Ginny and Boreas talked all through the night, past midnight, to Christmas Eve’s Eve Morn. As they lay on the beds on the beach, watching the ocean, Ginny went over what they’d talked about.

“So, let me get this straight,” said Ginny, leaning into Boreas’ arms. “You’re the leader of the ice elementals of The South Pole. You have a weird relationship with Santana Claus, a.k.a. Santa Claus, because he interferes with ice elemental business by asking for favors from you about the weather, storms, all that jazz. You’ve got a son, Jack, whom you talked about before, but, you made him out of ice. Santana’s with the Christmas witch, Befana, who happens to be one of my best frikkin’ friends, who sent me to this resort too. I can’t believe Befana’s a witch! She knows the both of us…and that means Befana absolutely tried to put us together. Santana’s got an adopted daughter named Pandora. His best friend is a demon named Krampus. He’s got Christmas elves, and most of your employees can turn into frikkin’ penguins. Am I missing anything?”

“Well, Jack’s running things right now because I was sent to the tropical island gulag to find love,” said Boreas. “Now that I’ve found my fated mate…I guess it’s time for me to go back.”

“And what about me?” asked Ginny.

“We can pick all this back up after the holiday rush,” said Boreas. “Trust me — you want no part in all this nonsense.”

“Are you frikkin’ kidding me?” asked Ginny. “Boreas, you’ve been the most exciting thing about this vacation. I need to do something exciting. Plus…if we’re fated, that means we’ll be spending a lot of holidays together, and that includes Christmases.”

“It’s gonna be a hot mess,” said Boreas.

“What’s gonna be a hot mess is the fight I’m gonna have with Befana!” insisted Ginny. “She set us up, knowing we were both elementals, without telling us! We could’ve avoided so much drama if she’d just told us about her plan, straight-up.”

“Drama?” asked Boreas. “What drama?”

“Having to wait to have sex with you because I wasn’t sure how to tell you I was an elemental!” said Ginny. “The same problem you had!”

“Everything was fine in the end,” said Boreas.

Ginny looked up at Boreas, who was smirking. “Are you trying to stop me from fighting Befana?”

“No,” said Boreas. “I still want to see that fight. I’m gonna go all in, betting on you, so you better get a total KO, baby.”

“So alright, what’s next?” asked Ginny.

“Getting up to The North Pole to help the ice elementals coordinate with Santana Claus,” said Boreas.

“What’s the deal with you two?” asked Ginny.

“That…is a conversation for the plane ride,” said Boreas. “And…speak of the devil. How the Hell did he know to come down today?”

“How did who know what?” asked Ginny.

Boreas pointed toward the horizon. There was a bright red plane coming in hot. The front of the aircraft had a devil’s face on it that would make a preacher’s wife blush. Boreas got a text on his phone from none other than the devil he’d spoken of.

“It’s complicated,” said Boreas. “Let’s just say…that’s our ride.”

Boreas and Ginny went to their hotel rooms to pack up, and they met in the lobby. They only had two suitcases each. A quick cab ride later and they were at the local airstrip where there was an assortment of hobbyist planes as well as one giant red monstrosity.

In front of the monstrosity was a man with black hair, green eyes, and a devilish grin.

“Wasn’t expecting to pick up two,” said the man. “Glad to be surprised. The name’s Krampus.”

“As in Krampus the Christmas demon?” Asked Ginny.

“The very same,” said Krampus.

“Wait, if you weren’t expecting us, then why are you here?” asked Boreas.

A curvy woman peeked out from the private plane’s open entrance.

“Can you get that yakking done once we get this bird in the air?” scolded the woman, who was wearing aviator shades and a captain’s hat. She went back in the plane without waiting for an answer.

“You brought Avery along to play flight attendant?” asked Boreas.

“She’s flying the damn bird because Santana didn’t trust me to get you up there in one piece,” said Krampus. “I’m your sexy stewardess, and if you tip me real nice, I’ll make sure Avery never knows you thought she was the flight attendant.”

Krampus and Boreas lugged the luggage onto the private plane which was cozy but not cramped. The aircraft was outfitted with thick leather chairs, and there were snacks out.

“Back to the matter at hand,” said Boreas. “If you didn’t know I claimed my mate…then why are you here?”

“Because —” started Krampus. “Wait, how much does she know?”

“Everything,” said Boreas. “Well, as much as I could explain quickly.”

“Then this will be a fun plane ride,” said Krampus, interlacing his fingers. “What was your name again?”

“It’s Ginny, and I’m a —” started Ginny.

“Fire elemental, yes,” said Krampus, snapping his fingers and making a green flame appear before letting it disappear into thin air as he opened his fingers back up.

“How did you know?” asked Ginny.

“First of all, I’m a demon,” said Krampus. “I can tell a magical being when I see them — most of the time. Secondly, people constantly confused fire elementals with demons. All you guys can do is —”

Before Krampus could finish his sentence, Ginny waves her hand. Sand streamed out of Boreas’s trunks and into Ginny’s hand. She made the sand glow red with heat and shaped it into a tiny demon with a face like the one on the plane.

“I take back what I was going to say,” said Krampus, touching the still hot glass figure. It was a bit cloudy from the beach sand which wasn’t ideal for glasswork. Still, Ginny had good technique.

“You can keep that,” said Ginny, sipping a cup of hot coffee from the carafe.

“Thanks,” said Krampus. “You do good work.”

“Yeah, even with sand from Boreas’ butt crack,” said Ginny.

“So that’s why I feel so clean all of a sudden,” said Boreas.

“You know what? I like her,” said Krampus. “Anyway. What you need to know, Ginny, is that Boreas basically rules The South Pole.”

“Okay…?” said Ginny.

“So who runs The North Pole?” asked Krampus.

“Santa — I mean, Santana — Claus,” said Ginny.

“Just as you have fire magic, Boreas has ice magic, and I use demoncraft, Santana uses a type of magic known as Christmas magic,” said Krampus. “Santana’s goal is to make every Christmas a success for every child on The Nice List — the list of good kids. Boreas’ goal is…”

“To ensure the natural order is kept in balance,” said Boreas. “This means that things like winter blizzards must happen to keep the world in balance. Of course, nobody likes ice and snow, so I look like this bad guy.”

“Because you’re the opposite of Santa — I mean, Santana?” asked Ginny, taming Boreas’ hand.

“Ha!” barked Krampus. “If anyone is the opposite of Santana, it’s me. I punish bad children, mostly bad boys who are technically adults but, compared to me and Santana and Boreas, are kids.”

“Wait…how old are you?” asked Ginny. “I know elementals don’t look like they age. My parents look like they could be my siblings.”

“Uh…” started Boreas. “Let’s just say nearly as old as human history and leave it at that.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ginny. “Boreas…”

“Let’s just say the name the Ancient Greeks gave me stuck and that there’s a reason I’m called Old Man Winter,” said Boreas, blushing.

“I’m only thirty-five!” said Ginny. “You have seen so much more of the world, of history than me! I just know my family of fire elementals, and that was it. You’ve seen most of human history happen.”

“Trust me, you didn’t miss much,” said Boreas.

“Anyways, Boreas and Santana aren’t exactly rivals,” said Krampus. “They aren’t even opposites. They just rule over opposite poles. They’re opposites the way that a bowl of macaroni is the opposite of a golden retriever.”

“I don’t get it,” said Ginny with a frown. “How are those things opposites?”

“Exactly,” said Krampus. “But…their agendas do clash.”

“Santana always wants favors for the Christmas Eve deliveries — The Ride,” explained Boreas. “Every time I had changed the weather for him in the distant past, bad things happened. To me, ensuring a village has enough rain for a good harvest is more important than getting some toys to kids.”

“And, to Santana, spreading the joy and hope and holiday spirit of Christmas is a priority, and he could care less about snow and ice,” said Krampus. “What’s more important — practicalities or simple joys? I don’t have an answer, and these two hash it out every year.”

“How come there isn’t a full out war between you two?” asked Ginny.

“Because if there is one thing the both of us want, it’s peace,” said Boreas. “I provide him with a team of ice elementals to help lead his sleigh every year, and usually Krampus trains a shifter to help with The Ride too. And I warn him about the weather. That’s basically it.”

“So…why did Krampus come to get you if you were supposed to be at the resort to find a mate?” asked Ginny. “If he didn’t know about us, then, why is he here?”

“Because there’s been a little…incident at The North Pole,” admitted Krampus.

“My son,” said Boreas. “Jack. Has anything happened to Jack?”

“He’s fine,” said Krampus.

“Then what did he do this time?” asked Boreas, crossing his arms.

“You went from concerned father to mad dad in no time flat,” commented Ginny.

“I love my son, but I know he’s just like his father — a bad boy, a rogue, a rake,” said Boreas. “If he ain’t in trouble, he is the trouble.”

“Jack…may have helped Pandora commit grand theft sleigh,” said Krampus.

“On December twenty-third? The day before The Ride?” asked Boreas.

“Hey,” said Krampus, raising his hands up. “I’m just the messenger.”

“How long until we get to The North Pole?” asked Boreas.

“We’ve been sitting on the tarmac ever since you got on the plane — well, minus about twenty minutes so Avery could get in some flying time. After all, the plane can teleport just like Santana’s sleigh,” said Krampus. “Welcome to The North Pole, Ginny. Get ready for one Hell of a Christmas.”

Everyone got up. Ginny let Krampus and Boreas handle the luggage again. She got out of the plane. Still wearing tropical resort-wear, Ginny was more than a little chilly.

“Ginny?” squealed a familiar voice.

“Befana!” called Ginny. “Wait…Befana! You have some explaining to do!”

“I got you two your Christmas gifts real early,” said Befana with a wink. “What? I can’t send two single friends to a nice resort?”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Ginny, walking down the stairs to meet Befana on the tarmac, which was surprisingly warm and free of snow. “I’ll forgive you as long as you let me borrow some clothes. It’s frikkin’ freezing here! How do you stand it?”

“You do know Italy has the Alps, right?” asked Befana, raising a brow. “Let’s get you inside and introduced to everyone.”

Befana led Ginny to a golf cart that had Christmas lights on the edge. They went into a building full of pointy-eared folks wearing seasonal hats, who all had a penchant for stripes as well as shades of red and green.

“Who are all these people?” asked Ginny.

“Christmas elves,” said Befana. “I’m a lone wolf, but Santana, well, he does things differently.”

“So you neglected to mention that the Santana you’re with is Santana Claus, as in Santa Claus,” said Ginny. “What’s up with that?”

“Well, you didn’t tell me you were a fire elemental,” said Befana. “I just had to guess that on my own. I saw you toast a marshmallow and I thought you were using a lighter…but you just used your hands! I thought that was pretty frikkin’ cool.”

“When you were at the cafe, I forgot you were there, and I just had to have that roasted marshmallow,” said Ginny, shaking her head. “My parents would be so pissed if I let out the secret that I’m a djinn…but I guess no harm, no foul. Heck, I should’ve guessed you were a witch! You had me get a teeny bowl of rose sherbet for that toad of yours.”

“If it weren’t for that roasted marshmallow, you wouldn’t be here now — with a fated mate,” said Befana.

“Who said anything about that?” asked Ginny.

“You’re glowing, and it’s not your usual ‘oh I’m a beautiful fire elemental with gorgeous skin who gets to live in sunny California’ glow,” said Befana. “That’s the kind of glow that only comes from one thing. Sometimes, multiples of that one thing.”

“I get it,” said Ginny.

“The thing is orgasms,” said Befana.

“I said I get it!” hissed Ginny, embarrassed.

“Well, anyway, this is my office,” said Befana, opening the door to a cozy room that looked like a very cozy crafting nook…albeit with ingredients one would never find at a craft store. There were jars of what looked like pigments, which were indeed filled with rare herbs and spices — and not the kind for making fried chicken unless one wanted to turn into a frog! There were bookshelves, a desk, some chairs, and mementos from Befana’s home of Italy.

“Can I ask you something?” asked Ginny. “I don’t want to pry, but…”

“…You want to know what the heck is going on,” said Befana. “Well. Jack Frost and Pandora Claus stole Santana Claus’ sleigh. Jack is your mate Boreas’ son, and Pandora is the daughter of Santana Claus.”

“So Boreas has a son, and you have a stepdaughter,” said Ginny. “What about Jack’s mom? And Pandora’s mom?”

“Jack was made by Boreas, out of ice, with magic,” said Befana. “Krampus was made in a similar way, made of straw, by demons. Pandora…well, she’s adopted. Santana found her, abandoned, during The Ride, and nobody ever reported her missing or answered the ads reporting that a baby was found. To be fair, Santana never thought anyone would answer the ad about the foundling, given the circumstance. Pandora, well, she’s never had a mom before. That said, Jack and Pandora are already adults. They aren’t looking for parents. Just support.”

“Aren’t we all?” mused Ginny. “Why did Krampus come down to get Boreas over the sleigh drama? Can’t Santana handle it?”

“If he could’ve, he would’ve,” said Befana. “The thing is…it seems like Jack and Pandora planned this. They turned off the tracking device on the sleigh, and we can’t find them. They could be anywhere in the world. The ice elementals can help us…but they need orders from someone in their chain of command. Because Jack was leading them, and now, he’s gone, Boreas has to lead the team that’s up here, up North, and ask them to go find Jack.”

“They didn’t just go and do it on their own?” asked Ginny.

“They’re not hotheads…although I’m sure Boreas is ripping into them right now, asking that same dang question,” said Befana. “Right now, all we care about is getting the kids back, safe.”

“I thought you said they were adults,” said Ginny, crossing her arms.

“I did…but to be fair, would responsible adults steal a magical frikkin’ sleigh?” asked Befana, raising a brow.

“Are you really pretending you wouldn’t?” asked Ginny, giving Befana a wink. “Now, where’re those extra winter clothes of yours? I’m freezing my tush off…and trust me, that means something, given there’s so much to freeze off!”