“My father has, if one believes his rantings. He says he stepped on some in a house somewhere on the Continent and that his foot burned for ages. It’s one of the reasons he never ventures out anymore.”
My hands burrow under Aidan’s collar to feel the soft skin and stray hairs at the base of his neck. “Aidan, I know what to do. I have to be my dad.”
“Which means?”
“He builds missiles for the U.S. military. We have to build our own.”
The business of death. That’s what I’ve always thought of my dad’s job. He helps Americans kill people of other nations. But I can no longer afford the idealistic notion that I can avoid violence. Aidan’s father is coming to take him and probably kill us, too.
We crowd in Judy’s car in the parking lot where Aidan works for a conference while he’s on break. Not many people are buying trees in this weather, anyway.
“Where are we getting the material to build bombs?” Leo asks.
“Yeah, without getting put on some Homeland Security list,” Judy points out. “We’re going to get thrown in jail before Christmas. We can hang out with Charles. Build snowmen in the prison yard.”
“We’re not building bombs, you guys. We just need—okay, I need to develop a delivery system for the mistletoe. This is the best weapon we have.”
“Is it just the French mistletoe?” Judy asks. “Or can we use any mistletoe? ’Cause we don’t have that much. Especially if we need to experiment.”
“I’m not certain,” Aidan says. “Viscum album is deadly but the California mistletoe might not be. It’s an entirely different species and I’m not up for experimentation on that point.”
“Christ, you guys,” Michael curses. “We can get tinctures of it online and have it overnighted. My parents say desperate people use it to treat themselves for cancer.”
Aidan blanches.
“Supersoakers?” Leo says.
“Good thinking, Leo,” I reply. “The tinctures are probably too expensive for that, but it doesn’t mean we can’t dilute the mistletoe we’ve got and deliver it in a diffuser.”
Michael searches on his phone. “Sixteen ounces would set us back one hundred and fifty smacks. That is, if we haven’t already spent all our dough on Christmas presents.”
Every face in the car darkens. Except one.
“I have the money,” Aidan says. “Mr. Daniels pays me every day in cash.”
“Wait! Concentration?” I ask Michael.
“One to four to twenty-six dry.”
“Is that strong enough, Aidan?”
He nods. “Should be. You might be able to dilute by ten. But no more.”
Michael frowns. “We can’t order online. We don’t have—”
“I have a credit card!” Leo announces proudly. The whole car seems to light up. “Actually, I’m on my mom and dad’s account. But they’ll be cool with it if I give them cash to cover the purchase. Send me the link. I’ll order it today.”
“Let’s save as much of the actual mistletoe for direct delivery as possible,” I say. “It just has to hit the skin. Right, Aidan? Eyes are the targets.”
He nods, looking uncomfortable. “Where will I be in this?”
“Dad’s office,” I say. “It’s on the first floor, but it’s the most defensible and doesn’t have a window. It can also shield you from mistletoe dust. You’ll wear goggles and other skin protection.”
Turned backward in the driver’s seat, Judy rests her face against the headrest. “I am really scared, Charity.”
“Just wait until you see him,” Aidan says. “I hate to upset everyone, but you have to be prepared. You must purge every image you have of him and brace yourself for something more frightening than you can imagine.”
“Krampus,” I say. “We’ve seen the drawings. They’re accurate?”
Aidan nods.
“Weapons,” I say to Aidan. “What will he bring? And how can he attack?”
“He’s terribly old-fashioned. Back home, he carries an enormous scourge made of chains, but I don’t know if he will bring it,” he says, his face reddening. “He has my abilities and more, but I can protect you to an extent. It’s hard to say because I’ve never encountered him outside the fortress. I definitely can’t do much hiding in a room. Your best defense will be me and I have to see what’s happening.”
“All right, then,” I say. “We’ll just rig the room for a hasty retreat if you need it and you can remain in the hallway. What about your siblings?”
“My siblings can only attack as you’ve seen, but I guarantee he won’t bring any lame ones.”
“How many?” Leo asks.
“The sleigh can carry about a dozen and maybe one per wind climber.”
“Wind climber?” Judy’s eyes brighten, her imagination clearly engaged.
“They’re like goats,” Aidan clarifies, “but they fly.”
“The sleigh?!?” Michael wails. “Pulled by goats?” Of all things, this unhinges him.
“Get a grip,” Judy says. “We know it’s creepy.”
“This means my childhood was worse than a big fat lie!”
“Everyone’s parents lie to them about Santa,” I say.
“It’s not that my parents lied to me. It’s that they were telling the truth! There are elves! But they’re not cute little people wearing felt hats. Oh, no. They’re dog-eating monsters. That are real! (No offense, Aidan.) And Santa! Holy crap! He’s not a jolly, fat nice guy. He’s a giant goat-thing that rides a sleigh and sneaks into your house on Christmas to rape your sister!” Michael flops back against the seat, horrified.
“Oh, stop it, already!” Judy says. Then, to the rest of us, “We need help. Just the five of us? Even with our secret ingredient and Aidan, we’re outnumbered.”
“I can get Ricardo,” Michael says, calming down. “I’m pretty sure, anyway. I’ll have to show him Judy’s night photos in the Dropbox. He’ll totally break up with me after this, but he can help. He’s a semi-professional fighter.”
“What about the cops?” Judy asks, looking at me. Just as I’m about to speak, Aidan answers for me.
“He’ll kill them first. Just for the joy of it. Trust me. But us…if we’re in the house, we have a chance.”
“And I know one other person who can help me design,” I say.
“Who can help you, Ms. Genius?” Judy asks.
“It’s not a matter if she can. It’s if she will.”
Chapter 39
Every moment counts. But do I spend it making love? Or war?
Or studying? Finals are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. No matter what happens to Aidan, I need those grades. But to say I don’t need Aidan is a lie. What kind of life will I have if I lose him to his father?
Then again, if Krampus kills us, I’ll have no life at all.
Saturday night I stay up researching possible delivery systems and land on our best option.
Les Femmes Nikitas.
The drones could be operated and reconfigured to drop payload on K and the Goat Riders.
But it’s futile. If Krampus has some form of telekinesis—or, as I like to think of it, an ability to manipulate gravity—then he could throw the Nikitas into a wall. I need to interrogate Aidan further about this.
It’s 3:00 a.m. when I knock softly on Aidan’s door.
He answers, eyes creased with worry, and lets me in.
I keep my voice low. “Aidan, I assume your dad can do to people what you did to Charles and his friends.”
“Yes. He can overwhelm anyone by manipulation of gravity and other natural forces.”
Despair sets in.
Aidan continues. “But once he’s inside someone’s house on Christmas, there are rules that may or may not be relevant.”
“Such as?”
“He can’t damage or otherwise hurt your gifts.”
I didn’t see that one coming, but yeah. Useless. “Okay. Anything else?”
“He can’t hurt animals, as much as he would lik
e to.”
“Well that’s something, I suppose.” It’s extremely unlikely that we’ll be able to recruit an army of chimps to fight for us. “Any other rules you can remember?”
Silence as he thinks. “It’s unlikely that your mother would awaken, even if she weren’t taking sleeping pills. He induces sleep paralysis in those who are already asleep. But those who are already awake, he cannot incapacitate in the same manner. That’s everything I know.”
Just as I want to sink onto the floor and curl up to sleep, a powerful idea ignites. My head feels full of bees. “Aidan, does it matter whose present it is? Say, if I give you a present, he can’t hurt it, right?”
“Correct.”
“I’m giving you Les Femmes Nikitas. And Mr. Spotty. And any weapon we create. Every weapon, every payload delivery system I create, they are gifts to you.”
He leaps from his desk and kisses me passionately, lifting me off my feet. “I told you it’s your magic, but you didn’t believe me. The best part is that they will just be toys to him. Unpredictable toys. He won’t have any idea what they’re going to do, much less that they will hurt him. And even when he realizes what’s happening, he won’t be able to do anything about it.”
I finally relax and crumple under the weight of my exhaustion. Aidan carries me to my bed and tucks me in.
“We will be together forever, Charity Jones. Sleep well. And trust that amazing mind of yours.” We kiss. He then touches my forehead with those silky lips before he leaves.
The next day, after hours of deliberation, I sit on my bed and make a phone call to a number I had deleted but could not forget.
“Hey. It’s Charity. Yeah. I’m okay. Can we talk?”
Chapter 40
The wind punishes the leafless trees as Keiko and I huddle by the lockers at lunch. The daytime temperature has dropped almost ten degrees since Thanksgiving. My teeth chatter with more than the cold, though, as we hurtle toward Doomsday.
Christmas, that is.
Some students cram sandwiches in their faces as they seek refuge under building eaves while others eat in the cafeteria with freshmen despite the shame. I constantly look over my shoulder, monitoring who is close, who might be listening. We couldn’t meet yesterday and I didn’t want to wait until the end of the day to talk to her. Aidan already ate his lunch and is helping Mr. Reilly with some project.
“So, Aidan’s Dad is coming to take him away and you’re building this defense system? Why don’t you call the police?” Keiko asks.
I couldn’t tell her that Krampus would just kill them. “They won’t do anything until it’s too late. It’s happened before. It was almost a disaster when we caught the creature. I’d be dead if they’d gotten there a moment later. Don’t worry. We’ll definitely call them once he shows up, but we have to take care of ourselves in case they don’t. It’s the only way.”
“Does your mom know?”
“No, not yet. Besides, Aidan’s dad has threatened to kill her if she or my dad finds out.” Not entirely untrue. So far, I’ve mostly left out things she’s less likely to believe.
“This guy is one thousand percent evil and powerful. There’s no telling what he’ll bring. Aidan has scars on his back from where he’s been beaten. We’ve got to defend ourselves against this guy and send him a message that he can’t hurt kids anymore.”
Keiko thinks for a moment, her eyes focusing on where the stream of rain forms a puddle in the crabgrass by the walkway. “I don’t know. You seem really wrapped up in Aidan. Is he worth it?”
The air changes. Male voices rise behind us as several guys gather around the guys’ restroom. Michael is stopped at the entrance by a senior gorilla named Burke Wasnowski AKA Burke the Jerk. He used to date a girl everyone called The Snow Queen—thanks to her coke habit—until she got expelled. He’s probably one of Charles’ angry ex-customers.
“We don’t let girls in our bathroom. Especially not girls with dicks.”
Michael moves to leave, but another musclehead steps in his way.
“I’m not fighting you hyenas,” Michael says.
“Sounds like fighting words to me,” the musclehead says.
Burke notices me watching. “What are you looking at, Oreo and banana?”
“A pile of feces, that’s what I’m looking at,” Aidan says behind me. He steps past me, stopping in front of the musclehead. The crowd mutters.
Burke shoots Aidan a look of white-hot hatred. “Hey, it’s Sherlock. Gonna tell me what I want for Christmas?”
Everyone laughs as Burke brushes past his fellow gorilla and grabs Aidan by the collar, his backpack falling to the ground. Burke pulls Aidan up on his toes, shoving him against the wall. I silently beg Aidan not to go Bad Santa on these guys. I can’t take a repeat of that. Bracing myself to push Keiko out of harm’s way, I watch the encounter closely.
“You know what I want for Christmas? To smash your face until it’s mushy like cookie dough,” Burke says.
What is Aidan doing? I worry he’s about to blow up.
“I’ll make a bet with you,” Aidan says. “If you can flatten my nose in one punch, then you can beat us both into said cookie dough. But if you can’t, you have to let us go and never bother us again.”
Michael’s red, frantic face sweats even though it’s 45 degrees outside. Through his gritted teeth he says to Aidan, “What. Are. You. Doing?!”
Burke grimaces. “I don’t need no bets. I’ll just take you out right here.”
“Afraid you’ll lose?” Aidan asks.
Burke throws him against the brick wall again. “I’m not gonna lose.”
“Take the bet, then,” Aidan says with infuriating calm. “Punch me hard. You get one shot.”
Apprehension gleams in Michael’s eyes. I can’t believe Aidan is doing this.
Everyone gasps as the musclehead explodes with a hook punch to Michael’s head. His hand collides with a sickening crack against an invisible wall just inches from Michael’s ear. The musclehead curses loudly, doubling over.
Aidan holds a hand at his side in a subdued “stop” gesture like when he stopped Zach’s car.
Burke throws a meaty fist at Aidan’s face. Aidan closes his eyes. Another crack echoes in the hallway as Burke breaks his knuckles on an invisible surface. Burke howls. His mangled hand bleeds. Tears streak his face. Enraged, Burke drops Aidan and drives a foot into Aidan’s leg, but Burke’s foot bends at an odd angle on contact. He shrieks, cursing and limping away to lie on the grass in the rain.
“What’s the matter?” Michael yells at the musclehead. “Can’t aim, dickhead?”
Is there such a thing as a whole-body exhale? Because I totally do that. Every ounce of tension drops away as the attackers and crowd disperse.
Aidan says something to Michael I can’t hear. Michael enters the restroom without resistance, smiling. The bell rings. Aidan shakes off the encounter and kisses me. “Subtle enough?”
“Yes,” I say. Then, with joy: “Aidan, this is Keiko.”
Keiko gapes at Aidan.
“Nice to meet you, Keiko,” he says with a bow. “Charity says lovely things about you.” Then, “Right. Off to class! See you, my love.” He kisses me once more and scuttles off.
Keiko regains her ability to speak. “What just happened? That guy punched him! How did they not get hurt?”
“Aidan is like a guardian angel. He has the power to protect people. He saved Charles’ life once, even though he didn’t deserve it. But he can’t protect himself from his dad. He’s more powerful.”
“Count me in,” Keiko says. We hug and my heart lets go of the hurt.
Chapter 41
The next morning, my eyelid twitches from lack of sleep as I try to apply mascara. At 6:00 a.m., Michael picks me up and we go to school. He brings me back home to study at 3:00 p.m. At 8:00 p.m., I switch to artillery design until midnight, feeding Keiko calculations and drawings so that she can figure out the algorithms I need to make the Nikitas fly inside using
the GPS.
She has no idea what we’re really up against.
And despite her help, it’s clear we don’t have enough time to do everything if I’m also going to do well on my finals. Because the reality is this: if we win, nothing changes and I need the highest grades possible to get into the schools I want. If we lose and I’m somehow not dead, I’ll need everything in my power to move forward. I don’t know how I’ll survive without Aidan, but I’ll have to try.
I refuse to believe that anything is going to happen to Aidan. Or us.
I focus on mods to the Nikitas, including the drop function so that each quadcopter can release a payload. It can’t be big, though. Each quad can only carry a few ounces at a time. The big hits will launch from a simple air cannon. I found a design online that won’t take too much garage time to make. I shanghaied Leo into helping with the power tools.
Leo also found powerful water pistols in his older brother’s closet, the one who’s at Yale. The pistols can shoot up to 20 feet with some accuracy and not drip. Judy is drying the French mistletoe in her mother’s fruit dehydrator. She found goggles and filtered masks in her mother’s workshop supplies for us to wear during the melee so that we wouldn’t get ill or blinded from the dust and liquids during the fight.
Michael’s boyfriend, Ricardo, studies Krav Maga, a military style of fighting. Apparently, Ricardo was beyond impressed with the photos. They are outside in the backyard, where he is training Michael. In his YouTube videos, Ricardo is an absolutely ripped hunk of Latin teenager tearing through a room full of guys in fatigues. With his bare hands.
In the backyard, Ricardo attacks Michael with a wooden knife. Michael dodges just barely. “Like this.” He stabs Michael in the neck, holding a buckler shield in the other hand. “Now do this to me.”
Aidan watches with curiosity as he periodically checks the laptop. Judy made a series of absolutely incredible animations, recreating the creature’s anatomy, how it maneuvers and especially its attacks. The guys have been playing each animation, Ricardo imitating the creature’s movements as he trains Michael how to defend and attack them.
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