Rowan played in his head what he was going to say to Holly. He had to figure out a way to get her to listen to him, to hear the truth about what had happened in the basement. As he chopped down the Christmas tree for the ‘roo shifter, he played the conversation in his head, playing both his part and Holly’s part like a child rehearsing for a school’s non-denominational winter holiday celebration pageant. As he dropped off the tree inside the bakery, he psyched himself up to talk to Holly in a firm but respectful manner.

But, before Rowan could say anything more than ‘hey’ to Holly, Krampus shouted, “We’re leaving, boy — now!”

“But — “ started Rowan lamely.

“Boy!” roared Krampus, and Rowan swore he saw Krampus’ emerald eyes fill with absinthe flames.

“Bye,” said Holly softly.

Rowan grabbed the pastries from the back of the pastry. Krampus had grabbed the carafes of coffee and was carrying them down to the dock.

“What’s going on?” asked Rowan. “Is there an emergency at The North Pole?”

“Your training is not complete,” said Krampus. “Every minute counts.”

Rowan hurriedly got in the boat and undid the rope. He started rowing.

“One minute, you wanted to be in that bakery, and now, you can’t seem to wait to get back to Camp Kringle,” said Krampus. “At least you’re obedient.”

“The sooner my training’s complete, the sooner I can start seeing Holly more,” said Rowan.

“Uh…” started Krampus.

“What are you not telling me?” asked Rowan, who stopped rowing toward the island.

“It’s nothing,” said Krampus.

“Cool, I’ll just go ask Avery then,” said Rowan. He started rowing the boat back to the bakery.

“No!” shouted Krampus. “It’s just…look. Things are weird between Avery and me right now. They’re awkward. They’re always awkward. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Ironic, because all I want to do is talk to Holly,” said Rowan, slowly rowing back to the island.

“I just need a few days,” promised Krampus.

“Uh-huh,” said Rowan. “And what about Holly and me?”

“Maybe you two could use the space,” said Krampus. “What? You two rushed things! I told you, I’m sure Cupid told you. I tried to tell you back in Nuthusk, but, oh, no – all you cared about was meeting Santana! You had to get off The Naughty List, earn back your mate mark, and then, you could claim your mate. What you have on you ain’t a mate mark, even if it looks like one. You did things out of order.”

“Guess I need to figure out a way to get off of The Naughty List,” said Rowan.

Rowan tried to focus on ways to get off of The Naughty List, but his thoughts kept drifting back to Holly, to trying to explain things to her. How could he explain something to someone that just didn’t want to listen to reason? She’d seemed interested in his story — why he was a flying frikkin’ reindeer, for starters — but then, as soon as things got awkward, she had shut him out.

Rowan spent the day splitting logs for Krampus, while Krampus stewed in his chair, reading a book on the weaknesses of ice elementals, leaving Rowan to manually go and grab logs, split them, and put the split logs in the firewood pile before Rowan repeated the process over again. Finally, Krampus called it a day, and Rowan went inside.

Rowan was showering while Krampus made dinner — baked beans with hot dogs cut up into octopus shapes. That’s when the perfect idea hit Rowan. He toweled off, changed into his sweatpants, and went downstairs.

“Krampus,” said Rowan. “I’ve figured it out.”

“Figured out what?” asked Krampus, turning to look at Rowan, doing a double take, before looking back at the beans and raising an eyebrow, smirking to himself.

“The way to get off of The Naughty List!” said Rowan.

“Oh, I’m very interested in hearing about this,” said Krampus, serving out two big bowls of beans, topped with the octopus sausages. He poured two large glasses of milk. Rowan carried the dishes and glasses of milk to the table.

Rowan sat down and sipped at the milk while Krampus took off his pink frilly apron and hung it up on the hook in the kitchen.

“Okay,” said Rowan. “First step — I need to find some more needy kids.”

“To steal their Christmas wishes so you can use them to get off of The Naughty List,” said Krampus, deadpan.

“No,” said Rowan. “Needy kids who need Christmas trees, and people like Avery who have more ornaments than they know what to do with. We have the Christmas trees. You do the math.”

“You’re going to have all of them write to Santa, begging for you to be granted some of that good-old-fashioned Samuel Clemency,” said Krampus. “Samuel Clemens? Mark Twain? Clemency? Ugh — what do they teach you at matchmaker college?”

“I got the reference — it just wasn’t funny,” sassed Rowan. “We’ll provide the trees. People like Avery, who love Christmas and have loads of ornaments just sitting in their dusty basements, can donate their extra Christmas decor. The kids get to have nice Christmas trees for once.”

“Huh,” said Krampus. “It’s a good idea. I’d say it’s nearly guaranteed to get you off of The Naughty List. Only problem is, it won’t.”

“What?” asked Rowan. “Why not?”

“There’s a hole in your plan,” said Krampus, eating his beans.

“Well?” asked Rowan.

“You’re not on The Naughty List,” said Krampus.

“I am — that’s the entire problem,” said Rowan.

“Are you sure about that?” asked Krampus, motioning at Rowan with his hot dog octopus, splattering baked beans on Rowan’s chest.

“Ugh, gross —” started Rowan, but then, as he looked down at his chest, blotting it with his napkin, he realized what Krampus meant.

One word. Bright red. ‘Naughty.’

That word had been wiped from Rowan’s chest like chalk from a slate.

In its place was a single word, in spring green — ‘Nice.’

“Are…you…fucking…kidding me?” asked Rowan. For once, the word didn’t burn when he cursed.

One perk of getting off of The Naughty List, said Cupid.

And I’m still stuck with you, said Rowan.

“Congrats, Rowan — you got off of The Naughty List,” said Krampus.

“What happens next?” asked Rowan.

“Well, you still have to help Santana with The Ride — that was a promise you made. You also need to claim your fated mate by Christmas if you want to keep your shift, which reminds me — you’ll need this,” said Krampus. He reached across the table and pressed on Rowan’s chest. Rowan felt an intense heat — but no pain. Krampus pulled his hand away. Rowan’s mate mark was back where it belonged.

“This would’ve been helpful yesterday,” said Rowan. “I don’t understand. Why did I…” Rowan’s words trailed off as he racked his brains for answers.

“Seriously?” asked Krampus. “You gave that guy a tree — and you made him, his wife, and his kids all believe in Christmas magic last night when he went home with those boxes of free ornaments and lights. Heck, they didn’t even have to see the tree to believe in Christmas miracles, and you, well, I guess that makes you their Christmas angel. That was a good enough deed to get you off of The Naughty List.”

“I wasn’t even trying to get off of The Naughty List when I did that — although it did inspire my plan,” said Rowan. “I was just trying to do the right thing.”

“In the end, isn’t that what Christmas magic is all about?” asked Krampus.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” said Rowan.

“Well, you’re wrong, because actually, there’s very complicated science behind Christmas magic,” said Krampus.

“Really?” asked Rowan.

“No,” sighed Krampus. “You’re so damn gullible, Rowan.”