Her mouth falls open. “What? I knew—I knew he hadaffairs, but—” The color is draining from her face. She turns fully to me. “Oh. My God. I thought—Did he hurt you?”
I hug myself. “He didn’t get the chance.”
Krampus lets out a low, frustrated growl, and our attention snaps back to him.
“Your sins are minor,” he says, jerking his chin at Anna. “I have greater prey to hunt tonight. Go.”
Anna blinks at him. Her hands slowly unfurl at her sides. “I…” She sucks in a breath. “Really?”
“Yes.” Krampus snorts, paws at the floor with one hoof, leaving a scrape against the polished hardwood. “Go, now.”
To my shock, Anna smiles—at the same time as her eyes fill with tears. “Thank you,” she whispers, and retreats back down the hallway with small, wavering steps.
My brow furrows as I step to Krampus’s side. I watch her leave with a strange mixture of emotions tugging at my gut. Relief, confusion, and a flare of heat that might be… jealousy?
I didn’t understand how or why she could stand in front of Krampus, willing to take her punishment. But… then I imagine how beautiful, howfreeing, it would be to hear that she doesn’t deserve to be punished.
When Krampus turns his red eyes toward me, I know that I won’t be receiving that same mercy tonight. But nor do I deserve it, especially now that there’s blood on my hands.
We can’t all be innocents.
I lead Krampus to the stairwell. For a moment I stay, listening, but there’s no sign of commotion. Anna must not have told anyone we’re here. Krampus stays at the foot of the staircase while I ensure nobody is nearby to see us coming, and then follows me upstairs. He grimaces as his hooves slip on the hardwood.
“So what’s the best way to do this?” I whisper, peering up at him once we’re in the upstairs hallway, tucked around a corner from the lounge. Krampus keeps looking around, shaking his head as if in agitation, looking some more. Distracted. I lay myhand on his arm, and he twitches, head jerking toward me. “Is something wrong?”
He pauses, breathes in through gritted teeth. “The smell.” His head rises and his nose flares—then his tongue darts out too, flicking at the air like a snake. His pupils blow wide.
He always talks about smelling sin. I can only imagine how much it must pervade the air in this cabin. It must taint every surface, seeping into the walls like the pungent odor of cigarette smoke. Generations of a family who have evaded him, time and time again, within these very walls. And three of them are here now, down the hallway. Ripe for the picking.
“I know,” I say, trying to soothe him and keep his attention on me. “We’re so close. But we need a plan. Do you want me to try to separate them? I could see if I could bring one of them to my room…” I nibble my lip, trying to think of possibilities. Louis, at least, will be easily convinced to follow me. There’s a queasy stirring in my stomach at the thought of leading him to his possible death, but I push it aside. I’ve already committed to this plan; there’s no point in questioning it. Just like my cons, the only way through is forward. Backing down isn’t an option.
“They’ll assume Adrian and Anna are together, and I’m in my room, but if anyone else goes missing, they’ll notice it,” I say, thinking aloud. “And they’ll definitely hear someone being punished in the house, but maybe I could tie them up while you go after the others, or…”
“No,” Krampus says, interrupting me.
I blink at him. “No? To which part?”
He jerks his arm away from me. “All of it.”
“What do you mean? Why? I can help?—”
“No,” he snaps, again, louder. We both pause, tense as we wait to see if anyone in the cabin heard it, but only the continued sound of Christmas music comes from the lounge ahead. “I donot need your help any further,” he says, more quietly but no less harsh.
I huff out an incredulous laugh. “You don’t need my help? You wouldn’t even be here if not for me.”
“And thus you have played your part.”
I’m surprised at the strength of the anger that rises inside of me. Maybe he thinks I’ll be content to step aside and let him do the dirty work, but that’s the last thing I want. “This is my revenge, too.”
He shakes his head. “I am already not sure if you will survive your punishment,” he says, flat and unemotional. “You cannot risk doing more.”
I stare down at my boots. One of them is stained with blood, I notice with a sort of detached horror. I think that might be a bit of brain, too. I’ll probably have to throw it out.
“Do you understand?” Krampus asks. “You must stay out of it. Leave the rest to me.”
My fists clench. I slowly lift my eyes to meet his steely gaze again, take a breath, and?—
“Diana? Is that you?”
