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“You love all of this as much as I do.” Nick gave me a big bear hug, surrounding me in his steely arms and the velvety softness of his infamous red cloak.
“You know it.”
The poor guy always mistook my enthusiasm for the toys.
As it worked in so many other pantheons, as a woman, I was pretty much my brother’s bitch. Not like that, mind you. But I would always be second-in-command. The duce. Always a bridesmaid, never the bride. I used to get pissed at the hierarchy, but now I’m over it. Bound to Nick in magic until I married, as long as he treated me good and gave me my freedom, what did I care? I had all of the fun and none of the responsibility. Foreternity. Because the last thing I wanted was to be saddled down to any one man or woman.
No thank you.Marriage? Talk about a fate worse than death!
“What do you think?” Nick asked me.
I had to bite my tongue not to say, “of what?” Instead I smiled and glanced at Donna. She gave me an almost indiscernible nod to let me know in our code that I should answer him in the positive.
“I think it’s great, Nick. Fantastic.”
“Their lineage is perfect. I am really impressed with them this year.” Nick ran his hand along the flank of the nearest snorting, hairy fiend.
I kept a safe distance, valuing my life and any appendages too much to approach, and suppressed an exasperated sigh. Everything revolved around the damn reindeer-breeding program. No wonder Nick didn’t get any tail. The only tail he ever looked at sat square at the ass end of a quadruped.
Gods from other pantheons called so often looking to buy one of the fliers we had to start an entirely new division just to manage the orders. I heard some Aztec sun god had ordered twenty-three just to guard his concubines from unwanted suitors. Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw him or his evil offspring, you would even say it looked like blood. Probably because the thing had head-butted one of the poor earth-bound reindeer to death.
Ever since my brother’s former reindeer handler—the aptly and not-s0 coincidentally namedRudolph—had fucked off to Sugar Plum Ridge to live like a hermit with the yetis, the reindeer had become even more aggressive. If I cared enough about the beasts, I might point that out to Nick, but he was too excitable just then to listen to my advice.
“I should be faster than any year before,” Nick went on proudly, not bothered in the least by their rolling eyes and frothing mouths.
That made me sit up, alert.
“Don’t push them too hard,” I cautioned, as concern gripped me, should my one and only night of freedom be shortened even by a second.
I wanted my full twenty-four hours, dammit.
Nick’s hand stroked his angular jaw. “Hmmm, not a bad idea, sis. They’re pretty torquey but I really don’t know their top end. The results of the test flights were good, though.”
“Have you been watchingTop Gearon the satellite again?” I teased.
He tried to hide his smile. “Maybe.”
“Santa!” Patty announced over the loudspeaker. “Sleigh is locked and loaded. Launch time in T-minus-ten minutes. Halt the lines. Commence releasing the launch door levers.”
For the first time in weeks, the conveyor belts slowed, coming to a stop with a loud hiss. My ears thrummed from the sudden, overwhelming quiet of the Launch Hall.
“Well, that’s my cue. Wish me luck.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek, giving me a half-armed hug, his entire body vibrating with excitement. He looked so tall and proud I could easily recall the stately form of our father leading his people into battle. Some days I wondered if Nick missed him as much as I did.
Nick climbed into the sleigh, taking the reins that an extremely attractive, Dark Elf held out for him. Nick’s Christmas Eve toy-delivery method paid homage to Odin riding across the sky with his big hunting party during Yule. My twin made an equally glorious picture and, for the moment, I truly became more caught up in the twinkling, candy-coated spirit of the day than expected. We worked hard all year for this one night. While the elves and I would get our reward for all of our toils, Nick’s work had just begun.
Sometimes I felt bad he inherited the gift ofknowingfrom the Vanir, and I hadn’t. Hearing all the pleas of the lonely, sad, greedy people out there took its toll. I could see it every day.
I made a firm decision in that moment. When Nick came back, I would have a little sit-down with the jolly ol’ fool and tell him he needed to find a woman—or a man. Whichever. Just somebody to warm his bed, someone he could dote on, instead of spending all his time with those smelly, flea-infested reindeer.
I took my proper place in the front of the well-wishers, Donna forever at my side. Two dark-skinned elves stood by the great, gilded doors. At a nod from Nick, as he battled with the reins of his beasts, the two Dökkálfar pulled back the last set of levers controlling the unlocking mechanism. I clutched my polar bear fur tight, bracing myself for the blast of air.
Icy cold North Pole winds rushed inside, followed by gusts of white fluff swirling like wicked knives with a bitter chill. Donna huddled closer to me in her silver-fox coat, hiding her face in my arm. I stood a foot taller than her. Ignoring the cold, the workers and I cheered Nick on, excitement pumping through the crowd.
With a whistle, Nick shouted out, “Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer!”
Those weren’t the names of these particular reindeer, of course, but the call had become tradition. The elves and I joined in with the chant, too.
“Now, Prancer, and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!” Laughing, I looked down at Donna. Her face had flushed with exhilaration and cold.
