“Tricks will not keep me from what I seek on this night.”
Aubrey’s eyes narrowed, annoyed with being cut off. She dealt with pricks like this all week long, and monster or not,thisone was going to learn not to interrupt her.
“It’s barely eight in the morning, so you’re a bit early for the ‘this night’ crap, and if you’re going to mansplain tomeabout who lives in my house, you can just get the fuck out now. Hedoesn’tlive here. That’s my ex’s stepson, why would he live with me?!”
The beast paused, considering her for a measured moment before reaching into the grey furs and withdrawing a . . . mobile device? “Tyler Mcloughlin, twelve years old, born the twelfth night in June.” Garnet eyes squinted as he read off her address, scrolling the details on the screen it clutched in clawed hands. “Secondary address, Waterford Court—”
“Thirty-two forty-seven Waterford Court, that’s my ex-husband’s house, like I said, asshole!” she exclaimed, the thrill of being right causing her voice to raise. “He doesn’t live here, are you deaf? What do you want with him?”
“It is Krampusnacht.”
The creature gave the answer as if it was the only one she needed, huffing in aggravation as the mobile device was replaced in the furs and the basket hitched a little higher. Aubrey couldn’t be certain, but she was positive the beast muttered something aboutidiotic office assistantsbefore it began to turn away. She couldn’t understand why this nightmare creature would have come to her house looking for Tyler, the only child who would list her home as a secondary address would be . . . Aubrey gasped, dropping the knife with a clatter as dread flooded her. Jacob was the only child one might find at her location, did that mean the creature would be seeking him as well?
“Wait! Why-why are you looking for children, what are you going to do to them?”
“It is Krampusnacht—”
“Just because you keep saying that doesn’t mean it’s going to start miraculously making sense,” she snapped. “What are you, some sort of pervert? You know what, why don’t you stay right where you are. I’m calling the police.”
The laughter the filled the room was like a scrape of metal, flinty and cold, reigniting her initial terror.
“It is not my fault if you are ignorant of the old ways, human. Traditions do not go away simply because they don’t fit into your narrow little world, they simply move over your ignorance. Children naughty enough to be placed on the list are visited on this night, and this child will know the bite of my branches before the sun rises, as will all children whose name I possess, I can promise it.”
“Let me see this list,” she demanded, flushing when the creature chuckled again. “What-what if there are other children there? What will you do to them? Is-is my son on your list? He’s a good boy, please . . . please don’t hurt my son. Or the other boy.”
The monster smiled, a horrible stretch of pointed white teeth, and she shuddered again.
“Children who do misdeeds together are punished together. Go ahead and make your call, sweetling. It will make no matter.”
If the creature went to her ex’s house seeking Jacob’s stepbrother, he would Jacob as well, Aubrey realized.And you went and verified the fucking address!She needed to do something, needed to be there, bepresent, needed to stop this from happening somehow. She was able to hear her mother’s voice in her head, lamenting her divorce and the fact that Jacob would live with her only a few days a week.Miss busy career woman, too busy for her husband and her little boy, always putting work first . . .It wasn’t true, and sheknewthat. There was no choice a woman could make that wouldn’t she be condemned for by someone, andherjob was the one that had paid the mortgage, paid for little league and science camp and jiu-jitsu, but it mattered little in the eyes of others, and she’d been trying to prove her worth as a mother since.And now you have your chance.
“What–what can I do to change your mind?”
“There’s nothing you can do to stop the punishment that will be—”
“Punish me instead.”
Her voice came out as a whisper, thin and mouse-like, but her shoulders straightened. She couldn’t allow her son to be accosted by this goat-like nightmare.The bite of his branches, he said.Spanking was not an activity with which Aubrey was unfamiliar, after all. The tokens to three different BDSM clubs in three different states lived on her phone. Taking a spanking for her son was the least she could do, all things considered. “I-I’m the parent. Parents are responsible for the way their children behave. Let me take the punishment instead.”
Another low chuckle, a shiver up her neck. “And why would I agree to that?”
Aubrey kept her breath steady, refusing to look away as the creature stared her down.Why. Why should he agree?Give him a reason.She’d been on the receiving end of office mishaps before, mis-relayed information and improperly entered data . . . she knew how it could derail a day, how her entire schedule shuffled because of it.
“Because,” she began tremulously, raising her chin in a way she hoped projected confidence, “because you’re already here. Let me take the punishment, and cross the name off your list. You don’t need to waste any more of your day because of someone else’s mistake and you can get on with your schedule.”
The creature huffed to himself, and she knew she had him. “There will be no reneging if you begin this, little one. If you do this, you will be accepting the punishment reserved for adults.”
“I-I understand.” She didn’t, of course she didn’t, but how bad could it be? “I’ll take whatever punishment you give.” The timer on the oven went off then, catching both their attention. “As long as you let me get my cookies out of the oven.”
She felt the beast’s eyes on her back as she turned to the oven, hands shaking as she took up her oven mitts. The gingerbread was perfectly crisped, warm brown and fragrant. She would take this punishment, whatever it was, and then return to her baking, ensuring her son would go to his cookie exchange with an ample supply, Aubrey resolved. She’d not let him down.
“Your baking attire is poorly suited to your task, but it works very well for mine.”
She stiffened, feeling the cold air from the front hall lick up her bare legs once more. Changing out of her short nightgown hadn’t seemed like a priority several hours earlier when the heat of her oven had warmed the kitchen, but now she wished she’d donned a suit of armor, wished
she’d put onsomething. His words were laced with mocking, but a clawed hand raised, slicing through the air and the front door slammed, abruptly cutting off the icy current of air.
Aubrey felt her heart stop as the beast approached her from behind, pulling the apron tie at her neck with its clawed fingers. Another chuckle, claws carding lightly through her hair before gripping it tightly, yanking her back. She fell flush against the beast’s broad chest, its grey furs and basket having been discarded. The coarse hair that covered it tickled her bare arms as her hair was lifted, and she realized it was smelling her.
