She slowed down again twenty yards from the Evergreen building. She couldn’t pant when she called out a greeting to Jolie S. Garland. She would have trouble acting normal as it was.
Jolie smiled at her. “Did you get your coffee, dear?”
“Sure did. Drank it already. Back to work!” She kept moving. Her hand trembled and she had to swipe Belle’s card twice before the elevator doors opened. Luck was with her. It was empty. And lo and behold, all the numbers were lit.
Her finger hovered over the button for fifteen, but pressing it would have been stupid. No doubt she’d run smack into Cole the minute she stepped off the elevator.
Wait a minute. Besides the fifteen floors above ground, there were five below. She hadn’t been able to see those with her original access card. And everyone knew secrets were always hidden in the basement. She punched B5.
The car started its slow glide down, and her stomach began to churn. She reminded herself Cole had promised nothing bad was going on in this building, and Cole was incapable of telling a lie. Unlike her. She was both a thief and a liar. She prayed Cole loved her enough to forgive her.
The elevator slid to a stop and the doors rumbled open to reveal...a paint and body shop? She wasn’t tremendously familiar with them, but she recognized the giant paint sprayers. Positioned in the middle of the area, its new coat of red gleaming in the overhead lights, was a giant sleigh. The curved metal runners had been taped, as had all the metal fittings. A workbench along one wall was lined with various sized brushes and a large can of paint.
No one was in the shop, so she crept forward and looked at the white label on top of the can. Sleigh, Gold Pinstriping, Formula 896 had been typed on the adhesive label. Could this be a prop for an advertising campaign?
If so, she couldn’t imagine why she wouldn’t be allowed to see it. No wiser than before, she returned to the elevator and rode to the next floor. This time, as the doors began to open, she was greeted by quite a racket. Staccato tapping filled the space, as if dozens of tiny hammers were being wielded by...elves.
Stepping through the open doors, she stared at tiny people wearing pointy caps, green tunics and leggings, and shoes that curved up at the toe and were each decorated with a bell. They didn’t notice her. Of course they wouldn’t. Christmas Eve was drawing near and they were making toys for girls and boys.
She blinked, but the scene didn’t change. Conveyor belts snaked through the two-story work area carrying finished toys to a wrapping machine. The toys emerged covered with bright paper and festive bows. Then they disappeared into a tunnel.
Slowly she backed into the elevator. This couldn’t be real, and yet she was wide awake. She pinched herself to make sure. The secret, the one Cole had refused to tell her, was incredible, but she couldn’t deny it now. Evergreen Industries, through some process she didn’t understand but Cole obviously knew inside out, was responsible for making Christmas happen.
* * *
Cole glanced at the clock. Taryn would have her coffee by now, and he should probably contact her to see how she was getting along with the database. Texting her seemed like the best option. He’d begun composing one when his phone chimed. Noelle’s name popped up on the screen.
He abandoned his text message and answered the call. “What’s up?”
“You’d better get down here.”
He’d never heard Noelle use that tone, which was part command and part freak-out. “Be right there.”
Moments later he was in her office staring at the pictures coming from her surveillance cameras and swearing softly under his breath. “How did she get in there? Her access card was only coded for the IT floor!”
“Don’t ask me, but we officially have a major security threat.”
Cole’s chest tightened. Deep down, he’d known this would happen. He should never have brought her here. “Do you have the cocoa ready?”
Noelle hesitated. “Yes.”
“Will it work?” He was worried about Noelle’s slight hesitation.
“It should.”
“It will erase all memory of me and of this place, but nothing else, right?”
“Uh, yes.”
He didn’t like the faint tremor in her voice, which told him she wasn’t all that confident about the cocoa. But even if the effects only lasted for a while, it would buy him some time, and it was better than nothing. “Get me some and bring it to my office. I’ll go find her.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
At this point, he didn’t have to hide his powers anymore. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to B4, where Taryn was wandering through displays featuring the historical origin of the Christmas tree. He materialized next to her while she gazed up at a Scotch pine with candles attached to its branches.
“Having fun?”
She jumped and turned toward him, wide-eyed. “Where did you come from?”
He looked into her eyes. “I’m a wizard.” In some ways, it was a relief to finally say it. “I can travel simply by wishing it.”
“You’re a...” She stared at him, her face drained of all color.
“A wizard. From the Winter Clan. As you’ve just discovered, we’re in charge of Christmas.”
“But you can’t be. What about the North Pole? How does that figure in?”
“It’s a decoy. The North Pole would be way too much trouble—no decent facilities at all up there. Colorado is much more convenient for our purposes.”
“So this is what you couldn’t tell me.”
“That’s right. And because you’ve breached our security, I have to take care of that. How did you, by the way?”
“I stole Belle’s access card while we were in the coffee shop. Don’t blame her. It’s not her fault.”
“I don’t. If anybody’s to blame, it’s me for bringing you to Gingerbread in the first place. But I’ll fix that.” He held out his hand. “Hold on.”
“Why?”
“We need to go to my office, and this is the quickest way.” He gazed at her. “Trust me, please.”
“All right.” And she put her hand in his.
That simple act broke his heart. But he had a job to do, so he closed his eyes and willed them to his fifteenth-floor office. When the swirling stopped, he kept holding her hand. Anyone new to apparating needed some time to adjust.
She took a shaky breath. “Wow. How many Gs do you think we pulled?”
“Don’t know. I’ve never tried to measure that.”
“Next time you should. It would be fun to know.”
“Fun? This isn’t about fun, Taryn.”
“Of course it is! This is a blast. I just found out the man I love is a wizard. How cool is that?”
“I don’t think you quite understand.”
“No, but I want to. Where do you live? Can you tell me now?”
He shrugged. “I suppose it can’t hurt. The Winter Clan has a lodge up on Mistletoe Mountain.”
“I knew it! That’s why Belle warned me not to go hiking up there.”
“You wouldn’t have found it even if you had. We have it cloaked.”
“Cloaked! I love it! What about the elves? Where do they live?”
“Their village is just below