Page 4 of Untethering Dark

“Ah, Krampus.” Astrid smirked. “I should’ve known.”

“Naturally.”

The two had a long, long history together—during Yuletide, especially.

Oskar roused from his nap and joined them as they went home to home. Astrid carried the heavy velvet pouch filled with silver coins, plopping them into stockings hung above the townspeople’s fireplaces or, if there were none, in their shoes. All while Mutter climbed the stairs to say her blessings over the sleeping children.

They entered homes of all kinds. Rich ones. Poor ones. And everything in between.

“A messy home bears noting, but it’s not always a sign of trouble,” Perchta said, skirting around a pile of toys and a spilled cereal box. “If the child is loved and cared for and safe, that’s what matters most.”

The toys, the cereal, were so unlike the trash and empty liquor bottles that littered Astrid’s first childhood home. Sometimes appearances spoke volumes. But they were deceiving, too, almost just as often. “How can you know for sure?”

“Fear.” The Hexe paused to pluck a cookie from a tray left out on the kitchen counter. “I can smell the child’s fear.” She bit intoone and tossed another to Oskar, who snapped it out of the air with a little leap.

Astrid sniffed, then wrinkled her nose.

Perchta shook her head, placing a hand on Astrid’s shoulder. “It’s a hag’s sense.”

Of course it was.Astrid sighed. All the most gratifying powers were.

“Soon, Tochter. Soon. There’s still a few ingredients left to gather for the potion. Some are hard to come by.”

A potion and the final hag ritual were all that stood between Astrid and unlocking her full magical potential. “I can help.”

“You already have. You brought so much of what’s needed back from your travels. No, please let me procure this last bit for you. It’ll make an old Hexe happy. We like to feel useful you know.”

Astrid looped her arm through Perchta’s, gently patting the winter goddess’s sleeve. “Well, as long as it makes you happy. Who am I to deny you that?”You’ve only ever brought me joy.

“I won’t dally, even by your sense of timeliness. Your happiness is my happiness, too.”

Astrid squeezed Perchta’s arm. Hexe Mutter didn’t say things unless she meant them. “Danke schön.”

Home after home they went.

But as the night wore on, Perchta’s climb up stairs became slower. There was a stiffness to her movements and a raggedness to her breathing that wasn’t there before. And during the final homes, she paused partway up each staircase to take a break. When she did start moving again, she relied heavily on the railing to get the rest of the way up.

Worry twisted Astrid’s stomach in knots. This was a side of Perchta she had never seen. The winter goddess had always seemed so powerful, so invincible. All that hinted at her advanced age were a few wrinkles framing her eyes and mouthand the gnarled hands. How long had she been struggling like this?

“Was she like this last year?” she whispered, stuffing the empty velvet pouch into her pocket.

“Not this bad.”Oskar’s ears twitched.“I insisted she bring you along this time. She’s strong, but it’s getting harder and harder for her to work the whole night. And the town is only growing.”

More people, more children. More homes, more stairs.

“Do you think she’d ever consider retiring?”

“She would never abandon the children. But if someone she loved and trusted could step in and take over...”Oskar gave Astrid a pointed look.

It wasn’t even a question. Do for others as Perchta had done for her. It’s what she’d always wanted.

“I could do it.” Once she became a hag, at least.

“I know you could.”

“Tochter!” Perchta called down the stairs.

Astrid and Oskar jumped apart like children caught doing something naughty.

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