CHAPTER ONE
NOELLE
“Here, use the red ribbon.” I toss a roll to Donna who’s wrapping the larger gifts that don’t fit on the table. With as much subtlety as I can, I glance at the pile of twelve gifts already wrapped in candy-cane wrapping paper. Thankfully, no one touches the pile.
“I don’t think there’s enough here for all the bikes.” Her bows, big and cheery, dress up even the older bikes we found abandoned and were able to bring back to life. In post occupation Earth we make do with what we have, and I’m determined to make sure each kid on our list gets a toy. “I need my supply box, but I haven’t seen it all morning. I’ve got several rolls in there.”
“Let me take a look in the storage room. I think that’s where I last saw it.” With another quick glance at my personal pile of donations, I head to the back of the warehouse where we’ve stashed the first hundred toys, all inventoried, wrapped, and tagged for the kids await pickup.
When I open the door, I’m both stunned and horrified.
A tall blue alien, a zyanthan from the look of those horns, is standing in the middle of the presents with shredded wrapping paper and ribbons everywhere. It looks like a tornado tore through here.
A rather large, blue tornado.
“What did you do?” I scold, slamming the door closed behind me. “You’ve destroyed everything!”
“Not all. These… things…” He waves a blaster over a pile of dolls and craft sets that have been tossed behind him. “… are mostly intact.”
I charge at him and shove him in his chest with both hands. “You’re destroying everything I’ve worked so hard for!”
He seizes my wrists and holds me still, but not hard enough to hurt. “What is this place?”
“Are you serious?” I yank my hands free of him, but don’t dare touch him again. “It’s a toy drive, for kids whose families can’t afford to give them a Christmas.”
“Christmas?”
I point to the still undecorated pine tree in the corner of the warehouse as well as my red sweater with a very cute, sequined reindeer. “Christmas. Our big holiday, you alien thug.”
“I’m not a thug. I’m a zyanthan warrior assigned to find a shipment of blasters stolen and delivered to Earth.”
Fuck, that’s worse than him being a thug.
Think, Noelle, think. Gotta get rid of Mr. Tall, Blue, and Annoyingly Handsome.
“There are no blasters here, buster. Just toys. That’s what you’ve been tearing through. Toys meant for children who need a little joy in their lives.” I walk over to a hand-made, stuffed bear that’s bigger than me. Or was. Stuffing is still pouring from his chest. “What did Mr. Fluffers ever do to you?”
“Mr. Fluffers?” A rather annoyingly cute grin surfaces as the warrior slides a knife into a side pocket along his very thickthigh. He doesn’t see me as a threat but he’s not exactly leaving either.
“Don’t tell me you thought someone hid a blaster in a stuffed bear going to a child.” I quickly scan the toys he opened. All the larger items. A kitchen playset that we rescued from an abandoned bombed-out home, three basketballs we found at an old school gym, and even a straw-woven rocking horse.
The warrior lifts a brow as he folds his heavily muscled arms over an equally impressive chest. “Criminals will hide blasters in whatever or whomever they think can transport them undiscovered.”
“Whomever? Are you accusing me of transporting illegal weapons, Warrior?” I take three steps until I’m practically in his face, which is better than punching him for putting me in this position.
“Look around, genius. You’re in a warehouse, one of the few still standing in the Strip, I might add, surrounded by toys. Toys! This is where The Black and Gold Elves receive, sort, wrap up all the Christmas donations. And this is my project. Look it up on that fancy comm on your wrist. Noelle Snow. And no wisecracks about my name. I was born on Christmas, so my parents thought it would be cute to name me Noelle. Let’s leave it at that.”
“No L?” He taps on his wrist comm, technology the zyanthans have not shared with Earth, but one that gives them limitless access to a knowledge base and one another. “I found a Miss Snow, founder of The Black and Gold Elves.” He looks up at me. “Your name has Ls, two of them.”
I face palm myself. “My name is pronounced Noelle. It means Christmas.”
“Our data says elves are mythical creatures.”
“Please tell me you’re not this dense.”
He tilts his head, the warehouse lights backlighting his beautiful blue skin. “Parts of me are quite dense… enough to please any female. Especially with precise handling.”
I cut the air with my scissors. “Careful what you ask me to handle, Santa.”
