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He crash-landed against Tatum, both of them tangled into a mess of legs and cords.
The tops of trees were so close to us now. A scream pushed through my lungs as I pictured us dying out here, Britta left at the mercy of Krampus, and the world falling under his fury.
But Leven’s legs were kicking, and in a sudden jerk, he swung us upward, his head high as he ran through the air, with Tatum, now transformed into human form, slumped across his back.
“Holy shit!” I stammered.
Jax’s face had turned white. “That was too fucking close.”
Leven didn’t fly us into the sky, but he brought us down in slow motion, leading us to an open patch of land. The sleigh bounced about and shook beneath me. My knuckles were white as I gripped the railing and sat back down. Every part of me tensed, and my stomach turned to stone.
With a heavy thud, we hit the ground and I bounced in the seat before we came to a final halt.Thank god!
A guttural roar echoed in the distance, and I shuddered and scanned the woods. “What was that?”
Jax scrambled out of the sleigh and rushed to cut Leven and Tatum from the tangle of cords and harnesses. Tatum broke free and already trembled, his body shrinking, his fur vanishing, and clothes magically appearing over his body.
I staggered out of the sled, sinking in snow that quickly climbed halfway along my shins. Being shorter had disadvantages out here. Jax and Leven weren’t struggling.
But my sights landed on Tatum cradled by a cocoon of white, and I trudged over to him as fast as I could, my veins turning to ice from dread that he was gravely injured.
I dropped to my knees at his side and reached for his neck. He still had a pulse, and I exhaled loudly. “What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s stunned,” Leven said. “I felt the effect when I first crashed into him. It’s as if he’d been electrocuted.”
A painful moan came from Tatum, and I leaned over him, cupping his face. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, and instinct had me kissing his mouth, unable to stop myself as relief flooded me. I tasted peppermint candy on his lips and smirked.
“I should get hurt more often.” He smirked.
Jax kneeled on the other side of Tatum, laughing as he scooped his arms under his back and knees, then picked up his friend. “We know now how Krampus brought down Santa and his guards.”
“He tampered with the sleigh,” I answered, following him as he carried Tatum toward the sleigh and put him inside.
“We order parts from around the globe,” Jax explained. “We’d recently undergone a huge reconstruction of the mechanics in all the sleighs at the Workshop, but the other sleds are getting refitted and out of commission, so he could have infiltrated one of our orders. And the part seemed to only go off when we took a sharp dive to land, which is how Santa would normally come in from a flight.”
Leven stood nearby, dusting his clothes, then walked over. He collected me into an embrace and kissed my brow. I twisted in his arms to face the sled, my back pressed to Leven’s chest, soaking in his warmth and affection. If this was the start of something, hell, I was in, boots and all. Even better if it involved all three men, as none of them seemed too bothered I showed affection to each of them. Which surprised me in the best possible way.
My teeth chattered, and Leven rubbed my arms. Around us was a winter wonderland, perfect for a postcard, but in real life, my body was morphing into an icicle.
Jax lifted the seat in the sled and pulled out a couple of blankets when another guttural howl exploded around us. It sounded much closer that time.
We all froze and exchanged worried glances.
Leven took my hand and rushed me toward the sleigh just as the ground shook beneath us, and the distinct pounding of footfalls in snow escalated.
Panic clung to my ribcage like a ticking timebomb about to detonate.
“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice quivering and my gaze swinging left and right.
“Get in the sled and lie low,” Leven ordered, already picking me up. He walked me to the carriage and dropped me into the back compartment, alongside Tatum, who was in a sitting position, rubbing his head.
Jax hopped down and joined Leven, both broad-shouldered, wearing worried frowns, and hands fisted.
A rich, low warning growl came from our right, and we all turned.
The biggest son-of-a-bitch moose, towering over all of us, burst out of the woods. Enormous antlers were sharpened at the tips, and the blood drained from my body.
