Kate wanted to pretend her friend’s protective, fiery nature didn’t scare her, but that would have been a lie. This quiet, cautious check if the coast was clear was the only thing separating her from Emily’s anger at being disobeyed. Kate counted to five. Then, to ten. When no voice or heavy footsteps answered, she took her first brave steps into the belly of the darkened house.

The darkness chilled Kate at first; it chilled her almost as deep as the frozen water. It pierced her skin. It amplified every creaking floorboard beneath her feet. Like a heroine in a gothic romance, she pressed on. Clark Woodward was somewhere in this house. She only needed to find him.

But finding him meant first finding a light. Any light. Kate groped around the pitch-black hallway, searching for a cord. Just this morning she did all of the wiring for the strung lights down this hallway. If she could only find the plug…

“There!”

Kate pressed the metal tongs into the outlet and the hallway burst back to carnival-like life. A sigh of relief escaped her. Clark had been miserly enough to turn off all the lights before 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve, but at least he hadn’t taken them all down.

Guided by her new light, Kate pressed onward. Clark would be around here somewhere…she just had to find him.

The voices in Clark’s head—the normal angel and demon ones, not crazy person ones—wouldn’t stop yammering. For the past two hours, they argued and debated, sparred and grappled like two prize fighters trying to go the distance.

You should go check on her.

Emily said to leave her alone.

But it’s Christmas and she’s missing it.

You don’t care about Christmas.

No, but she does… Maybe she’ll be upset if you let her sleep through it.

If you wake her up, she’ll probably be sick and then you’ll have to put up with her making you do all of her tradition stuff all night.

…That might not be so bad.

Who are you and what have you done with Clark Woodward?

Christmas is pointless, sure. Wasteful and stupid, of course. But today’s been the best Christmas I’ve had in a long time.

A woman almost died on your watch.

My comment still stands. Best Christmas since I was a kid.

That’s an awfully low bar to clear.

I should go check on her.

She doesn’t want to see you.