Kringl (Rescued by the Alien)

Chapter 26

Chapter

Twenty-Six

A s the commotion erupted outside, elves raced from the great hall. For the first time, Joy noticed that Velsnickel looked not just livid, but also frightened. His eyes darted around wildly as if searching for an unseen threat—or maybe an easy escape.

Without warning, he grabbed Joy's arm, his grip painfully tight even though his hand was small. "Come with me," he growled, dragging her from the hall with a strength that he shouldn’t have possessed.

Dusk was rapidly approaching, but it took a beat for her eyes to adjust after the flickering candlelight inside. When she spotted the workshop, Joy didn’t know if she should panic or cheer. Shrieks and crashes came from inside the building, the chaos so loud that it sounded like an army had been let loose inside. Were her friends responsible for all this? They had to be. Who else?

It seemed that all the villagers had come outside, and every face was turned toward the workshop. Velsnickel jerked Joy to him. "If you had anything to do with this, you will spend the rest of your days in an ice cell if you're lucky."

Joy tried to jerk her arm out of his grasp, her heart pounding. "And if I'm not lucky?"

His lips curled into a malicious grin that made her shudder.

Joy shrank back even though she knew the twisted elf was the one in danger of losing everything. He was the one who’s workshop was in danger. He was the one who was losing control, and she wanted nothing more than to witness his well-deserved downfall.

Velsnickel began shouting orders to his elves, demanding they find the troublemakers. But his commands were cut short as blinding light glowed from every gap, window, and doorframe in the workshop. Then a shrill, piercing sound erupted from inside, growing louder by the second.

Everyone in the square cowered from the light and noise, covering their ears and holding hands up to shield their eyes against the glare. But Velsnickel did not shrink away. He screamed as if in agony, staggering toward the building and dragging Joy with him.

Joy tried to scramble from his grasp, slapping at his fierce grip. Before she could get loose, an explosion rocked the square. The force knocked everyone back and freed Joy from Velsnickel’s hold, but then she was flying through the air and landing hard on the snow-packed ground. The elves who’d been running toward the workshop were flung back like ragdolls, debris rained from the sky, and then…silence.

Joy groaned as she struggled to her feet, her ears ringing and her shoulder twinging from her fall. She took jerky steps toward the smoldering building as it hit her that her friends had been the ones to create the chaos and cause the explosion. They must have been inside. Kringl had been inside.

Her heart sank, and her knees buckled. There was no doubt in her mind that Kringl had been behind the explosion. His plan had worked. They had won—but at what cost?

Tears slipped from the corners of Joy’s eyes as the acrid smoke scorched the back of her throat. Tom, Snowball, Tami, Kringl—had they all been inside, or had they escaped before the blast? She tried to convince herself that they’d survived, but how?

It was only as she stood outside the ruined remains of the workshop that Joy realized the depth of her feelings for the blue alien who’d crashed into her life. She loved him. It didn’t matter that he was a prince or that they could never be together. She knew now that there would never be anyone else for her. And now she might never get the chance to tell him.

As the dust sifted to the ground and the villagers began to stir, Joy remained rooted to the spot, her gaze fixed on the damaged workshop. The pointed roof had collapsed, and black smoke billowed into the sky. The elves who’d run from the main hall looked as shocked as the humans when soot-stained creatures staggered from the damaged building.

Let them be alive, Joy willed, the blood rushing so loudly in her ears that she could not even hear the faint sound of chattering.