Page 3 of Sleigh Rides With St. Nick

"They totally did it on Cupid's desk," I said in answer to Laila's question, able to tell from El's face.

"No way?"She turned her attention to Eloise.

"All right, yes," she murmured."There could be all kinds of gods there."

"Oh, what about Santa?"Laila asked."He's got to want to blow off steam before Christmas Eve."

"I don't think Santa is going to be attending a Jinx dating event," I said."He probably doesn't actually deliver presents on Christmas Eve either."

"He could be there," Eloise responded."But I don't know.I've never seen him on the matchmaking system we've got, but that doesn't actually mean anything."

"Santa isn't going to be there.He's not even a god," I responded.

"Well, technically he could be," Eloise responded.

I gave her a curious look and picked up my glass of wine.

"If someone made him immortal, then he would have become a god by now," she said."Cupid explained it to me.Apparently, none of them are quite clear on how the god part is supposed to happen."

"Or they know, they just don't want to tell us," Laila pointed out.

Eloise nodded."Yes, true.But anyway.He said that someone becomes immortal because a god makes them that way.And if they don't meet the requirements, they just stay immortal and nothing else happens.But if they have enough followers, they become a god."

"Ha, so Erik-what's-his-face could become a god?"Laila asked."You know, the musician?"

Eloise nodded."That's the way I understood it.If someone made him immortal and he continued to have the followers he does now, then he'd become a god, yes."

"Huh, so Santa's a god," I mused."Who would have thought it?"

"Well we don't know for sure," Eloise responded."Because if no one made him immortal, he'd just have died."

"I'm going to choose to believe in a sexy powerful god Santa," Laila joked."Though he'd be more Ivy's type, she likes the older guy."

"It's not old if he was born in the same century as me," I protested.They were never going to let me forget that I dated a ninety-five-year-old elf.He looked like he was barely a year or two older than me, and in elf time, we were close enough together in age that it wouldn't have raised a single eyebrow.

Laila shrugged."What do I know?I'm a Manjari, I was never supposed to leave the sacred forest."

"If we're going to go, then I should message Cupid and get us on the list," Eloise said, pulling out her phone."And we should probably finish getting ready."She tapped out a message on her phone.

I finished my wine and thought about the party to come.Despite the fact Eloise had worked in the matchmaking department at Jinx for almost a year, I'd never had a chance to go to one of their events, especially because of how pricey their elite membership was, and I had no idea what to expect as a result.But I was kind of curious, especially in finding out exactly who was going to be there, and if I'd even be able to recognise a god if I was looking them in the face.

Chapter2

IVY

Everything about the hotel we entered sparkled.A large silver Christmas tree sat in the lobby, dominating everything around it.

"Do the gods celebrate Christmas?"I asked Eloise.

She shrugged."I suppose some of them probably do, but really, I think they just like an excuse to party.And we're trying to get a couple more good matches in before the holiday season in the hope that people might gift Jinx memberships to people they think might like them."

"I didn't even realise that was a thing."

She shrugged."Why would you?"She gestured for the three of us to make our way over to where a large man in a dark suit stood with a clipboard."Eloise Finch and guests," she said with the same kind of confidence she'd had her entire life.

The man checked his clipboard and nodded, lifting a rope to let us inside.I hadn't been to many events like this, and it made it feel really exclusive to have a guest list like this.

I took a deep breath, feeling surprisingly nervous about entering the room."Do they often hold events here?"I asked.

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