When Faryn returned inside, her mother wasn't where she left her. The television was playing in the common space and as stepped into the room, the three students on the couch looked over at her. It was evident by their faces that they would have rather been anywhere else at that moment.

"My mom?"

"She left," Liliah, a Laihr said.

When Faryn saw what they were watching, the three of them grimaced. It was a Hallmark or Lifetime movie about a woman falling in love with Santa's heir.

Faryn shifted onto the balls of her feet, forcing the soles of her boots to bend. "I'm . . . I'll be back later."

"Where's Nick?" Liliah asked.

Faryn shoved her hands into her coat and shrugged. "Leaving."

She returned to the courtyard. Nick's sleigh and his team were still here. She passed them, ignoring the Thorines' barbed jabs, and opened the large wooden door that put her out on Oxford's streets. She headed up Abingdon Road and Folly Bridge where the River Thames flowed underneath, its water not yet frozen and a dark brown. In the warmer months the river would be full of punt boats. She'd be in one along with her friends from school.

Oxford was quiet, most of the shops closed. She passed Christ Church and Pembroke and turned onto High Street. A few blocks later she came to the tavern that was open every Christmas. It was where her and Clora had high tea. Their tradition. A tradition Nick ruined today.

Faryn was shown to a table. The humans paid no attention to the dagger strapped to her side. What did they see? Was it invisible or did it look like something else? Maybe it appeared as tassels. A part of her hoped her mom would walk in, that she didn't really leave to return to Ruhnerium already.

Clora never appeared though.

If given the chance, Faryn would outlive Nick, but he still most likely had another seven hundred years. Twenty-two years of him were exhausting. She had no idea how her mom had managed to be married to him for a hundred and five.

Faryn finished off the biscuits she had spread with an ungodly amount of clotted cream and paid before returning to the boarding school. Barely into Christmas afternoon, she was ready for the day to be over.

*****

Once the sun had finished setting and wasn't shining into her room, Faryn climbed under her covers. The school hadn't even served dinner yet, but she couldn't face everyone. Not after they had witnessed her fight with Nick. It was a family matter, and while most of them knew her situation, she didn't like to see it reflected in their faces. Her eyes were swollen and puffy, and she really just wanted to close them.

She curled up on her side, facing her nightstand where she left the dagger. All the furniture in her room was new, if two decades could be considered new. The room itself was a few hundred years old. When she reached eight hundred, would two decades seem like a few days? What was time like when you had so many days under your belt? With each passing year, time seemed to move faster. Does it even feel like a year passes between visits for her mother?

Goosebumps prickled up Faryn's arms. The room felt as if it had grown smaller. Something brushed against her shoulder, the back of her neck. She tugged on her lamp cord before rolling over. The orange glow from her lamp spread across the room, not quite reaching the corner beside her closet where a figure loomed, wreathed in darkness. Two addax horns were sprouted from the top of his head where is dark hair hung. Even in the limited light, she could tell his eyes were solid black, no trace of white to be found. His black clothing fit his form tightly and revealed his tan chest underneath.

She sat up in bed, pulling her legs out from underneath her covers where his fog hovered.

With no irises, there was no way to tell what he looked at, but she had the feeling he was studying her and not her room.

He tilted his head. "You've looked better."

Faryn smiled at Krampus. "Hello to you too, Aurelius."

He didn't smile back, which caught her off guard. He stepped forward, the black fog around him evaporating, though some traces of it still hovered near her. His horns vanished and white came back to his eyes. The black fading and shrinking until his irises appeared and were a dark brown. "Where's Nicholas?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you were the last person to be seen with him."

Faryn blinked. "He's missing?"

"They've just decided it. His reindeer thought he must have gone somewhere in Oxford for a drink after your confrontation."

"How do you know about that?"

"You'd be hard pressed to find an Acurial who doesn't."

The Kelpie—Theo with his phone. They weren't close, but they were friendly. How could he have posted that video?

"He live-streamed it. He got you storming off after Nick."

"And into the woods . . ." Faryn buried her face in her hands. This was not good. She lowered her hands enough to look at him. "They think I'm holding him prisoner?"

"Or that you killed him."

At that, she got out of bed and grabbed her courier bag from the chair in front of her desk.

"They'll be coming for you. You need to leave."

She gathered a couple spare shirts, socks, and underwear, and packed them into her bag. "Can I come to Sleet City?" Located in the Artic Archipelago, it was where Aurelius lived. Perchta also resided there.

"All Winter Court members are being called to the Frozen City. Our homes will be searched while we are gone." He took a seat on the edge of her bed. Were she human she'd be cowering against the wall at having the dreaded monster under the bed on her bed. But it was a spot he had occupied many times during their late-night conversations. When she was six, Aurelius, lured by his desire to see the infamous child of Clora Claus, had appeared in the corner of her room in all his Krampus glory, intending to leave her cowering.

Instead, Faryn laughed and tried playing with the tendrils of his power. Since then, Aurelius had visited her as a friend, telling her about the Winter Court and all the things her mother had thought it best she didn't know about their world.

Faryn grabbed a small blue drawstring bag and filled it with all the Acurial coins she had. She didn't have many, but she'd have to use human transportation anyway. With the money she'd made from her jobs, she'd be able to travel through the human world for a few days before her wallet become strained. Seeing the Acurial coins made her think of Flozzie. It had always seemed like the Tooth Fairy had taken pity on her. She'd always gotten more than the other students when they lost their teeth.

Seeking out Flozzie was a risk, especially as she was a Fata, part of the Fae species, but Aurelius was Faryn's only friend outside of Oxford. She didn't have options. Flozzie lived in the Italian part of the Alps in Eiraacia, an Acurial city. She resided in Upper Eiraacia and was a part of the Midas Court, so she wouldn't be subjected to the Winter Court's whims. Though it was full of other Fata, and that was a problem. The only Fae Faryn trusted were those she grew up with, though many Elves would warn her that she was foolish for even doing that. Fae were known for befriending Elves only so that they could more easily harm or kill them later.

Befana was also in the same city, though in Lower Eiraacia. But she was Nick's friend.

Walking past Aurelius to her nightstand, Faryn grabbed her phone and dialed her mom. She'd buy a new phone at the airport in Heathrow. Tucking the phone between her shoulder and ear, she wrapped the belt of the sheath around her waist, the dagger fitted against her side.

The call went to voicemail, and Faryn tossed her phone in her bag. "I don't know where to go."

"Yes, you do." It seemed he had thought of Flozzie as well.

"Did you forget Fae and Elves have the nasty little instinct to murder each other?"

He drummed his fingers against his thigh. "You don't have any other options."

"I could go to another Human city."

"They'll find you eventually and no Human is going to be able to protect you."

"How long do I have?" Throwing the last items she needed in her bag, she latched it closed.

"They're on their way to Oxford now. Maybe an hour. I came as soon as I heard." One of his powers was teleportation, a particularly prudent skill for Krampus to have if he were to visit the closets of children all over the world. Though Aurelius preferred to visit adults. They had more energy to draw from than children.

Aurelius could only teleport himself though. He couldn't take Faryn away from here.

He stood from her bed. As Krampus, would he fall under suspicion? It was no secret that Nick and Aurelius were enemies, just as it had been for their ancestors. Faryn sometimes wondered if Aurelius was only her friend out of spite.

Nick would show up tomorrow. They'd find him drunk in some bar.

"One more thing you need to know."

Faryn paused adjusting the straps of her bag.

"Your cousin is in charge of bringing you in."

After that warning, Faryn didn't waste any more time. Being Christmas, the trains and buses weren't running as usual, so Faryn called a cab to take her to Heathrow in London before she even stepped foot outside of her room. Going down the stairs, she didn't see or hear anyone. They would all still be in the dining hall. They at least didn't think she had done something to Nick, right?

She tugged on her woolly hat to hide her ears from humans and stepped out into the courtyard. Alone in the dark with the walls around her, Oxford's silence felt eerie. It was enough to wish to hear the bells from Christ Church, a thought she'd never thought she'd have.

Black fog writhed in the corner of the courtyard, and Aurelius nodded at her.

He was risking not only his reputation by helping her. If Winter thought he was on her side, they wouldn't hesitate to arrest him, and the bastard daughter of Mrs. Claus couldn't afford to lose Krampus.

I've created a Spotify playlist for Claus. If you're on the app, you should see it at the bottom of the screen.