by Tegan Maher
"Oh, no, no, no," he said. "This is terrible. Awful. It can't be. It simply can't be. You have to get that hat back to him."
Kris and Carol tried to push through the doors with Blake right behind them, but they couldn't because of the security. Blake waved a hand, and a snicking noise reached us right before the doors swung open. A crowd was starting to gather, and Kris put his head down and shielded his face.
"My office, Destiny," Blake hissed. "Before this gets out of control."
Colin and Alex raced from the casino just in time to see us leading the elf toward the elevators and joined us. "Is this him?" Colin asked.
My foot caught on a piece of loose tinsel and I had to let go of the elf in order to keep from falling. He made a last-ditch run for it, but didn't even make it past Destiny before Alex caught him and jerked his arm up behind his back. "You'll be going with us," he said, pushing a disgruntled Mike Snow in front of him and into the elevator.
All eight of us, plus the foxes, piled into the little box, and Blake pushed the button for the top floor, then pressed his thumb against a security sensor.
"Please, Mike," Kris said, "Just tell us where the hat is. I promise, I'll drop all charges. I know you've had a rough time."
"Drop charges, my great aunt Martha's angel topper," Carol said. "We're not dropping charges. He's gonna tell us where the hat is, right now, or I'm gonna turn him over to the Valkyrie we were just talkin' to. She'll get it out of him quick."
"I swear," he said as the doors slid open to reveal a hallway that looked more professional and less beachy than the rest of the resort did, "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."
Alex shoved him out and he stuttered. "I mean, I know exactly what you're talking about. It explains everything. The rudeness, the lack of enthusiasm for the activities. But I don't have any idea what happened to the hat. I promise."
Blake muttered a few words as we approached the first door, and it snicked open. He swung it wide and motioned us in. Alex pushed Mike into a chair that sat in front of a huge desk. Blake went around to take the chair behind the desk, but the rest of us stayed standing, glaring down at the hat thief.
He glanced from one of us to the next, then burst into tears. "Please, you have to believe me. I love Christmas, no matter how badly I behaved." He hung his head. "I deserved to be fired. I was horrible. I didn't know how to get through it, and Santa offered to help but I wouldn’t listen. What I did was inexcusable.” He caught my eye, oozing desperation. "I'm not important, though. You have to find that hat. While you're wasting time here with me, whoever has it may be getting away!"
I shed my Christmas-vacationer skin and slipped on my cop one, then assessed him from that detached point of view. I was almost positive the guy was telling the truth. Which meant we still had no hat, and no clue, and Christmas Spirit was at a critical level. Mike was right about one thing—we were running out of time.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JUST TO BE SURE MY intuition was right, I took a deep breath and concentrated, listening for a lie in his words as he continued to deny his guilt and implore us to stop wasting time. It was one of my gifts. It killed me when I didn't hear so much as a whisper of untruth in his words, because that meant we were back to square one.
"Let him go," I said, then repeated myself, raising my voice a little.
"What do you mean, let him go?" Carol demanded, her voice getting higher in pitch with each word.
I sighed. "He's telling the truth. He didn't do it and he's truly freaked out that the hat is gone. He wants it found every bit as much as we do. You have to let him go."
I'd no sooner said the words when alarms blared. I about jumped out of my skin.
"What in the name of gingerbread men is that?" Kris yelled, covering his ears.
"That's our alarm system," Blake hollered back. "Somebody tried to tamper with one of the lock-down spells. Gimme a second." He closed his eyes and began muttering.
"Where?" Alex said a few seconds later when the alarm shut off. My ears were ringing so loudly I could barely hear him.
"Lobby portal," he barked at Destiny, then snapped his fingers and disappeared.
"Follow me," she said, pushing her way toward the door.
"What's going on?" Kris asked once we were all sardined back into the elevator.
"Hopefully we just caught the person who stole your hat," she said. "Somebody tried to disable the security charm so they could leave."
"Are you sure?" Carol asked.
"I'm sure somebody tampered with the charm," she said. "Beyond that, I'm just hoping it was the thief."
When we reached the ground floor, she led us to the same portal we'd entered through. Blake was standing there with two of his security guards, who were holding an middle-aged fairy. Blake was holding the fluffiest, most pristine Santa hat I'd ever seen in my life. Kris reached out and snatched it to him as soon as he was within arm's length.
"Millie?" Carol said to the fairy, her forehead furrowed.
"Yes, Millie," the fairy spat. "You two think you're so special, spreading your disgusting happiness. You work a few months out of the year, yet get all the credit for everything good that happens. Kids worship you while you give them a barrel full of sweets that rot their teeth out. And who has to go behind you and clean it up, day in and day out, with no gratitude or recognition whatsoever? Me, that's who! You make me sick!"
Carol was crying. "No, Millie. Children love you, too."
She snorted. "They don't love me. They love the money I leave under their pillows."
"Okay," I said, not wanting to interrupt, but feeling a little like Alice must have when she fell down the rabbit hole. "What in the name of all that's holy is goin' on here?"
Destiny sighed. "She's the tooth fairy."
I did a double take. "You gotta be kiddin' me."
"Nope. That's her." My cousin looked sadder than I think I'd ever seen her look, at least outside of a funeral.
"But ... we were best friends. We've been best friends for over a thousand years," Carol said, her face a mask of disbelief as she struggled to make sense of the situation.
"Ha!" Millie barked. "We used to be best friends. Then I took over this awful gig when Mama got too old to do it and saw just exactly how high and mighty you think you are. You all putter around up there from January until July, sipping cocoa and watching Netflix. Then you put it in gear, crank out some toys, and all the kids in the world idolize you. Well let me tell you what I do. I work my fingers to the bone every single night, pulling disgusting teeth out from under pillows, and half of them are rotten thanks to all the candy you fed them over the holidays. You and that stupid Easter Bunny.” She paused to draw a breath before spewing more vitriol.
“And does anybody ever even say thank you anymore? No. Nobody leaves me milk and cookies, or even so much as a bottle of water; they just take for granted I'll show up. I guess they think I carry my own lunch." She gave one final snarl. "I'm just sorry I didn't get away. Things were finally starting to get to how they should be—just a normal everyday day, like every other one throughout the year."
Wow. She made even the most disgruntled postal or DMV worker seem like a whiff of spring. I was still processing that the tooth fairy was a real person while also absorbing that she'd stolen Santa's hat and almost wrecked the holiday. Talk about a kid's biggest nightmare. I could see the headlines now. Tooth fairy Steals Santa’s Hat. Almost Kills Christmas.
Some things you just couldn't make up.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
WITHIN JUST A FEW MINUTES, the powers that be showed up to take Millie into custody, and I felt sorry for Carol. She truly cared for the woman, and was worrying about her even as the cops toted her off. "I hope she gets something to eat when she gets wherever it is she's going."
Kris draped his arm around her, pulled her close, and kissed the top of her head. "I'll stop in and check on her Christmas Eve, Mother. Don't worry."
I shook my head in wonder. Even
when somebody so close to them had done something so horrible, they were still kind and compassionate. Sure, Carol had a spine, but both of them were good to the bone. I considered whether I would check on somebody that did me so wrong, and it didn't take a hot minute for me to answer the question. Absolutely not. Maybe there was a lesson in there somewhere.
As soon as the hat was back in Kris's hand, the pall of everyday boredom fled, and people flocked to the booths and tables still set up in the lobby to participate in the activities. I was pretty sure even the lights shone brighter and the tinsel got a little shinier.
As soon as the men left with Millie, my ears popped. I wasn't sure, but I figured that meant the wards were back to normal and people were free to come and go and to use magic again.
Alex put his arm around me and I leaned into him. "I think I need a vacation from our vacation," I told him, then pulled him toward a table. "Feel like making some snowflakes?"
"Sure thing," he said, and started folding a piece of blue construction paper. All around us, kids were bustling back and forth between activities, pulling their parents along behind them. The carolers were belting out songs and soft, magical snow drifted from the ceiling of the lobby, only to melt and disappear before it landed.
We finished the snowflakes and were talking to Destiny and Colin when a larger-than-life voice boomed through the cavernous room.
"Ho, ho, ho, everybody! Merry Christmas! Who wants to tell Santa what they want?"
I looked up and caught Kris's twinkling eye. He touched his nose and winked at me before heading toward the throne that I assumed had been built for some fake Santa. Little did everyone know, they were gettin' the real thing.
A surge of happiness and peace burst through me as I looked around. Chaos and Tempest were chasing the snow, and I was with two of the people I cared about most in the world. Mila was coming later, so I had even more to be grateful for.
Standing there enveloped in the warmth of the season, I knew I'd never take the Spirit of Christmas for granted again.
Author’s Note
THANK YOU FOR JOINING me for another magical story, this time with two of my favorite leading ladies instead of just one.
Cori, Chaos, and Alex are the stars in the Cori Sloane, Witchy Werewolf Mysteries, which take place in a little town called Castle's Bluff, Georgia. Cori's the sheriff, and has some wicked crimes to solve, all while keeping the peace between people who appear very different, but are in fact very much the same in many ways. Or at least the ones who aren't killing people are.
Destiny, Tempest, and Colin live in the Enchanted Coast Magical Mysteries world, listening to Jimmy Buffett and taking life as it comes—in between murders, of course.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I loved writing it. From me and mine to you and yours, have an amazing, love-filled holiday!
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Other Books by Tegan Maher
Witches of Keyhole Lake Series
Book 1: Sweet Murder
Book 2: Murder to the Max
Book 3: Murder so Magical
Book 4: Mayhem and Murder
Book 5: Murder and Marinade
Book 6: Hook, Line, and Murder
Book 7: Murder of the Month
Witches of Keyhole Lake Shorts
Bubble, Bubble, Here Comes Trouble
Witching for a Miracle
Moonshine Valentine
Cori Sloane Witchy Werewolf Mysteries
Howling for Revenge
Dead Man’s Hand
Bad Moon Rising
Enchanted Coast Magical Mystery Series
Deadly Daiquiri
Surfboard Slaying
About Tegan
I was born and raised in the South and even hung my motorcycle helmet in Colorado for a few months. I've always had a touch of wanderlust and have never feared just packing up and going on new adventures, whether in real life or via the pages of a great book.
When I was a little girl, I didn't want to grow up to be a writer—I wanted to raise unicorns and be a superhero. When those gigs fell through, I chose the next best thing: creating my own magical lands filled with adventure, magic, humor, and romance.
I live in Florida with my two dogs. When I'm not writing or reading, I'm riding motorcycles or binge-watching anything magical on Netflix.
I'm eternally grateful for all the people who help make my life what is today - friends, readers, family. No woman is an island.