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She’s shaking, trying to figure out if this is real or some elaborate costume.
“What…what are you?”
“Krampus,” I gravel in my people’s true voice. The one that’s been scaring humanity shitless for fucking millennia.
She laughs. A nervous little sound that dies the second she realizes I’m not joking.
“But… but, Krampus isn’t real.”
“Neither is Santa, right?” I tilt my head. “But you still ended up on my list.”
“W… what list?”
“The naughty one.” I smile, slow, mean, letting her see every one of my teeth elongating into fangs.
“Me? I’ve never done anything!”
“Glitter,” I tell her. “In his air vents.”
Her mouth falls open, and it’s like I can hear the moment it clicks…Her heart skips a beat, her breath hitches. Then, one thought, clear as day: Avery was right.
The elevator opens to pitch black.
Kisha looks into the darkness, and her brain finally kicks in.
“Oh, fuck no.”
She tries to duck past me. Like I’m some drunk frat boy she can ditch.
Cute.
I let her run. I even give her a five-second head start because I’m feeling generous. And because the chase is half the fun.
“Marco,” I call out in the dark.
She’s stumbling around, banging into shit. “This isn’t funny!”
“Polo.” I’m right behind her now.
She shrieks, spins, and runs the other direction, right into a wall.
“You’re really bad at this.” I flip on one dim light so she doesn’t hurt herself.
“Fuck you!” She grabs a lamp, holding it up like a weapon. “I’m not fucking prey!”
“No?” I stalk closer. “Then why are you breathing like you’re scared shitless? And more importantly, why’s your pussy so wet I can smell it from here?”
The lamp flies, but I catch it easily.
“Foreplay already? Damn, Red. Thought you’d want dinner first.”
“You’re sick!”
“Yeah.” I toss the lamp aside. “Three centuries of blue balls will do that.”
I kill the light again.
She bolts, not toward the elevator this time but deeper into my penthouse. Smart girl, wrong direction. I hear her bare feet slapping against the marble floor. She lost her heels somewhere between the elevator and the wall. I hear her slam into the kitchen island and curse. Then I hear her go quiet.
