to her after years of targeting bad guys who all had something to hide.
She found herself admitting she liked that about him. No secrets, no lies. Just … him. He’d meant what he said about her ears and her face being pretty. He’d admitted to being interested in her. His gaze swept over her features, and he touched her cheek with an index finger. His touch carried the energy of the thrill of Christmas Eve.
“Very pretty face,” he added. She heard his phone vibrate, and he looked down suddenly, their connection interrupted. “Give me a minute. I gotta take this.”
Natasha’s brow furrowed. It could only be his ex-fiancée, the one who cheated on him and kept calling. Anger and something that felt like jealousy streaked through her. She snatched the phone from him.
“Hello, Matt’s ex-fiancée. My name is Natasha. If you don’t stop calling him, I’ll enter you into the Naughty portion of the Naughty-n-Nice database, which means you’ll never have another good day in your life. And then, I’ll find you and kill you slowly, with poisoned gumdrops. I have enough with me to wipe out your whole village,” she said. “Leave Matt alone.”
She handed it back to him. He looked stunned as he took the phone. Content she’d solved his issue as only an assassin elf could, she popped a few pecans in her mouth and headed towards the Christmas decorations. Matt joined her a moment later.
“Yeah, that was my mother,” he said casually.
“Oh. Sorry. I hope she knows I wasn’t threatening her.”
“She told me that any woman who defends me like that is worth marrying. You made a good impression,” he assured her.
She smiled, pleased to know his mother had sense. She could defend him from all sorts of things, including ex-fiancées.
“It’s Christmas Eve. Gloria said they’d be having a bonfire out back. If I could be so bold, would you like to go on a date to the backyard?” he asked.
“I would,” she said. “I’ll bring a handgun, in case the snow-goblins come for the Christmas presents while we’re out back.”
“Snow-goblins … I think Gloria said her husband will stay inside to uh, guard the tree,” he said, scratching his head. “I might have heard her wrong, though.”
“I’ll give him my gun, just in case.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.” He looked confused again, and she realized she’d one day have to explain the snow-goblins and other types of creatures that routinely targeted Santa and Christmas in general. Normal people were fortunate to be so unaware.
Her own phone vibrated. Matt excused himself as she pulled it from her pocket.
Sent you an email, Curly texted. She navigated to her email, dreading what news he had next. Would Santa take her weapons in addition to forcing her to retiring? Or maybe he would make her into a trainer of new ninja elf assassins, a position she wanted even less than retiring. She held her breath as she opened his email.
The boss is coming to see you tonight. She gasped. It was much worse! He was going to do more than retire; he was coming to exile her, or worse – eliminate her. It was the only explanation. She must’ve done something heinous to deserve a personal meeting with the big guy after being banned to Ohio.
“Everything ok?” Matt asked, joining her with a shopping back in hand.
“Yeah, fine,” she replied. “Could you take me back to Gloria’s? I need to do something.”
He stepped out of her path as she started towards the door. They got into the car and traveled back to Gloria’s. Several of the guests were in the front lawn, building snowmen. She didn’t talk to Matt as she got out of the car and strode down the sidewalk to the house then trotted to her room. Only when she was safely locked inside did she shake the tension from her shoulders.
This was it, her last day on earth. What had started out as a promising mission would end in her demise. Regret filtered through her as she thought of Matt. She kind of liked him. He’d been relatively easy to talk to and pleasant. His eyes were beautiful, his smile welcoming …
She was going to miss him, even if he was a stranger.
Natasha withdrew the suitcase from under her bed. She pulled out the sidearm for Gloria’s husband and loaded it with eggnog darts to ward off snow-goblins. One shot would melt a snow-goblin. Next, she disarmed the cinna-bombs, flushed the poison gumdrops down the toilet, and dumped the powder from the candy cane bullets. When she’d finished, she was forlorn to see it was already dark.
The backyard glowed with the large bonfire and the straw bales spaced around it. Some people simply cuddled next to the fire while others roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. It was snowing again, a steady stream of white fluttering from the sky.
Matt sat alone on a straw bale, the only person without a partner. She smiled sadly, feeling the same sense of loneliness on her last Christmas Eve. She looked around her room to make sure it was tidy, and the weapons were harmless. When Gloria came to clean things out in the morning, she’d find the note Natasha wrote detailing the address at the North Pole where she could end the rifle and side arms.
With a deep breath, Natasha left her room for the last time. She descended to find Gloria’s husband in the library next to the fireplace, reading a book. She walked in and handed him the sidearm, butt first.
“You just have to shoot one snow-goblin, and the rest will run away,” she told him. “It helps if it’s their leader, then they won’t come back next year. They have a real bad pack-mentality.”
He stared at her, accepting it.
“Thank you for letting me stay here. I left Gloria a note of where to send the rest of my things in the morning,” she said. “Oh, and don’t let the snow-goblins touch you.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“You really don’t want to know,” she assured him. Satisfied he could protect the presents against the wily snow-goblins, she shoved her hands in her pockets and walked out back. If it was her last night, she wanted to spend it with Matt.
Snow clung to her as she walked through the backyard to the bonfire. Matt glanced up, and she hesitated. He hadn’t come to get her for their mini-date. A smile broke cross his face, echoed in his eyes. He patted the seat beside him on the straw bale. She sat. The sides of their thighs touched, and she found she liked the warmth of his body next to hers.
“I’m glad you came out,” he said.
“I am, too,” she replied.
“Did you give any more thought to the website idea?”
“I like it. If I live through the night, I think I’ll try it.”
“I hope you do. If you want to come to Florida, I can help you get started. I know a lot of people who need a website built,” he said.
Natasha met his gaze, both saddened she’d never see another day and hopeful that – if she did – this man would be there waiting for her. He smiled and inched closer to her. He offered his hand, and she took it.
“With some work, we can build you some calluses,” she said, turning over his hand to see the soft palm.
“I’ll help you with the website clients, and you can, uh, teach me to shoot.” He offered her some of his cocoa. She shook her head.
“You won’t build many calluses that way, but we could do that,” she said. “And then we can get married, like your mother said.”
He choked again and spewed his cocoa. She patted him on the back. A faint glimmer above the tree line caught her attention. Doom settled low into her stomach. It was Santa’s sign that he was there.
“I just want you to know I’ve enjoyed the time we spent together,” she said with regret. “If I could stay, I would marry you, even if that meant we had to go to Florida.”
Matt’s face was red. He managed a nod and took a sip of soda.
“Goodbye, Matt.” She rose without waiting for him to respond, knowing nothing he said would help her. Instead, she walked further into the backyard towards the dark thatch of forest edging the back of the property.
&nbs
p; Santa waited for her, dressed warmly in his red suit.
“I’m ready, Santa,” she said and stood before him. “I’ve loved every minute I’ve worked for you, but I understand assassins get old and dull.”
“Nonsense.” Even in a whisper, his voice boomed. “I’ve come to reward you.”
“Reward me?” she repeated and looked up at him. The skin around his eyes crinkled, and he tugged on his beard. “I thought you placed me here because you wanted me out of the way.”
“Mrs. Claus and I had a talk. We decided it was time for you to retire, while you still had a chance to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
“Are you really?”
She sighed in response.
“That’s what I thought,” he said. “You’ve lost the spirit of Christmas. You’re my best ninja elf, but even you must move on. Mrs. Clause saw you had one more chance at happiness.” His gaze went up, past her, and she turned to see what he was looking at. Matt stood at the edge of the bonfire, gazing into the forest, as if contemplating coming after her.
“I do like him,” she said. “He’s my reward?”
“If you want him.”
Natasha faced Matt, considering. Spending time with him had been the most fun she’d had in the past decade. It was a pitiful admittance, but she liked him. She was quiet as she thought of what a life would be like with someone like him.
“He said I can get a job building websites,” she said.
“I thought the money was in board games,” Santa replied, puzzled.
“Apparently not.”
“These non-Northerners are different.”
“Very,” she agreed. “But he said he’d help me.”
“Then it’s done. He’s your last chance at happiness,” Santa said.
She faced him again. “Are you forcing me to leave the North Pole?”
“Not at all. He’s welcome to come with you. I’m only retiring you and offering you the gift of happiness. You haven’t had a Christmas morning in ten years. This is the greatest reward I can give you.”
“Alright,” she said softly. “I’ll take him.
“Good elf!” he said with a chuckle. “And now, I must be off. These toys won’t deliver themselves.”
“Thank you, Santa.”
He smiled and wrinkled his nose then disappeared in a puff of peppermint-scented glitter. She looked up at the twinkle in the sky, not sure what to make of his reward. She’d known nothing but being an assassin elf for ten years.
“You doing ok?” Matt’s voice was quiet, and his feet crunched in the snow as he walked. “You sounded like you weren’t coming back.”
“I didn’t think I would,” she admitted and turned to face him. “But now, I think everything’s ok.”
“Is it?”
She gazed into his eyes, admiring his features again. He offered a smile.
“Yeah,” she said. “It is.”
“Come on back to the fire.” He offered his hand. She took it, walking through the forest with him back to the bonfire.
Epilogue
One year later, on Christmas Eve, they came back to the B&B in Hillsboro and got married in the glow of a bonfire and moonlight. By then, Matt had learned how to build a cinna-bomb, and Natasha had dealt with her first customer in person, without the involvement of candy cane bullets. They were on their way to happily-ever-after.
Santa’s Ninja Elves:
Hunter’s Redemption