The monster doesn’t budge. Instead, his nostrils flare and he inhales deeply, audibly, his eyes locked on me.
“I smell your sin,” he says, and he soundshungry.
I cannot form words in my blind panic. But as he steps forward, I swing again with a scream of fear and fury, the branch heading straight toward his broad chest.
He drops the chain he carries and grabs the tree branch midair. He tightens his grip and pulls.
The force of it lifts me straight off the ground. I gasp, releasing my poor excuse for a weapon, and fall. My feet hit the icy ground awkwardly, and I fall right on my ass in front of him.
He tosses my stick aside without breaking eye contact and bends down to retrieve his chains again.
I scramble backward in the snow as he steps forward, towering over me.
“Wait,” I gasp. “Please!”
He continues toward me, step by slow step, regardless of my pleas. My back hits a tree, and I cower against it, lifting one hand in front of my face, a pointless attempt at defending myself.
I’m no angel. The lies, the cons, the stealing… I won’t deny that I deserve to be punished for what I’ve done. But surely, I’m not the only one. Louis and his family deserve a taste of punishment too. They’re the ones who brought me here, who tricked me. And Iknowthey’ve done worse. Why do they get away with it? Why do people like themalwaysget away with it?
It’s not fair, I want to scream.I did everything right.
But I’ve always known that the world isn’t fair. It helps me justify the things I do. My lies and theft let me tip the balance of life’s scales, just a little bit. Why shouldn’t I take what I want, when some people are giveneverything, for nothing other than the circumstances of their birth? Why will everyone sayeat the richbut judge me for the blood on my teeth?
“Why me?” I cry out against the wind. Tears trickle down my face and sting in the cold. I stare up into the unfeeling red eyes of the monster looming over me. “Don’t you wantthem?” I stab a shaking finger in the direction of the cabin where Louis and his family are hiding, safe and sound and warm, right now. “Don’t the Kohlers deserve punishment too?”
To my surprise, the creature pauses. His nostrils flare as his head turns toward the cabin I’m pointing toward. And I swear I catch emotion flitting across his monstrous features as his red eyes narrow in anger. Infrustration.
“The Kohlers.” He speaks, his voice a low rumble that sends an entirely new wave of shivers through me. “I can smell their sin from here.”
My trembling finger drops. Even in a haze of panic, I know an opening when I see one. A way to manipulate this situation to my advantage.
“Then why don’t you go and get them?” I urge him. “Why don’t you punishthem?”
His snarl rips through the air, and I jerk back against the tree with a gasp. He stomps one foot on the ground, dragging a hoof through the snow.
“Every year I try,” he says. “Every year they hide behind their walls.”
When his burning eyes turn on me again, it makes the air freeze in my lungs. But this anger isn’t directed at me.
So maybe it’s time to stoke the flames.
“You claim to give people what they deserve,” I say. “But you’ve failed.” I lick my chapped lips, venture a guess. “You’ve been failing foryears, taking girls like me instead?—”
The monster whips the birch rod against the tree just above my head, and I flinch away. He leans over me, his lip curling.
“You think you don’t deserve to be punished?” His nostrils flare again as he inhales my scent. “You stink of sin.”
“As much as they do?” I ask, forcing the words out even though my voice shakes. My hands curl into fists at my sides. “That can’t be true.”
“They are out of my reach.” He raises the rod again, his expression going cold. “My job is to punish those I can. And I have a sinner in front of me.”
“No!” I refuse to give in now. “Please, I—What if I—” I pause, sucking in a breath. “What if I can help you get them?”
Krampus goes still above me, the birch rod frozen midair. “You? Help me?” He sneers as if the thought is laughable.
“Yes.” I lift my chin and force myself to meet his eyes, even as I tremble. “I can help you get to them.”
Chapter
