The elderly elf sitting at the desk closest to them turned his head, but his expression was anything but welcoming.
“You again,” he growled, his eyes bright with menace. Billy took a step back, wondering what Tulip had done to offendthe magical tools workshop staff.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure we can find what we’re looking for ourselves,” Tulip said, sounding blithely unconcerned. “We’ll just rummage through everything in here until we come across a nice, shapely pair of rods that—"
“No!” the old elf snapped. He sprang out of his seat and pushed Tulip away from the closet she had opened, slamming it shut with a wide-eyed look on his face. There was a vein on his forehead that Billy was pretty sure hadn’t been there a second ago.
“Oh, is this the wrong closet?” Tulip asked, powerwalking across the room. “Is it in here?” she asked, opening up another closet and taking out what looked like a half finished channeling rod.
“No! Stop touching things!” the old elf yelled. The three other workers were watching them, but they didn’t seem concerned. Billy almost thought they seemed amused.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Would you like to find the shaping rods for us yourself?” Tulip asked, giving him her best innocent, bright-eyed stare. The old elf narrowed his eyes, clearly furious, but then he nodded and stomped to the back of the room. When he came back, he was holding a pair of shaping rods in his hands and scowling like they’d just caught him murdering a kitten.
“Take them and get out,” he snapped, thrusting the rods into Tulip’s arms. She caught them somewhat clumsily, grinning like a lunatic as she walked out the door with her head held high.
“Now that was a man with murder face,” Billy said when they were back in the hallway, accepting the shaping rods from Tulip. She nodded.
“I love it. I volunteered to go get new sticks for everyone this morning. I thought Grumpus in there was trying to melt me with nothing but the force of his stare the third time I came by.”
Billy shook his head. “So you decided a fourth visit was in order?”
Tulip nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes. He now thinks that I’ve broken nine pairs of rods in one day. It’s hilarious. But enough about me—tell me what happened when Santa showed you his Krampus room.”
Billy took a deep breath. “It’s not a Krampus room. It’s a playroom. And nothing weird happened. We had sex, we went to sleep, and then we had sex again in the morning. Why are you so interested in this?”
Tulip just shook her head. “Billy, you had sex with our new Santa. Do you know when the last time was that an elf had sexual relations with a Santa? Never, that’s when. No elf has ever had sex with Santa. And this one is an alpha—and he has a Krampus room. How could I not be fascinated? Now what do you mean nothing weird happened. How could nothing weird have happened if you had sex in his Krampus room?”
Billy took another deep, calming breath. “Fine. He likes to be bossy, okay? But that’s all I’m telling you.”
He was caught off guard by the hand that shot across his chest, stopping him in his tracks. He turned and looked at Tulip, who had her head bowed and appeared to be breathing deeply, waiting for whatever she was going to do to be over with.
“He. Likes. To. Be. Bossy?” she said, each word punctuated by an explosive release of breath. She looked up and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “Billy. I have severely underestimated you. Ithought you were so sweet and so nice, and then you go and do something like this. Youcannotleave me hanging like that. What do you mean bossy? Explain! You have to explain what that means or I am going to die! Do you understand? That is an unacceptable tidbit to leave hanging.”
Billy pulled away from her grasping fingers and laughed. “You’ll be fine,” he said, walking quickly. Tulip ran and fell into step next to him, glaring at him for all of ten seconds before she started to laugh.
“Fine. Keep your secrets. Are you going to see him again?”
Billy grinned, his chest tingling with warm pleasure at the thought of his date later that day. “Yes, tonight. We’re going on a date.”
Tulip lifted her brow. “A date, huh? So you actually like him?”
Billy shrugged. “I don’t know him yet. He seems pretty nice, in an intense way. I guess I’ll find out.”
They were back at the workshop, standing just inside the door and waiting before heading off to work at their respective stations.
“Well, good luck,” Tulip said, sounding sincere. Billy nodded and smiled gratefully.
“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Billy made his way back to his station and held out his new shaping rods. This time he pulled the magic in carefully, as slowly as he could, marveling at how much magic he was dealing with.
Wondering if all alphas were this powerful, Billy set to work spinning seven-speed bikes out of thin air.
Nick was out by the reindeer stables when he saw Billy trudging toward him through the snow. Since there was at least an hour left until dinner, he was surprised to see the young elf out of the workshop.
Putting down the big sack of reindeer treats he was carrying, Nick watched the elf approach. Billy wasn’t wearing snowshoes, and since he wasn’t walking on the path, his legs sank deep into the powdery snow with each step.
“Hey!” Nick called out when Billy was close enough to hear, lifting his arm and waving at him. The sleeve of his suit pulled down at the wrist, and Nick yanked his hand back down.
