Page 14 of Santa Daddy, I'm Not the One

I frowned. “He complimented the food?” Since he arrived, not one gracious word had left his lips, and I knew because the elves kept me up to date.

“Yes, he ate a bit of everything. We even played Mistletoe Mysteries.”

“I thought you said he turned his nose up at every board game I sent?”

“He did. I think he’s coming around. He even showed an interest in Twinkle Glen.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we were playing the game, and I told him how the layout of the North Pole inspired the actual game.”

A flicker of suspicion sparked in my mind. “What exactly did he ask you?”

“He asked the distance from the workshop to the town and how you’d get there. I even told him I would ask you if I could take him into town, but he didn’t want to. I’ll ask him again later.”

This sudden change in him left me uneasy. Something was going on. A slow, unsettling feeling lodged in my chest as Dix prattled on how much nicer and more patient Landon was.

Could he have…?

I sprang to my feet and sprinted out of my workshop.

“Santa!” Dix called after me.

An urgency propelled me forward as the suspicion turned into a near certainty. The path to Landon’s room, usually a leisurely walk filled with the joyful noise of the elves and the magic of the workshop, now seemed endless and ominously quiet.

As I approached the guest room, I felt the absence of energy, the void of presence. I pushed open the door, already knowing what I would find, or rather, not find. The room was empty. The top cover of the otherwise neatly made bed was gone. Landon was nowhere to be seen.

A mix of frustration and worry washed over me. Landon had played us all, biding his time until he could escape through the open window. I walked over and peered out, but I didn’t see any footprints in the snow. He must have left a while ago for them to be covered up. But to where? Twinkle Glen? The thought sent a wave of dread through me.

If he were to disrupt the delicate balance of our town, the consequences could be dire.

“Dix!” I called out sharply.

The elf appeared almost instantly, his eyes widening as he entered the empty room. “He’s gone?”

“Yes, and you gave him all the information he needed to escape.”

I winced at the last word. Escape sounded as if we had locked him up in a prison. Was that the way he’d felt? If I found him—when I found him—I would have to do things differently.

Dix hung his head. “I’m sorry, Santa. I can’t seem to do anything right.”

“It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have left you to oversee him. He’s my problem to take care of.”

“What are we going to do? If he gets lost in the forest or, worse, wanders off to the dark side…”

The latter left a horrible taste in my mouth. If Frostheart got to him before I did, it might be too late.

“We need to find him before he causes any trouble or gets into trouble.” I strode back into the corridor. “No one needs to know about this. Just you, me, and your brother.”

Dix nodded, his expression serious, and scurried off to alert Pix. I didn’t wait. Time was of the essence. I hurried to the stable where my sleigh was kept, the reindeer already sensing the urgency and pawing at the ground, ready to take flight.

In moments, we were airborne, the sleigh cutting swiftly through the crisp air. The North Pole below was a sprawling expanse of white and twinkling lights, but my gaze was fixed on the path to Twinkle Glen.

As we approached the town, my heart sank. Even from the sky, a commotion was visible, centered on the Eternal Tree in the town square. I urged the reindeer faster, tightening my grip on the reins.

We landed smoothly at the edge of the square, and I disembarked quickly, then strode toward the crowd. The townsfolk and elves were gathered in a tight circle, their voices raised in alarm and anger.

“You need to fix what you’ve done,” someone was crying. “Do you want us all to die?”

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