, and my teeth chattered. The winding path between buildings was narrow, the ancient buildings seeming to close in on me. I quickened my steps as unease prickled at the base of my neck.

But then I heard it.

Him.

It was the rhythmic, steady, and deliberate crunch of footsteps behind me that had my heart racing and beads of sweat forming on my temple and between my breasts.

I heard him moving closer, his hooved footsteps creeping closer.

Krampus was coming, and he was coming for me.

My breath was sharp and shallow as it caught in my throat. I found a sliver of courage and glanced over my shoulder, my heart hammering in my chest. The area was too dark with no lights in the alley.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to face forward. The snow crunched faster beneath my shoes as I quickened my pace. God… the thrill and arousal of fear coursed through me. It was sharp and electrifying.

You are not a victim. You are strong.I grabbed onto that strength and pushed my fear down as I spun around. I channeled that fierce personality I knew I had and said in a sharp voice, “Who are you, and what do you want?”

---