7. Jody

Chapter 7

Jody

I tried to fight him. I really did. But Evil Santa was strong. My legs scrambled against the hard floor and there was nothing to get purchase on. There was no way to resist.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck .

He pulled me all the way into the center of the store and dropped me roughly on the ground near Jeff and Wendy. I tried to get my breathing under control. I was freaking out. But I didn’t want him to see that. I didn’t want him to have that power over me. I’d dealt with calamities before—little kids are chaos monsters and I’d been working with them for years. But injured children and the scary stories they tell are a completely different matter than evil aliens.

But I had to keep calm for my school kids. I had to hope I could get back to them. And I had to hope that I didn’t give Aldyn up. Evil Santa towered over me, and this close I could see that not only did he have tusks, he had fangs too. I did not want to know just how sharp they were.

I was never telling any kid a Santa story ever again. Not when he was going to be the guy that came to mind.

“Are you the only one out there?” he demanded.

My lips quivered and I could barely breathe but I said, “Yes,” as steadily as I could.

Evil Santa scowled. He knew I was lying. It was that power to know untold truths. Or maybe I was just terrible liar. And then he did something even worse. He grinned. And it made my blood run cold. “You’re not alone. Oh no. It’s better than that. You’re special .”

I hated the way he said it. I wasn’t special.

I was just an orphaned girl who finally made good. Well, a woman. But I wasn’t worrying about that now. I finally got my life all figured out and had figured out what I needed to do. But that didn’t make me special. It just made me a person. I wanted to hit him. But he was huge and towering over me, and hitting him would just put me in a world of hurt.

No, thank you.

I didn’t ask him what he meant by calling me special. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. But I wondered. I don’t think anyone had ever called me special before. At least, they hadn’t meant it if they did.

I hoped Aldyn stayed hidden. He was our only chance to get out of here. If I believed in anything I would have prayed at that moment.

Evil Santa turned back towards the aisles looking for Aldyn. There was a strange awareness just at the edge of my mind. I could have sworn it was Aldyn. But that was weird and impossible. Of course my awareness, my emotions, were heightened at the moment. I couldn’t actually sense Aldyn. I just thought I could.

It was wishful thinking.

“My brother doesn’t know how many tributes I am bringing,” Evil Santa yelled out to the aisles. “I can kill her and he’ll never have to know. Three tributes are just as good as four. Though you won’t last long if I do that, now will you?”

What was he talking about? I was so caught up in that question that I barely realized he’d threatened to kill me.

But I wasn’t going to worry about that right now. I couldn’t stop it. And I didn’t think he wanted to kill me. Or maybe I just had a really strong sense of denial. I was going to cling to that for as long as I could.

But why wouldn’t Aldyn last long if I died? Was that an oblique way of threatening us both?

“Show yourself if you want your mate to keep breathing.” Evil Santa’s tone made it clear: the time for hiding was over.

Mate ? What was he talking about? Whose mate? Me ? Aldyn? I didn’t even know the guy! I was no one’s mate.

I really hoped Aldyn was smart enough to stay hidden. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to reveal himself. Right? Evil Santa was either going to kill me or he wasn’t. I didn’t want to be leverage against anyone. Please don’t be stupid.

He was stupid.

That awareness at the edge of my consciousness told me what was going to happen right before it did. Aldyn walked out from an aisle much further away than I would have expected. He was almost to the back of the store. He could have escaped. If the door would open. His hands were up and he moved slowly. He was staring at me, and even from all the way across the store I could feel the heat of his gaze down to my soul. It was kind of unnerving. First Evil Santa said I was special. And then Aldyn looked at me like I really was.

I wasn’t. I couldn’t be. But I could almost believe it.

“Don’t hurt her,” Aldyn told Evil Santa.

“I want you all in good condition. You will be excellent tributes.”

I slumped down on the ground. I did not like the sound of that.