Page 40 of The Krampus' Queen
“He can’t keep getting away with this.”
“I know.”
“You have to stop him.”
Krampus closes his eyes and sighs. He can’t. If he ignores the girl, she’ll die. And, by some stupid decree of the cosmos, he can only bring one person back with him. So either leave an innocent to her fate and take the kid, or save her and the brat gets another year to torment people.
A thought strikes me. “What if you have help?”
He laughs. “From who? A squirrel?”
“Me.”
His breath catches. “You’d have to go through the red door to join me. It…” Squeezing his eyes tight he stares up at the ceiling. “It could take all your memories.”
“Or it might not,” I say. The one night he scours the earth, when he isn’t trapped on his mountain, is Christmas Eve. If I went with then maybe I’d be a part of him. A helper.
“Amaya…” He’s pleading with me to give this up. To stay with him in our rugged, simple bliss. A part of me aches to agree, to spend Christmas Eve sitting by the fireplace waiting for him to come home.
But then I remember that night when I hung by my wrists, terrified I was going to die.
“He can’t get away with this again. Another girl, like me. Scared out of her wits.”
“She’ll forget.”
Closing my eyes, I can see that shadow hearing my screams for help and shutting the door. “Are you sure?” Being terrified without remembering why sounded worse than knowing the reason.
He hoists me up his body until my legs dangle around his midsection. Still, his eyes remain closed, his breath shallow. I reach out to take his horns, but he intercepts me. Holding my hands, he presses his forehead to mine.
“I love you,” he whispers as if the fight’s already over.
“I love you, too.” A strange thing to tell a man with hooves and horns, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart.
“And…” His hands sweep up my back, pinning me tight to him. “No matter what happens—” Krampus lifts his head, his gaze burning into mine. “I’ll never forget you.”
I wish I could tell him the same, but all I can do is kiss him. If I walk through that door and forget him… “I may not be able to keep you here.” I touch my head, then pull my hand down to my heart. “But you’ll always be here.”
We hold each other, listening only to the fall of snow outside the dark windows. I couldn’t hazard a guess for how long, but as I lift my cheek from his chest, I peer out to find the northern lights gleaming in the sky.
“How long do we have?”
“One day,” he says.
“Then…” Putting on a smile, I gaze into his eyes. “We’d better not waste it.”
The red door waits. For so long it was a piece of the wall, and now it haunts my every thought. My heartbeat pounds through my soul, each thump rocking me on my feet.
“Well…” Krampus drapes his hand on my shoulder. I can only see his eyes and nose through the thick black fur that’s sprouted overnight. It hides his face better than any hood can. He taps his staff and sparks skitter across the floor. “It’s time.”
I tug my coat tighter, my fingers running up the furred hood. As I clench to the top and start to pull it down, he takes my hand. I spin to face him as he crumbles to his knees.
“You can still remain here,” he says, offering me one last out.
Oh did we argue for the past day well into the night, then back again. I know he’s scared of me losing him because I feel the same. Will I walk through that door and stumble dumbfounded into my apartment with a broken heart and no way to understand why? Or could his love find a way to weave into my soul and keep me warm through the longest and coldest of nights even if I never see him again?
I pat his cheek, my fingers tousling through the thick fur below. “Whatever happens…” I begin.
His face clenches, and he takes my hand. My knuckles smash to his lips as he kisses my fingers one by one before wrapping them in his palm. “I love you,” Krampus says.
