Eliot blinked. “I found a thing or three of it. It’s not a merry quest, but by that reaction I can’t imagine you would care about the scotchy sacrifices it would take.”

I clamped my mouth shut.

Eliot took me in with a long look before sighing and dragging in another step. There was barely an inch left between us and I watched his bright blue gaze sink to gray. “If you take me back, I’ll tell you all I know of it. We can figure out how to make one together.”

I glanced off, finger tapping against my leg.

“How do I prove to you that I’m on your side?” He dragged a hand down his cheek, leaving a red mark. “Tell me what to do, Helen, and I’ll do it. Ragnashuck, do you want me to hand myself over to the Patrol to face their judgement? Do you want me to be your spy these next quarters and bring you details of Nightflesh’s plans?” He looked back and forth between my widening eyes. “I’ll do it,” he promised.

I blinked in surprise. “There isn’t anything I want you to do…” I caught myself as a thought filled my head; one I shouldn’t have even considered. But once it was there, I couldn’t get it back out again.

“You thought of something, didn’t you? Tell me.” Eliot stepped in, and I realized his jacket was missing a pearl button. He still smelled of lilacs and roses, like the scent was branded into his skin.

“Eliot Gray,” I said, knowing I wouldn’t get a chance like this again. I looked into his sapphire eyes. “I want you to steal the Queen of the Pines’s crown.”

Hot cider was passed to us as we descended the spiral staircase. The main level of Timber Castle buzzed as elves prepared for the Gingerbread Feast. The miniature houses they carried made me look twice; spiral candies, deep chocolate squares, sugar-coated caramels, and peppermint flakes sprinkled the cookie-sheet artwork.

I held Eliot’s arm as we came out to the snowy landscape of glowing lanterns illuminating the branches above. A massive table stretched deep into the woods, hosting log pedestals for the gingerbread houses to sit upon, along with platters of chocolate bark and assorted candies.

Eliot was stone-faced the whole walk, and I hoped he would keep it together long enough for me to find Kaley. I sipped my cider, but my eyes never stopped moving, searching faces.

The Queen of the Pines appeared to the thundering roar of a dozen drums, and I felt Eliot flinch. His eyes fastened themselves to her as she draped herself across her wooden throne. The ice sprouts of her crown glistened beneath the lanterns, and I wavered when the steeples of candles burst to life with flames.

“Isn’t she worried about her hair catching fire?”