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He sits back and studies me for an uncomfortably long time.
“How do you know it was love?”
I shouldn’t say it, but I blurt it out anyway. “How did you know it was love when you took Clara?”
Humans might be surprised to hear the jolly old elf give a territorial growl, but not us elves. He’s a good Santa. The best Santa in recent memory. But he’s an ancient, powerful, and dangerous creature, like the rest of us. Cross him, and you’ll be praying for the demon Krampus to come and intervene.
Santa leans forward in his seat and fixes me with a baleful stare. “This will go better for you if you keep my wife’s name out of your mouth.”
“Yes, sir.”
He sits back and picks up his tea. He’s waiting for me to beg forgiveness, to beg to keep my job.
“Your waiting period is ridiculous,” I say.
“Is it?”
“Yes. I saw her, and I knew. I just knew I couldn’t wait on this system that you’ve put in place. You meant well, but that, too, is bullshit. I’ve done nothing wrong. Except for the part where I took her against her will as she slept. But I apologized to her for that. And now, we are married. I did inform her that we were mates, and I do regret not being clearer on what that meant because now she doesn’t want to speak to me. But she is my mate in every way possible.”
Santa gulps down more tea and refills mine. “Sounds like you two have a lot to talk about.”
I blink at my boss. “I’m not being punished?”
He shrugs. “Clara’s softened me up on the rules. If you would like, I can put you on official probation while you have a honeymoon. Just so everything looks on the up and up. This is what Clara calls ‘the boys looking out for each other.’ But I can’t seem to find fault with you, not for anything worse than what I did.”
I can’t believe he’s letting me off the hook. “Thank you, sir.”
“Go find your wife and take her home.”
Sheepishly, I say, “If I knew where she was, I would.”
Santa laughs and rubs his belly.
“Let’s see. She’s a human, alone, at the North Pole. In desperate need of a friend to talk to, if I know anything about human women.”
“I am her friend, and I’m right here,” I say dumbly.
The old elf levels me with a serious look. “I’m talking about my wife, Cyran.”
All this stress has made me a bit thick-headed. “Of course. But how do I fix this mess?”
“Humans need space and time to process.”
“I’m afraid I’ve spent too much time alone with animals and not enough time with elves, or humans, for that matter. All I want to do is wrap her in furs and keep her indoors to watch over her every second so she doesn’t hurt herself anymore.”
He settles me down with a wave of his hand. “Just take care of her. She came to your bed before. I believe, if she’s anything like Clara, she’ll open her heart to you very soon.”
Time and space.
That gives me an idea.
ChapterFifteen
Ivy
Clara knows how to make tea that’s palatable.
The only other human at the North Pole, Clara, found me walking briskly in the cold around the small village and invited me into her house.
