Page 67 of Run, Run Rudolph
“What hex?” Tamara asked.
“The one that keeps her from having kids. Last summer, she was denied again.”
“But they’re so old. Surely it’s too late?”
“It’s become about being accepted by the white magic community,” Rudolph explained. “She’s always upset and angry after she gets denied. And then she saw Santa with a fairy. She hates fairies. She tries so hard to live up to her public image, and fairies are naturally cheery and good. She resents them and the ease in which they flit about the white magic world. So when Santa and that young fairy godmother with red hair almost kissed?—”
Tamara gasped. “Wait! Estelle?” She pointed to her chest. “My fairy godmother? Oh, no.” Tamara’s gaze dropped to the floor, her fingers resting on her bottom lip.
Rudolph nodded. “Mrs. Claus lost her mind.”
“What? What does this mean?” I asked. I understood that a woman in love, one who’d had her trust and heart broken, was a powerful force to reckon with. And this one had super powers called black magic. She wasn’t simply going to throw harmless bags of potato chips at someone in the grocery store. But the question was, what was she going to do?
“She hates my fairy godmother—she was the source of their fight. And now I’m ruining Christmas. Mrs. Claus is the judge at the magical court of rules, and I’m on her naughty list because of tonight. If she learns I’m associated with Estelle… Or I make a wish to Estelle to get out of this mess… What happens to me?” Tamara sucked in a swift breath and gave me the most plaintive look I’d ever seen.
I gave her elbow a gentle squeeze. “You okay?”
“Mrs. Claus loves doing the white magic world’s dirty work with her naughty list. She holds us and others accountable, and she’s ruthless. It’s the one way she’s permitted to release her dark magic nature into our white magic world.”
Tamara had gone pale.
“And how does Hugo tie in?” I asked.
“He tried to play peacemaker, and now she says she won’t make our flying oats.”
That meant the herd couldn’t fly on Christmas Eve—even if Rudolph was feeling better.
The state of Christmas was looking grimmer by the minute.
Chapter 19
~ Tamara ~
A deep feeling of dread hit me as Haden and I left Rudolph’s stall to sort out our new knowledge and what it meant.
Santa and Boots were cuddling. The reindeer were talking in a huddle, and Hugo was sitting outside the circle.
Christmas felt doomed. How was I supposed to convince a hurt and angry witch to do her part for Christmas, especially when I was aligned with her rival? That was even assuming we could fix the Rudolph and Santa issue…
Haden, as though reading my mind like he so frequently did, pulled me in for a hug, resting his cheek on the top of my head. I didn’t know what his comforting embrace meant. Was it a prelude to finally having that interrupted kiss? Or did he see me as little Tamara, in need of consoling?
He’d said he wished he’d met me first. As in, before his brother did. Was it a deal breaker that I’d once dated Kade?
Or was he simply under the influence of magic, and none of his feelings were particularly real? Magic was all around us tonight, and it could no doubt impact the way we felt.
I felt him stifle a yawn, and I pulled my head back, looking up at him.
“Hey, adorable,” he said softly, his gaze lingering on my lips. If I were a mind reader like he was, I’d say he was wondering how to get a second kiss. And I wondered how I could subtly make that happen.
“I can only imagine how many emergencies you’ve dealt with today,” I said. “You must be tired.”
“Not too tired for this.”
I could see and feel the solidity and power behind his words. He was here until the end, willing to help me.
He still had his arms around me, and I fidgeted with the button on his flannel shirt before realizing I had accidentally undone it. I smoothed my hands flat over his pecs, delighted by how firm they were.
If I cared about him, I should convince him to leave before he got so tangled up in this that something bad happened to him. But if I wanted to find love—which I sorely did—I should keep him around so we could explore how deep our seemingly mutual—and our possibly long-hidden—feelings might go.
