“Get up,” said a woman, knocking on Ethan’s door.

Ethan woke up and rubbed his eyes. There was only one woman he wanted to find outside the door. He opened the door and looked. There was a BBW in the hallway, but it wasn’t the one he’d hoped for. It was the one he’d expected.

“Hey, Pandora,” said Ethan, still wearing a long-sleeve pajama shirt and pajama pants.

“Hurry up and get ready,” said Pandora. “Today’s the day.”

“How do you expect me to get ready with you standing here blathering?” asked Ethan.

“Fine,” said Pandora in a huff. “I just wanted to give you your Christmas present first. It’s tradition around here that we open one gift on Christmas Eve.”

“Aren’t we doing that at Secret Santana?” asked Ethan.

“You saying you don’t want your gift?” asked Pandora.

“No, I just meant —” started Ethan.

“I’m messing with you,” said Pandora. “Here.”

Pandora pressed her palms together and pulled them apart as if she was starting a game of cat’s cradle. A present appeared in her hands, labeled, ‘Ethan.

“What was that?” asked Ethan, taking the gift from Pandora.

“Just Christmas magic,” said Pandora. “I can make gifts appear out of thin air.”

“What’s in here?” asked Ethan.

“It’s something you want, something you need, or, hopefully, both,” said Pandora. “I’m still new to all this.”

“I thought all you magical beings are centuries old,” said Ethan.

“Some are, but not me,” said Pandora in a huff. “I just turned eighteen. Whatever. I know I look my age. Just open the present.”

Ethan opened the gift, his first gift of the season. Inside, there was a small black velvet box.

Ethan opened the box and looked at what was inside.

“Pandora, I can’t accept this,” said Ethan. “It’s too much.”

“That’s not a gift for you, now, is it?” asked Pandora.

“But I thought —” started Ethan. “Oh. I get it.”

“Exactly,” said Pandora. “What are you giving her for Secret Santana?”

“Wait, how did you know I have Carol for Secret Santana?” asked Ethan.

“I didn’t, but you just confirmed my suspicions,” said Pandora. “So, what’re you giving her?”

“It’s a secret,” insisted Ethan. “If she tells you what she gets, that’s on her.”

“Ooh, kinky,” said Pandora. “Let me guess — fuzzy handcuffs?”

“Pandora!” called a familiar deep voice. “Stop torturing the boy and let him get ready. He’s got a long night ahead of him.”

“Fine, Uncle Krampus,” said Pandora, going down the stairs to the large table in the center of the workhouse, where Jack and Krampus were snacking on milk and cookies.

Ethan took a quick shower in the shared bathroom. Then, Ethan went back into his bedroom and opened the closet. He knew what outfit he had to wear. It was all black and had sat in the closet since the first day Ethan had arrived at the wreath. There was a box holding accessories. He got changed into the all-black outfit, consisting of an all-over catsuit that covered his body, leaving only his hands, feet, and everything from the chin up exposed.

When Ethan looked in the mirror, he was shocked to see he looked like he was wearing a normal lumberjack’s outfit. He looked down. The tactical garments had changed so that they looked like a plaid shirt and a pair of work pants. Even the special black sneakers had transformed into a pair of brown leather work boots.

“Huh,” said Ethan, turning his arms, looking at the fabric. “Freaky. Real freaky.”

Ethan headed downstairs and grabbed a plate of eggs and bacon that Krampus had left out for him. They’d gone cold, but he scarfed down the protein-rich meal before finishing his breakfast off with two glasses of milk and half a dozen cookies.

“Good to see you have an appetite,” said Krampus. “You never know when The Ride will start. You want a full tank, but you don’t want to get a cramp.”

“Wait, what did you just say?” asked Ethan. “I thought you told me The Ride starts at eight this year.”

“That’s what’s planned,” said Krampus. “You never know what might happen…especially when the ice elementals are involved. No offense, Jack.”

“None taken,” said Jack.

“The weather is the biggest thing that determines whether we need to leave early or not,” said Krampus. “If there’s a storm, we fly earlier, not later. Christmas can’t be delayed. We have to make sure kids around the world experience Christmas magic on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. If it happened on another day, it wouldn’t be Christmas magic, now, would it? Now, before I forget, here.”

Krampus held out the snow globe holding Prancer. Curled ribbons of glowing red and green energy flowed out of the globe and into Ethan’s hand. Ethan had been given free rein of his bear for Christmas Eve Eve, but now, it was time to pay the piper. Ethan put his hand on the snow globe and heard a wild roar as his bear left his body, and Ethan was inhabited by a familiar reindeer spirit.

It was getting cramped in there, said Prancer.

“Are we going to have time to go to Secret Santana?” asked Ethan.

“I supposed,” said Krampus. “Whatever you have to do, do it fast. We’re on call all day. If, in twenty minutes, Santana calls my hellphone and tells me we need to haul ass up to The North Pole, well, that’s what’s going to happen.”

“Your what now?” asked Ethan.

“Hellphone, cellphone, it’s all the same,” said Pandora. “Only difference is the kind of magic it runs on.”

“Are we going to sit here talking about magic, or are we going to go to The North Pole?” asked Krampus.

Krampus pulled his chain off his neck and tossed it in the air. The chain came down, so it hung in the air like a circular door, expanding to about ten feet in diameter, filling with flames. The flames disappeared and showed a snow scene with a familiar candy cane in the background.

“Come on,” said Krampus.

Pandora and Jack went through the portal first. Ethan followed after. Krampus went last, closing the portal behind him.

“You couldn’t’ve taken us closer to the building?” asked Ethan, instinctively grabbing his arms.

“With everything going on at The Workshop?” asked Krampus. “No way. Teleporting somewhere unoccupied is always safest.”

“Doesn’t Santana teleport to occupied areas? That’s his entire thing,” said Ethan. “You told me that’s how the delivery works.”

“Santana’s not a man who cares about safety,” said Krampus.

Ethan watched as Pandora and Jack went off in another direction.

“Don’t worry about them,” said Krampus. “Those two kids deserve a break. They’ve been putting in a lot of hours. Santana puts Pandora to work, and Jack’s father Boreas, well, he’s one icy boss.”

Ethan and Krampus walked to the front door of Santana’s Workshop. Ethan looked back. He couldn’t spot Pandora and Jack, but he spotted a big polar bear hunting a penguin. Ethan frowned. Penguins weren’t native to The North Pole.

Once they were inside the lobby, Krampus led Ethan to an exclusive lounge near the tarmac in the back of The Workshop. A man who looked a lot like Santana, but with a penchant for wearing blue rather than red, was surrounded by seven men in outfits similar to the one Ethan had put on at Camp Kringle before Ethan’s tactical gear had transformed into woodsman duds.

“Boreas,” said Krampus with a nod.

“This your boy this year?” asked Boreas, the man in blue. “Looks weak.”

“Cool,” said Krampus sarcastically. “Thanks for sharing your opinion.”

Krampus showed Ethan around the lounge.

“This is the locker room,” said Krampus. “You have anything you want to put down?”

“Shit,” cursed Ethan, patting his body down. “I forgot —”

“No, you didn’t,” said Krampus with a wink, pulling a familiar package out of his pockets and passing it to Ethan.

“How did you know I’d forgotten to bring my Secret Santana gift?” asked Ethan.

“I have magic pockets,” said Krampus. “You don’t, and that outfit is skintight. I think I would’ve noticed if you had a box that big in your pants…like the lump in your right pocket. Either that’s what I think it is, or you have a lump you need to get checked out.”

“How can you see the box?” asked Ethan, looking down at his body.

“It’s my illusion magic,” said Krampus. “I know how it works. That outfit’s illusion veil can only trick human eyes. I thought the last thing you needed tonight was to have Carol asking why you were decked out like some sci-fi super soldier.”

“You do have a Nice side,” said Ethan.

“If you ever say that to me again, I’ll make sure you have to come back to Camp Kringle and work for me, off the books,” said Krampus. “Am I joking? Try me and find out.”

“Whoa, got it,” said Ethan, putting the Secret Santana present and the black velvet box away in the locker, which was more of a cubby, as it had no lock, although it did have a door.

“Come on,” said Krampus. “It’s time for us to do last rounds and get you oriented for the ride.

Carol finished arranging the milk and cookies just the way she’d imagined them. The various flavors of milk were all put together so people could see what their options were and, if they ate a particularly crumbly cookie, they could make a bee-line to the drinks. The fountains were placed throughout the venue so that there wouldn’t be any bottlenecks at the fountains. The cookies were distributed in trays, baskets, fancy platters, jars, and other containers around the room.

Santana’s in-house kitchen staff had done most of the hard work on the day of the party, but Carol helped, even though she didn’t have to, so she could get her mind off of Ethan.

Ethan’s mark hadn’t glowed. Carol spent all night on the Internet, looking up what that could mean, and article after article insisted that if a shifters’ mark didn’t glow, it meant that the person they were with wasn’t their fated mate. Ethan had said he hadn’t cum, had insisted that meant he could still be Carol’s, fated mate. Why hadn’t he had his release?

There was only one thing that could explain it. Ethan didn’t think Carol was his fated mate after all, and rather than make her feel the pain of knowing that fact for sure, he’d cut the sex off early. Ethan had spared Carol the pain of knowing that she wasn’t his fated mate, but he had given her another pain — the pain of not knowing the truth.

After all, Carol hadn’t known Ethan was a billionaire. That fact had come out of left field. What other secrets was the billionaire hiding?

“Hey, Merry Christmas,” said a voice, pulling Carol close by the hips and whispering the holiday greeting into her ear.

Carol turned and looked up at the man she’d been thinking about.

“Ethan,” said Carol. “I didn’t think you’d make it.”

“I might have to leave the party earlier than expected,” said Ethan. “Work.”

Of course, thought Carol. He’s a frikkin’ billionaire. Of course, he’s got work to attend to. Maybe that’s just an excuse. Maybe ‘work’ is busty blonde waiting for him back in New York City.

“I understand,” joked Carol, motioning to the cookies.

“You did a really good job with all of this,” said Ethan.

“Thanks to your wallet,” said Carol.

“That’s like saying a sculptor isn’t the one to credit for making a beautiful statue,” said Ethan. “That’s like if you thought that the slab of marble should get all the credit for the artist’s work.”

“It’s just milk and cookies,” said Carol.

“Which the boss loves,” said Ethan. “You knocked it out of the park. I’ve been to all kinds of Christmas parties, Carol. I’ve been to small, intimate ones at my Clan’s lodge. I’ve been to big luxurious ones hosted by my company.”

“And where would these cookies fit?” asked Carol.

“At either kind of party,” said Ethan. “They’re classic. They’re well-crafted. They’re timeless. You did good, Carol. You should be proud of yourself. Is something wrong, Carol? You’re usually much more confident.”

“It’s just nerves,” lied Carol. “What do you think of this place? It’s fancy, isn’t it? I guess you’re used to places like this, though…”

“This place is really unlike any other place I’ve ever been,” said Ethan, looking up at the big glass dome covering the ballroom-shaped space that had to go up at least five stories. A giant Christmas tree sat in the dead center of the room, and the star topping the tree seemed to be just inches below the top of the dome.

“You think the tree’s real?” asked Ethan, looking at Carol.

“No way!” said Carol. “You’re the lumberjack. You ever seen a tree that big?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be real,” said Ethan. “Come on. Let’s find out for ourselves.”

Ethan took Carol’s hand. Carol thought about drawing her hand back. Instead, she chose the more dangerous option. She let Ethan hold her hand and lead her to the giant Christmas tree. Ethan’s grip on her hand was firm but tender. Holding hands with Ethan felt so right, so why did being in love with Ethan feel so wrong?

Ethan and Carol went up and verified that the tree was indeed real by crushing the pine needles between their fingers.

“Are you going to miss this?” asked Carol.

“Miss what?” asked Ethan.

“Christmas, up here,” said Carol.

“I don’t know,” admitted Ethan.

“Any people you’ll miss?” asked Carol.

“Other than you?” asked Ethan. “Not really.”

“I guess I’ll miss Avery and Pandora and Jack,” admitted Carol. “I might even miss Krampus.”

“When do you leave?” asked Ethan.

“Christmas Day,” answered Carol. “This was the big temp job I was hired to do. The rest of the work, well, they didn’t really need me around, but I guess it’s easier to find someone for a big project like this if you offer them a few weeks of seasonal pay too. I don’t think many bakers would be willing to come up here to just do this big job, you know?”

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” asked Ethan.

“I have to get back to my real job, at the bakery back home,” said Carol. “And you have to get back to New York City, don’t you?”

“Not exactly,” said Ethan. “One of the benefits of being a billionaire? Nobody tells me what to do.”

“Except your Clan, and Krampus, and Fate,” said Carol pointedly, pressing her hand to Ethan’s chest. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Carol was referring to. Ethan dropped the subject. They walked around the party, sampling cookies, as the room filled.

Finally, once the room was packed, Avery showed up and went on to a small stage, wielding a mic.

“Attention,” said Avery. “Welcome to Santana’s annual Christmas party. We’ve all got a long night ahead of us. That’s why we’re going to do Secret Santana first. We don’t have a system for this, so, just go and find your person and give them their gift. If you’re having trouble, of course, you can ask around and see if anyone can direct you in the right direction.

Avery left the stage. She’d spotted her target and made a beeline to his butt.

“Hey,” said Avery, taking the man in the black suit by the shoulder. “Here. This is for you.”

“For me?” asked Krampus.

“Yeah, it’s Secret Santana, and I’m your Secret Santana,” said Avery. “Here.”

Avery took her box and gave it to Krampus. Krampus opened the box. Inside, there was a tiny goat ornament painted black with emerald green eyes.

“Is this supposed to be my shift?” asked Krampus.

“I thought you might like it, for your collection,” said Avery.

“You weren’t supposed to use magic to make it,” said Krampus.

“Who said I did?” asked Avery. “I just got some molding clay, the air-dry kind, and painted it with acrylics. If you don’t like it…”

“It’s fine,” said Krampus, putting the tiny ornament back in the box. “Funny. I got you for Secret Santana too.”

“You’re my Secret Santana?” asked Avery. “Then where’s my gift?”

“It doesn’t come in a box,” said Krampus, taking one of the ribbons and putting it in his pocket for his ribbon ball.

“Why do I have a feeling you used demoncraft and broke the frikkin’ rules?” asked Avery.

“I outfitted your car with a special gas tank. It’ll never be empty from now on. It automatically converts crude oil into gasoline. You’ll save a bundle on gas,” said Krampus. “Don’t take it to a mechanic, though, because it might suck them into a black hole or something. I don’t know. Whatever. That’s what you got.”

“You messed around with my frikkin’ car without my permission?” asked Avery. “Krampus…you really are something else.”

“You gonna report me to the Secret Santana police for using demoncraft, or are you gonna look the other way and enjoy your free, unlimited gas?” asked Krampus.

“No. It is a pretty cool gift, even if you did break the rules. I guess I’ll finally get to go on those road trips I keep talking about. Where is the gas even coming from?” asked Avery.

“Let’s just say that with all the wars and coups going on, I’m sure they won’t even notice you taking a few hundred gallons of their product each year,” said Krampus. “Guess you won’t be needing this one then.” Krampus pulled another gift out of his pocket.

“Krampus! You were only supposed to get me one present,” said Avery, crossing her arms. “You’re breaking the rules!”

“Yeah, yeah – what else is new?” asked Krampus, raising an eyebrow. “This was your backup gift, but you like the car stuff, so –”

“I’ll take it,” said Avery. “But…I don’t have anything to give you in exchange.”

“You make my complicated order every morning,” said Krampus. “Consider this…a tip.” He passed Avery the present.

“Uh-huh, sure,” said Avery, grinning. She opened the present. Inside, there was a wooden box, and inside the box, there was a set of beautiful intricate cookie cutters in all sorts of Christmas motifs, from bells and trees to candy canes and gingerbread Christmas elves.

“These are beautiful,” Avery said quietly.

“Whatever,” said Krampus, blushing bright red as his horns spiraled out of his head all on their own. “They’re self-cleaning, have anti-theft curses, and uh, well, they basically take care of themselves. Merry Christmas, Avery.”

“Merry Christmas, Krampus,” said Avery. She considered kissing Krampus on the cheek but stopped herself from ruining the moment. After all – if he’d wanted to kiss her, he would’ve frikkin’ kissed her by now.

“I can’t believe Krampus and Avery got each other as Secret Santana partners,” said Pandora.

“Well, I could hardly believe I got you as a partner,” said Jack. “Here.”

Jack passed Pandora a box wrapped in silver paper. She opened the box. In the box, there was a snow globe. Inside the glass globe, there was a scene of Jack and Pandora sitting outside the Bear Claw Bakery, sipping lattes. The wooden base of the snow globe read, ‘To Pandora, From Jack’ in script letters carved in a circle.

“Wow, you made this?” asked Pandora.

“I had some help,” admitted Jack. “Krampus taught me to whittle the wooden base and make it nice, so there’s no splinters or anything. I made the model of us, sitting with our coffee, using my ice powers. I took the ice, made a mold, and used that mold to make a resin copy of the scene I’d made out of ice. I painted that, put that inside, and then, well, a little bit of storm magic, and I had the snow globe all made. I knew we weren’t supposed to use magic, but bits of plastic don’t compare to the real thing. The storm will change based on your mood. Plus, I asked one of the other elementals to cast the spell for me. I technically didn’t use magic — the other ice elemental did.”

“You did all that just for me?” asked Pandora.

“Of course I did,” said Jack. “Because you’re —”

“Don’t say it,” said Pandora with a smile. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“You do?” asked Jack, leaning in, ready to take Pandora’s waist in his hands.

“Yeah, and I’ve felt the same way for a long time,” said Pandora. “You’re my best friend, Jack.”

Jack stopped himself from going further and from correcting Pandora.

“We are best friends,” said Jack, not saying what he really wanted to say. They were best friends, but they could be even more. He was an ice elemental, but even he could feel the spark between them.

“I also got you for Secret Santana. I think it’s Fate,” said Pandora. “Here. I didn’t cheat or anything. Well. I only used a little magic.”

“You didn’t just conjure this gift out of thin air?” asked Jack.

“I made it myself,” said Pandora. “Well. I had some help from Krampus and some of Santana’s engineers, but, here. Whatever. If you hate it, you can throw it away.”

“Hey, I would never throw away something you gave me,” said Jack.

Jack opened the red and green wrapped present and the medium-sized object nestled within.

“What is this?” asked Jack, popping the device open. “A cell phone?”

“Not exactly,” said Pandora. “It’ll never lose power, for one. There’s no phone bill to pay. It runs on Christmas magic. It doesn’t have a phone number or Internet, but…it’ll let us talk to each other whenever we want.”

“You mean…” started Jack.

“I made two of those. Even when we’re literally on opposite sides of the Earth, when you’re down in Antarctica, and I’m up here, we can still chat,” said Pandora. “It does voice calls, text messages, and we can even send small pictures. Letters and emails take forever. I miss you during the other eleven months of the year, Jack. Sorry if this is clingy or something, I just —”

“It’s perfect,” said Jack. “You really ‘made’ this?”

“There’s magic, but I didn’t use the magic myself. Krampus and the elves used their magic. I said I had help, okay?” huffed Pandora. “I did tell the elves what features I wanted, and frikkin’ Krampus made me solder the bits together. I didn’t print the circuit board or anything but cut a gal a break! There’s a reason we use frikkin’ Christmas magic to make the gifts and don’t do it all by hand, for goodness sake.”

“Those two are a cute couple,” said Carol. “I know Jack and Pandora say they’re not a couple, but…come on. They’re so into each other. They just don’t know it yet.”

“They are cute,” said Ethan. “Don’t you need to go find your Secret Santana recipient?”

“I already did,” said Carol.

“You mean…” started Ethan.

“Here,” said Carol. “I’m your Secret Santana this year.”

“You are?” asked Ethan, accepting the wrapped box from Carol. Ethan undid the wrapping paper, which had a Christmas sweater pattern, revealing a pastry box. Inside, there were a dozen black and white cookies. Each cookie was circular, with one half of the circle coated in chocolate icing, the other, in vanilla icing.

“You made my favorite cookie,” said Ethan, taking a cookie and turning it over. “How did you know I love black and white cookies?”

“Lucky guess,” said Carol. “You told me you were from New York City, so I looked up ‘cookies from New York City’ on the Internet and learned about these. I made sure to use some of that special chocolate on them.”

Ethan bit into the cookie. It was soft and moist, and the chocolate icing and the vanilla icing melted in his mouth.

“This is amazing,” said Ethan. “Believe it or not…I’m your Secret Santana this year too.”

“You are?” asked Carol.

“Yeah, I am,” said Ethan.

“So where’s my gift?” asked Carol.

“Shit,” cursed Ethan, causing his mark to burn. “I left it in another room. Let me go run and grab it.”

“You can give it to me another time,” said Carol. “Stay and enjoy the party.”

“Trust me, I want you to have this gift,” said Ethan. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”