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“Hello, Mrs. Claus,” I say.

She smiles. “Lucie, why so formal? Do you call all your siblings by their last name?”

“Of course not,” I say with a small bow. “Jessica. Lovely to see you.”

She pulls out a candy cane and lights it with a blaze she produces from her finger.

I sigh. “Not you too. What happened here?”

She blows out a puff of minty smoke and laughs, but it’s a hard sound full of lost dreams. “Why not? We are in the age of the fall of magic,” she says sadly. “Soon we will all turn to dust.” She holds up her candy cane, the tip burning a bright red like a ripe cherry.

“What happened to these animals?” Lyla demands, stepping forward boldly.

“The same thing that is happening to all of the North Pole. They are dying. Everything is dying. Even their hay fades within an hour. It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. They can’t fly tonight. Maybe they’ll never fly again. This might be the end of Christmas.”

Lyla swears beside me and Mandy gasps under her breath but then falls silent again as the weight of our conversation settles on her.

“Is this why your old elf was in such a foul mood tonight?” I ask.

“Maybe.” She shrugs and looks away for a minute.

“We need to borrow the sleigh,” I say. “We can save Christmas and we will spark what little magic is left in those children. It’s not too late.”

Her eyes are bloodshot when she looks at me. Puffy and purple beneath. “How is it that the last optimist left would be Satan? You really are the best of us. I’ve always thought so.”

That… surprises me to hear. And makes me feel… something. Surprise, certainly, but something else, too.

“Are you going to try to stop us?” I ask.

She laughs. “Stop you? I’m here to help you. You’re our last chance, Lucie. You always were.”

I’m about to ask her what she means by that when what sounds like a herd of angry elves begin pounding on the barn door.

Jessica rushes forward, then turns to us. “The sleigh is over there,” she says, pointing to the opposite end of the barn. “Do your thing and get out of here. I’ll distract Santa’s little helpers.”

I nod my thanks. “How did you know we’d be here?” I ask as we move away from her.

“Oh Lucifer.” She just smiles and shrugs vaguely. “You know.”

And then she is gone.

Disappeared like her husband. But without the tell.

Her magic always was much stronger than Santa’s.

A little-known secret outside the community.

Jessica is the real powerhouse behind the holidays. Women usually are the unseen heroes that make it all happen.

The sleigh is where she said, polished bright red like an apple. Not my color at all, but we can fix that when we get home.

“Climb in,” I say, helping Mandy up.

I turn to Lyla. “You and Mandy get in. I’m going to push it through the door I create.”

“You can’t push it alone,” Lyla says.

“Pft. Darling you have no idea what I’m capable of.”