The Snowmaiden, A Bride for Krampus - Jeanette Lynn Page 0,75

nuzzle that had his glow spots lighting up, then me, with mine doing the same, and even Shnik, who was stunned by his new glow worm status. Picking her prize back up, she made a noise that said Step aside, children. Stepping over all of us, Yule walked over to the portal, set her severed head toy down, and blew a thick blue flame over the portal.

We all gaped collectively as the portal shot to life once more. We were all moving before anything else could happen. Baumbel tossed Ded over his shoulder, hooking an arm under Shnikel to help him walk, and I grabbed up the pelts to follow.

I didn’t give this world so much as a backwards glance as we shot through the portal.

Adios, bitchachos! So long, candy cane assholes!

Chapter 19

Ded was looking mighty confused when his eyes slid open to find me munching on a weird berry fruit thing. The fruit was not poisonous here, at least not that we’d found.

“Hungry?” I asked my companion, shaking my jacket a little to offer him a peek at the girls.

“This one,” Shnik was saying as Baumb nodded and began to dig an enormous hole beneath a large tree that grew the fruit I was eating. It tasted like meat, sweet, a little salty. I liked it. And I hadn’t vomited or died yet. Human anatomy differing from Krampus or Baumbel, they’d both tried the fruit first hours before I was allowed. Ded had gone and had himself a long assed fruit induced nap that had absolutely nothing to do with Baumb’s stunned stupid reaction to our new digs he mighta maybe lost his grip and dropped my poor Krampus male on his head. Pulling another segment of fruit free, I tossed it to Yule, who was content to lick the flesh from Bels’ severed skull but lifted her head to catch the treat all the same.

“That’s going to be our den. Cozy, right?” I said conversationally.

Ded just blinked and blinked some more, staring at the forest surrounding us dazedly.

“I think it’s kinda pretty,” I commented, lifting a clawed finger to jerk it towards the canopy of branches heavy with fruit overhead.

Ded’s gaze focused on the fur starting to sprout up along my hand and the claws for fingernails on my fingertips.

“See,” I said with a sharp toothed grin, “it’s kinda a long story, but you don’t mind a gal who’s a lil’ hairy and may tend to get growly from time to time, do ya?”

“Lumi,” Ded garbled out, like I’d just said the sexiest thing ever.

Baumb let out a sound that said he agreed, and Shnikel glanced up, his face already gone white with Krampus fur, and that male purred.

A shiver raced up my spine and I purred back in answer. Bright blue eyes flashed, Shnikel’s and Ded’s, at their female’s chest rumble.

“Oop, where’d that come from?” Patting my chest, I chuckled.

As Baumb’s churring purr started up and they stalked over to where Ded and I were lounging, I supposed our den would just have to wait a little longer.

Chapter 20

Somewhere in Hinter

Turbulent blues stared sightlessly into the fire. The pile of heads smoking over the yule logs brought him no great pleasure. His boots and coat lay discarded on the floor, the wicker basket he’d carted back here bloodied and sat near the door. An Elf would take care of it.

“There can be no light without the dark, dear.” The disembodied voice came to him. It always did this night. His Lyddie, Lydia, had been gone to him for some years now. He’d do anything to get her back. Pulling two small, glowing orbs from his sack, he twirled them in one hand. Hope filled him for the first time in so long he couldn’t remember. There could only be one maiden in Hinter at a time. The balance had to be kept. When Alfka and Lyddie had taken their Kraumpensuss forms to choose who was to stay and who was to leave these lands, Lydia the victor, he never could have imagined his Lyddie would later succumb to her wounds.

Without balance to be kept, the curse of the Krampus had run wild. His sweet, unassuming Elkfen had gone naughty, with no help from his Elves. Some of those Christmas imps had gone positively dark while he’d given in to his sadness and locked himself away in his tower.

“And no dark without the light, I know…” he answered the ghost of his one true love. It just never