Beauty In Her Madness (Winterland Tale #3) - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,97
her.”
“No.” I thrashed against her, biting against the fatigue stealing my energy, the drugs clotting my head. “I won’t.”
It was more intuition than exact memories, but I understood that what was on the other side shredded you into nothing. Grief, sorrow, and anger drove through you until you were no longer, leaving merely a shell floating in space. Flashes of a tree coiled around a black box barely grazed my mind, a sinking in the pit of my stomach. I knew whoever she wanted free was the last thing I should release. I’d already let out one monster.
It would be devastating, not just to Winterland, but Earth. I had no idea why I realized that, but a heaviness sat on my gut, as though it knew, but couldn’t yet speak, trapped in silence.
“You can stab me, threaten me, but I won’t do it.” I wrenched away from her, the effort making me take in gulps of air. “I don’t care. I am not going to be an accomplice in whatever you want to do.”
“You mean take down Santa Claus once and for all?” Her eyebrows went up.
“What?”
“It’s time to do away with that unreasonable , selfish, old bastard. He is outdated and stuck in the past. It’s time for new leadership.” She patted at her perfectly styled hair, her chin lifting with righteousness.
“You want to get rid of Santa Claus?” My mouth parted.
“Love, joy, kindness…blah, blah, blah… No one cares about anything but themselves now anyway.” She flicked her hand. “Earth is a cesspool of greed and narcissism. Why not reflect what the people want?”
“Canned cranberries, you are totally nuts.”
“Amusing coming from you.” She scoffed. “And don’t act like you know the man. He is not all of what he seems either.” She waved her knife at me. “You are wasting my time. Go.”
“No.” I rolled my fingers into my palms, determination set on my face. Now, even more, I would not help with her plan. She was not wrong. Earth had turned into a gutter of hate, anger, and selfishness, but it was why we needed a figure like Santa Claus. We needed hope, joy, and love even more. “I won’t.”
“I thought you might say that.” Her lips twisted, eyes glinting with malice, her head turning slightly behind her. “Son?”
Dread kicked me in the stomach, my gaze moving past her. Two figures moved out from the darkness. By their outlines, I could tell one was a man, and the one being held was a woman, her head hooded, her arms tied back.
I took in huge gulps of air as my brain spotted the tall, muscular blond guiding her, his tan skin, his seafoam-green eyes looking into mine with remorse.
“Blaze?” Betrayal and confusion burned up my esophagus. He was part of this? He had known his mother was alive this whole time? Was he working with her? I had so many questions, but only one word croaked out. “Why?”
“I’m sorry, Dinah.” Pain flicked across his face. “I care about you so much. I even hoped with more power and sway you would see me. It’s time for a change. Christmas in summer has been ignored far too long. Half the world is in summer, but Santa ignored us, treated us like second-class citizens. The place you went after the holidays. We weren’t equal. Not compared to his precious winter. Almost every song, every movie, food, drinks, even family activities are all based around snow and cold weather. We may have two or three songs. And no good movies.”
“So what? You think getting rid of Santa and betraying your brother will change that?” I screeched.
“Yes. Everything will change once Mother takes control. This place won’t be Winterland anymore. For once they will be beneath us.”
“I can’t believe you.” I shook my head.
“I’m doing this for my people. For all of those on Earth who celebrate in the hot weather but get completely ignored.” Sorrow flicked on his face. “I’m sorry, Dinah. I hoped you’d see it my way, want to help. It’s time for our side to rise up.”
“Rise up? Ignored?” I snorted. “Because you don’t have a good Christmas movie?” I shook my head. “Fuck you. I’m not helping either one of you.”
“Blaze?” His mother nodded at the figure he held, finally taking my notice to her. She writhed in his hold, her words heavily muffled, sounding angry.
Blaze grabbed the pillow cover, ripping it off his captive’s head, her mouth covered with Christmas duct tape.