Christmas Magic

by Alexandra Moody

  Dash looked like he was struggling not to laugh at me. “Good to hear.”

  I let out a breath, wishing I were a little more like Dash and his herd. They all seemed quite happy to own the fact they were slightly insane.

  “Stupid, crazy reindeer,” I grumbled under my breath once more. For some reason, my words only caused Dash to smile.

  “So, how are we doing this?” I asked, trying to focus on our mission.

  “I’ve decided that the others will wait out here while the two of us enter the bar,” Dash said. “If there’s trouble, they won’t be far, but I think our chances of getting in and remaining unnoticed are better if it’s just you and me.”

  I nodded, agreeing that his plan sounded like the best way forward. “How do you want me to explain the fact I’m bringing a reindeer in with me?”

  There wasn’t a dark creature equivalent to a reindeer, so if anyone realized what he was, they’d know that he was a light being.

  “They’ll smell that I’m a shifter, but I doubt anyone will realize exactly what I am,” he replied. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Seems risky.”

  “Well, we don’t really have much of a choice.”

  I huffed out a breath, knowing he was right. The only other option would be to leave him behind, but I wasn’t sure how confident I felt about going into the krampus bar by myself. It was one thing when I’d been young and stupid enough to do it after Alfie dared me to, but there were dark elves trying to kill me now. Times had certainly changed.

  “All right, let’s do this.” I gestured for Dash to lead the way.

  He walked back to the other three shifters, and I followed slowly. They’d been watching us from beside the car and had likely heard everything we’d said.

  “We’ll part ways now to avoid suspicion,” Dash said as he reached them. “I want you to park directly by the bar and listen for trouble. Don’t enter unless I give the signal.”

  Vixen nodded and the others followed as she got back into the car. We watched them pull away before Dash beckoned me to follow him down the street.

  “What’s the signal?” I asked as we walked. I couldn’t detect any smell of magic, aside from Dash beside me, so I knew we must be a way off from our destination yet.

  “If there’s trouble, I’ll have to shift, and since they’re a part of my herd, they’ll be able to sense it,” he explained.

  “So, if you turn into a reindeer, we’re screwed?”

  He chuckled. “No, if I turn into a reindeer, they’re screwed. Reindeer trumps krampus any day.”

  “A reindeer would say that,” I grumbled. I liked to think I could prove him wrong, seeing as I was the light being equivalent of a krampus, but it had been a long time since I’d done any sort of battle training.

  I wasn’t sure Dash had thought it through either. Sure, a reindeer might trump one krampus, but we were heading into their territory. There wasn’t going to be just one. I resigned myself to the fact that there was a good chance we were about to get ourselves into serious trouble.

  I only wished I could remember my training better. Before I’d left the Northern Realm, I’d spent the majority of my time learning to fight. Most clauses could use a blade before they even knew how to use their summoning magic. I couldn’t have been older than six when I’d begun my training.

  I’d been good at fighting too, but that all changed once we left and started our life in the Human Realm. I spent less and less time focusing on battle drills and exercises as the years went by. Once Mom was gone, I stopped practicing altogether. I was really beginning to regret that now.

  I stopped reminiscing the moment I scented magic in the air. The area of Halton we had walked to was slightly busier than the spot we’d arrived, and it seemed like we’d entered the party district in town. Humans were stumbling along the curb, some of them shouting at one another while others were singing horribly out of tune.

  “How much further is it?” I murmured.

  “One block,” Dash replied. His face had turned serious, and his hand hovered at his belt where he had a dagger strapped. I didn’t have a weapon on me, but that wasn’t a problem when I walked around with an arsenal at my fingertips.

  “What’s the plan once we’re inside?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

  Dash lifted an eyebrow at my whisper. I wasn’t sure why I had felt the need to whisper when we were walking on a busy, noisy street. I clearly wasn’t great at subterfuge and was going to make for a terrible undercover krampus.

  “We go in there and make ourselves part of the scenery,” he finally replied. “Keep your senses alert and try to listen to the conversations going on around you. It’s a risk, but if the elves have been here, this might be our only shot to track them down.”

  I nodded, trying not to let the nerves show on my face. Blend into the scenery; that shouldn’t be too hard. I wished I had Dash’s confidence though. I was suddenly wondering why I’d volunteered myself for this little excursion in the first place. I was heading to the very place where we suspected the elves who had tried to kill me were based. Yes, I had a badass reindeer at my side and backup if it was needed. But I was beginning to wonder if I’d been dropped on my head as a child. I was evidently missing whatever brain cells you needed to make you avoid danger.

  I took a deep breath and tried to remember what my mother always told me. Bravery is not a lack of fear; it’s simply being great at pretending you’re not scared. I’d taken her words to heart, and “fake it till you make it” was pretty much my mantra in life. I took another breath in before slowly blowing out. The plan was going to work I told myself. It would just take a little more faking than usual.

  We paused as we reached an alley that cut between a run-down building and the bright beaming lights of a small supermarket. The lane was dark, and the glow from the streetlights barely made it past the first dumpster that sat in the alley. It wasn’t hard to pick out the krampus bar from where we stood though.

  A neon red light hung at a slanted angle over a door that led into the derelict building. From where we stood, I could hear the thudding beat of music emanating from the entrance, and there were a couple of Christmas beings leaning against the decaying wall of the alley.

  It wasn’t until we slowly started to trek down the lane toward the bar that I could clearly read the sign.

  “BAR ANTI-CLAUS”

  My body tensed and I quickly averted my eyes. It seemed the krampuses here didn’t just hate my kind; they’d named their freaking bar in honor of how much they despised us. I definitely wouldn’t be welcome if they found out who I was.

  A huge man dressed in black blocked the doorway. He was an ugly brute with bug eyes and a nasty scar that ran down his cheek. He towered higher than the door behind him, and his body stretched at least as wide. I’d thought Dash was big when I’d first met him, but the man standing guard outside the bar was huge. He had to have some troll in him.

  “What’s the password,” the looming figure grunted as we approached.

  “We’re not from around here,” I replied.

  “Then no entrance,” the bouncer grunted, lifting his attention away from me and back to the opposite wall he’d been staring at on our approach.

  I glanced at Dash, my eyes widening as I waited for him to tell me what I was supposed to try next.

  “Do something,” he hissed, shoving me toward the giant before us.

  I shot him a glare over my shoulder as I tried to figure out what a krampus would do in the same situation. I barely thought it over for a second before my powers tingled at my fingertips. I put my hand behind my back to conceal the color of my magic, allowing it to swirl in my hands, until my trusty dagger appeared in my grasp.

  I lifted the blade and pointed it at the troll. “You gonna let us in, or am I going to have to force you?”

  The troll’s eyes dipped to meet mine, and he let out a deep chuckle. At least, I think it was a chuckle. The sound was mildly terrifying, and I wasn�
�t sure if he was laughing or suffering from indigestion.

  “Not quite what I was after, shorty, but I’ll let you in.” He stepped back to clear the entrance for me. “You’ll fit right in.”

  I grinned over my shoulder at Dash, who urgently nodded for me to make my way inside before the hulking bouncer changed his mind. I really hoped we didn’t need the rest of Dash’s herd, because I wasn’t too sure how the three of them would get by the huge creature. Its skin was probably too tough and thick to be troubled by my little dagger, which was probably what had made him laugh. I should’ve summoned a flamethrower or something a little flashier.

  As we walked through the doorway, we entered a narrow corridor. Black lights ran along the ceiling, illuminating the neon paint that swirled all over the walls and floor. Several dark elves were loitering in the hallway as we walked, but I didn’t recognize them as the ones who’d attacked me. My body tensed all the same, and I tried to remember to breathe.

  The passage ended at a staircase that led deep into the bowels of the decrepit building. I swallowed as I paused at the top of the stairs, not certain I really wanted to go down them. Music pumped up the staircase, and the distant sound of cheering could be heard rising and falling in waves.

  Dash extended a hand, gesturing for me to go first. “After you.”

  I gave him a stiff smile before leading us down into the bar. The walls vibrated with sound, and the shouting and cheering became louder as I neared the bottom of the staircase. My eyes grew wide, and I slammed to a halt when I reached the last step. The place was nothing like the small and dingy krampus bar Alfie had dared me to enter years ago, and I felt a quiver of nerves swelling in my gut at the sight before me.

  The basement was huge, and it appeared to span the length and width of the entire building. It was packed full with magical beings who were all cheering as they surrounded a boxing ring in the center of the room. Neon lights hovered over the elevated stage highlighting two bedraggled elves who were fighting in the center of it. Their dirty clothes hung loosely from their frail bodies, and their weak punches looked pathetic even from where I stood at the bottom of the stairs. They both appeared far too exhausted to draw on their powers.

  I wanted to scan the rest of the room, but I couldn’t seem to look away from the fight that was happening.

  “What have you gotten us into?” I asked Dash between clenched teeth, still unable to take my eyes off the scene before me.

  He stiffened at my side, clearly just as uncomfortable as me at the situation we found ourselves in.

  “What do we do?” I asked when he didn’t reply.

  “Nothing has changed.” He pushed past me as he started toward the bar. With the fight going on, there wasn’t a line to reach the counter, and Dash went straight up to one of the waiting bartenders. He ordered two beers for us while I hovered behind him.

  With each moment that passed, I felt increasingly self-conscious. The place reeked of krampus magic, and the krampuses standing near the bar kept glancing at me. The way I held their attention had me worried, and I was starting to become concerned we’d already been discovered.

  “I swear I’m being watched,” I murmured to Dash, as he handed me a beer.

  He looked over my shoulder, his gaze roaming the room before a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and he focused on me once more. “They’re checking you out.”

  My worry turned into annoyance in a heartbeat. “You would think that,” I replied. “Not everyone has their minds focused only on one thing, you know.”

  “No, really?”

  “Is now the best time for sarcasm?”

  He grinned before lowering his lips to my ear. “Let’s split up, we’ll cover more ground that way. Keep your eyes open for the elves.” He didn’t wait for my response as he turned and walked away from me.

  I stared after him for several moments before letting out a sigh and turning to inspect the rest of the room. I guess I had better get to work.

  I had only just started surveying the bar when a krampus sidled up to me. He was only slightly taller than me and clad in leather. Like most of his kind, he was thin and gangly, and his skin had a ghostly pallid tone that made him look like he needed a week tanning at the beach. There was a touch of gray to his shadowy hair, and his eyes were so dark they were almost black. There was a commanding, confident presence about him that I didn’t sense from the others in the bar, and I got the feeling that this krampus was more powerful than he initially appeared.

  “Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.

  I lifted my beer and gave him a tight smile. “I’m all good on the drink front.”

  “I see,” the krampus said. He didn’t move away though. If anything, he got closer. Leaning an arm on the bar, he looked me up and down.

  “I’m Crow,” he purred. “And you’re gorgeous.”

  “I’m Cl—Claudia,” I replied. “And I’m not interested.” The krampus was much older than me. Plus, he was a krampus, and they really weren’t my type. I’d heard of dark and light beings getting together before, but it generally didn’t work out.

  The man chuckled like he found me amusing. “I haven’t seen you in here before.”

  I shrugged. “I like to move around.”

  He was watching me closely, as if trying to sense the truth in my words. I’d been completely honest though, which must have shown on my face, because Crow nodded, relaxing slightly. “We don’t like outsiders in here, but I think we can make an exception for a pretty face.”

  I let out a breath. I felt like I was being interrogated. Why wasn’t anyone giving Dash the same questioning?

  “Is there a reason you brought your pet?” he asked, nodding in Dash’s direction.

  I tried to keep my expression neutral at his question, but I was seething inside. Who did this Crow think he was? Dash was not a pet. “Do you have a problem with shifters?”

  He sniggered under his breath. The sound was menacing and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “What do you think?” he asked, nodding to the other side of the room.

  Against the far wall, in a dark space under the stairs I had just come down, I could see thick metal chains hanging from the brick. My breath caught in my throat as my gaze traveled down the chains to find at least a dozen creatures shackled to the wall in a line.

  They all looked frail and beaten down, much like the two elves I’d seen fighting earlier. I was too far away and my senses were so overwhelmed by all the magical beings in the room that I couldn’t tell if any of the prisoners were shifters. I had to assume at least some of them were after Crow’s comment.

  My hands clenched at my sides as I surveyed the poor souls who cradled themselves against the wall. They were shying away from the raucous jeering of the crowd, and the few who had their eyes open looked terrified. It took everything in me not to start shaking with anger.

  My gaze flicked back to Crow, and I saw he was watching me, waiting for my reaction. “They’re your fighters?” I asked, gesturing toward the prisoners.

  He nodded, a cunning smile on his lips. “Though I can’t say they bring much of a fight these days.”

  I nodded like I shared his pain. “Shame,” I replied. “That’s actually the reason I brought my shifter here,” I continued, an idea beginning to form in my head. Dash was probably going to kill me once he heard what I had planned, but I couldn’t stand by and watch while those magical creatures remained chained and tormented.

  “You fight him?” Crow asked, excitement lighting his black eyes. He glanced over his shoulder toward Dash who was talking to a woman at the far end of the bar. Crow watched him for several moments before turning back to face me. There was an appreciative look in his eyes, and he was nodding with approval.

  “Yeah, I fight him. Hence the moving around,” I replied. “I only have him fight the best though. It’s a shame your lot are so weak, or perhaps I could have put him in the ring tonight.”

  The light in Crow’s ey
es dimmed at my words, and I could tell I’d offended him. I didn’t care much though. Pretty much everything about him offended me.

  “What kind of shifter is he?” Crow asked, returning his gaze to Dash.

  “Oh.” I racked my brains as I tried to think of what kind of dark shifter would impress the krampus. “He’s a snow leopard.” I’d never come across a snow leopard before, but I was fairly certain they weren’t too rare.

  “A snow leopard?” Crow’s gaze darted back to me.

  “Uh, yes?” Why did I sound so uncertain?

  “We’ve never had one of those down here before.” He stared off toward the fighting ring, and his eyes glazed over as though he was thinking. “I have a panther out back that I usually keep for the final round,” he slowly began. “I’ll tell you what; have your leopard fight, and if he wins, I’ll give you half the house winnings tonight.”

  “And if he loses?”

  “You bring him back tomorrow night to fight at no charge.”

  I pursed my lips as though I was considering his offer.

  “It’s a good offer,” he said. “Better than you’ll get anywhere else around here. There’s not another krampus bar for miles.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, it’s not bad, but I need to think it over. I’ll finish my drink and let you know.” I gave Crow a flirtatious wink and walked past him, making a beeline across the bar toward Dash.

  The same woman was still flirting with him, so I stopped a little way down the bar to wait until she was gone. I noticed Dash’s eyes flick past her toward me as I hoisted myself onto a bar stool and took a swig from my beer. I gave a small gesture with my fingers for him to wrap up his conversation. Almost immediately, Dash was pushing past the woman and coming over to join me.

  “Well, she was no help,” he grunted, as he leaned his back against the bar at my side.

  “I need you to fight a panther,” I murmured, looking up at him.

  Dash frowned at me. “This is a joke, right?”