Free Yuletide (Matilda Kavanagh Novels Book 3) by Shauna Granger

that?”
    “I don’t suppose I could threaten you?”
    “I suppose you could,” I said, tilting my head, “and I suppose I could turn you into a toad for my cat to play with.”
    He stared at me for a few long, silent moments, and I willed him to believe me.
    Finally he nodded. “Very well. I will take this charm of yours.”
    “Great,” I said with a breath. “It’ll just take me a moment. I have a couple prepped.”
    With a grunt, he took his seat again.
    “You know, you never told me your name,” I said into a cupboard.
    “Dietrich,” he said, his accent heavy on the name. “Dietrich Hemmel.”
    “Nice to meet you,” I said, getting a grunt in return. I didn’t try to keep him talking after that.
    It didn’t take long to get the charm ready, just as I’d said. Dietrich held it up by the cord and watched the pale wooden disk spin, skepticism etched on his grey face.
    “You have to activate it with something of his,” I said. “You’re related to him, so you could use your blood, but one of the parents would be better.”
    “Mmmm,” he said, pocketing the charm.
    “What? They won’t want to help?”
    “He is my brother’s son,” Dietrich said, fitting his hat over his head. “My brother is long dead. His mother is human, and I do not believe she would like me to bring magic into her home.”
    “Oh,” I said, not really knowing what else to say.
    “My nephew is a good boy,” he said, holding me with his steely gaze. “It is not easy to be a half-breed in this world. Can you imagine what it would be like to be half gremlin?” He held up his scaly hands, the dragon-hide-looking fingers winking in the firelight.
    “No,” I said softly, “I can’t imagine.”
    “He is a good boy, but troubled. Should he just let the others torment him? Should he not fight back?”
    I didn’t know what to say. Witches had it easier than most supernaturals because we looked so human. We blended in seamlessly.
    “Thank you for the charm,” he said, pulling out a few bills and handing them to me. “But I do not think it will work.”
    I stared at the money, feeling dirty for taking it. Then his words sunk in, and I stopped him before he opened the door. “What do you mean you don’t think it’ll work?”
    “No one knows where Krampus’s bag leads.”
    And with that, he was out the door, shutting it softly behind him and leaving me slack-jawed. A chill ran down my back and lifted the hairs on my arms.
    ***
    “So he thinks Krampus took his nephew?” Ronnie asked, staring at me through the shelves of her shop as I set out the potions I’d brought.
    Her shop was decorated for the holidays, but because it was already so crowded with overstuffed shelves, the decorations felt a little oppressive. I didn’t tell her that, though. Joey’s pixie dust made everything glitter pleasantly and added a little—much needed—light, so that helped.
    “I guess. I mean, he kinda just dropped that bomb and left,” I said, nearly knocking over a rejuvenation potion. Ronnie flicked her fingers, righting the bottle, and I held my shaking hands. My basket was still mostly full.
    “That’s insane,” Ronnie said as she came around the aisle and picked up my basket.
    I let her finish putting the bottles up while I took a handful of charms by their ribbons and walked to the cash register. There was a jewelry carousel for impulse buys there, and I draped the charms on the empty hooks.
    “What’s insane?” Joey asked as she came out of the stock room with a basket of evergreen boughs. It looked as though it weighed half as much as she did, and I wondered how she didn’t topple right over.
    “A missing boy,” I said. “His uncle thinks Krampus snatched him.”
    “What?” Joey dropped the basket at the end of a crowded aisle and laughed. “It’s not even Christmas.”
    “Krampus isn’t a Christmas entity,” Ronnie said, moving to another shelf to put out the calming draughts.
    “What?” Joey blinked her