A steaming mug of cocoa topped with whipped cream appears on the table next to me. I still sit far away from him with crossed arms and as severe of an expression I can muster, to show him I am serious. That I am an ice queen.

Deep inside though, I feel relief that he is not intentionally keeping me captive. The fear of him changes to the fear of what the rest of the world thinks has happened to me, or if they even noticed.

We sip in silence for a little.

“Before I answer anything, I need to know who you are. Where your abilities come from.”

“No, that's not how this works. I asked first so you need to answer. I need to know who you are and if this is just a nightmare.”

“It’s becoming a nightmare thanks to you, stormy.”

We both stare at each and he gives in.

“I need to apologize. I should not have said that. You were just the tipping point. This feud between the alps and Krampus has been going on too long and you were just caught in the middle.” He runs his hand through his hair.

“I do have a Christmas tree farm. If you look down the mountain in daylight, you will see a valley to the south in which trees are in rows and manicured. You can tell they do not look as wild or old as the rest of the forest.”

I am drinking in the expressions on his face. Every sentence is thought out before spoken, weighing the consequences of speaking the truth.

“I am not human as you have probably now surmised. The fairy tales are true.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Aren’t Krampus supposed to be demons?”

“We were, long ago. For a few different reasons, we are not as evil as the fairy tales portray us. You could say we are fallen demons.”

Chuta. I stare longingly at this fallen demon, whatever that even means.

“We protect humans from the Alps and in so doing, we get blamed for the horrible actions of the elves. Simply because we are more visible and evil looking.” He smiles at me with a wicked grin, if this part he actually enjoys.

“Alps are not too bad most of the year. Typically, they are serene gardeners of the alpine mountains. Only this time of year when they capture humans for sacrifice do they become a nuisance. I spend most of my time from October through December on patrol. After the solstice, they hibernate and I can relax. Recently it has gotten bad though, they are desperate. The alpine flowers are struggling and they blame the lack of sacrifice. I can’t explain science to them. It alters their mindset that they are in control of the mountains. While powerful, they are not gods.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I will do anything to make sure the alps do not get out of line but I might have overreacted when I was saving you, because of my...” he pauses to find the right word, “interest in you.”

I am sipping on my cocoa, taking in a bit too much, as he admits this. I swallow a choke but in the process get cream all over my nose and lips. As I absentmindedly lick all the cream off my face, I realize Remme is watching every movement of my tongue. ‘Interest’ might be putting it lightly. I flush from his gaze, just hoping he can not see my cheeks in this light.

“It felt good putting them in their place, though. Always toeing the line with our agreements. I do have to say, you might have scared them more than me.”

The way his eyes rest on me when he says this makes me realize why he has been so interested in me. He knows more about me than I do, yet he wants to know more. It appears he likes a challenge, which I somehow am to him.

“The harder part to answer is the scent part, why ‘us mountain folk’ keep smelling you. Simply, you smell like you carry magic. Anyone with abilities can sense magic on another and I suppose around here it is through smell. I can feel it too much. I get a lot more details through smell."

“I join the Krampusnacht parade every year to ensure no Alps are prowling around, the chaos of that night makes it easy for them to capture potential victims."

“When I first smelled you, I was not sure who you were, if you had evil intentions. To put it simply, your powers don't smell friendly. They are complex and strong though. You draw from multiple sources. I wouldn’t actually doubt if you have some Krampus lineage as some of your magic is familiar. But that is all I can tell you. You have to tell me the rest. But how things went with the alp king, I'm assuming you have no idea about this either."

None of what he said makes sense yet at the same time it explains everything.

“I'm stuck here for what - another two weeks?”

“Don’t make it sound like a punishment. I can teach you how to find your powers.”

I really don’t want to talk about this for some reason. It scares me. So instead I get up and stand in front of him.

“Take off your jacket.”

He grins wildly.

“No, not like that. It’s really annoying you are doing nothing about all these wounds on you. Is that why you have scars all over yourself, you don’t take care of yourself? Aloysius didn’t have a single scar.” Once again, I can't help but touch him. I run a finger down that deep silver scar on his face. He shutters at my touch.

“That’s because Aloysius shows up right when I start getting things under control. Just in time to appear the hero. He’s really good at making sure the Krampus lines continue while I’m better at making sure we all don’t get killed off.”

He seems pretty peeved at his compatriot. That look is good on him.

I flippantly tell him to take his shirt off. He just rips it off and I roll my eyes though my heartbeat is racing.

I typically rush into relationships, stumbling and rushing. They never last long. I have two weeks he said. I want this slow, I want to make him beg as there is no denying his attraction to me. I keep my mind from wandering and focus on taking inventory of his wounds. I make him lean forward to check his back.

“Is this position better for you?”

“Any more?” I say ignoring him.

“Is this a request for me to take off my pants?” I need to leave this room now.

“Where can I get something to clean your wounds?”

“If you are willing to follow me to my bedroom, I'll show you. I'll give you everything you need and things you didn't even know you wanted.”