Getting knocked out was getting old. At least I kept waking up. So I had that going for me.

I blinked but couldn’t see anything. I was queasy again, I guessed from the stuff she’d injected me with. Was I lying down? What was that sound? Everything smelled like metal and oil and … gasoline. I tried to sit up and cracked my head against metal.

The pain sucked the breath out of me as I fell back down. Instinctively, I reached to cradle my aching head. And found my hands were now tied in front of me. I pressed the heels of my palms against my forehead to stop the pain.

After a few moments, I got my breath back and the pain had reached a more tolerable level. I tried moving my legs. They were tied together at the ankles with something thin and hard that I could feel through my socks. Zip ties was my best guess. I wished I’d worn my boots, but I had my sneakers on as I’d dressed for work in case I’d had to go right there.

As the pain subsided to a dull throb, I added up the dark small space, weird smells, constant sound, and sense of movement. I was in a car trunk.

By now, we had to be pretty close to the shop if not just about there.

I was sure Sandy hadn’t anticipated me waking up from her injection this soon. My winter elf metabolism had burned through the drug in probably half the time a human would have, but then she was human and didn’t realize I wasn’t.

That gave me an advantage. How best to use it?

I shifted position as quietly as I could, but moving in a confined space with my wrists and ankles tied wasn’t exactly easy. All that movement made my head and shoulder hurt again, too. I’d been facing toward the front of the car. As I finally managed to wriggle around to the other side, I felt around for a latch. I swore I’d seen something online about how cars were supposed to have a mechanism to open the trunks from the inside.

You know, to prevent this sort of thing.

In the pitch black, finding it was a big ask. I ran my fingers along the seam where the trunk closed and hit a jagged piece of plastic. If that was the latch, it had been broken off. For the greedy, nasty piece of work that Sandy was, she’d thought ahead. I hoped she somehow got eaten by yetis. It was a delightful fantasy.

I had no idea how using my magic might affect my concussed head, but it was time to find out.

I pressed my hands to the metal where I thought one of the taillights should be, the one closest to me, and poured my power into it. My goal was to freeze the plastic housing until it shattered.

The temperature in the trunk’s interior dropped significantly. The pain in my head only increased. I kept at it until I heard cracking. Then I kept at it a little longer, hoping to short out the bulb. More cracking. It sounded like walking on thin ice. Then I heard the pop I’d been waiting for.

I pulled my hands away, panting a little with the effort. Had I done enough that someone would notice? I had no idea, but I knew one thing. Being concussed, falling over, and then getting drugged really sucked. I hurt all over and felt like I was still a little loopy from whatever I’d been injected with.

All I wanted was to be home with Sin and the cats. I desperately needed sugar, too. I could sense myself getting weaker.

Maybe using my magic hadn’t been such a great idea, but being dead would be a lot worse. Obviously. I wasn’t going down with any arrows left in my quiver. If I had a chance to do something that might free me, I was going to take it.

The car turned, and the speed dropped. Were we in town? The speed limit on Main Street was definitely lower than everywhere else.

Please let there be a deputy on patrol who’d notice the broken taillight and pull Sandy’s worthless hide over.

The car turned again and slowed further. Then we stopped altogether. Red light? No. The engine shut off. We were at the shop. Or close to it. She wouldn’t have parked on Main Street. Not when she had to get me out of the trunk. She’d have to at least untie my feet, too.

Unless she planned on carrying me, which would look pretty weird.

Of course, maybe there weren’t that many people out. It had to be after ten if the plan had been to wait until the shop closed. And it was cold. The only people who might still be out were tourists looking at the lights.

Howler’s would still be open, but their customers were inside, and that wasn’t going to help me in any way.

Chances were pretty good that I was on my own here. I knew that Sin, wherever he was, had to be in a panic over my disappearance. He’d be doing everything he could to find me. So would everyone else who was involved.

That was a comfort, but how on earth were they ever going to figure out where I was? They had no reason to suspect Jerry and his wife.

I couldn’t believe I’d thought Elsie’s nephew was the counterfeiter.

I heard a key in the lock. I went limp. I realized too late I should have turned myself back around, so I was in the original position she’d put me in, but that ship had sailed.

She poked me. I guess to see if I was faking? I didn’t move. Something cold and wet hit my cheek. I’d have to give up my winter princess tiara if I couldn’t identify that as snow.

As a rule, I loved snow. But it made my slim chances of help even slimmer. Snow would keep people inside and off the streets, regardless of how pretty the lights were.

Snowy nights were best spent with someone you loved in front of a toasty fireplace with a cup of cocoa and a plate of Christmas cookies.

What I wouldn’t give to be doing that right now.

Sandy grabbed my shoulder and shook me. It took everything in me not to react to the pain the shaking caused.

“Get up,” she hissed. Then she let out a very unladylike curse. She reached into the trunk and began fiddling with the zip tie around my ankles.

She had it off a few seconds later. I wasn’t ready to make my move yet. She’d be most vulnerable trying to get me out of the trunk. That’s what I was waiting for. Then I’d be close to her and able to do serious damage.

She let go of me, and for a moment, I thought she’d given up.

Then the vilest, most acrid scent filled my nose and threatened to annihilate my senses. Ammonia. She’d used smelling salts on me. I gagged and coughed and had no choice but to stop pretending I was still unconscious.

“Good. You’re awake. Let’s go.”

I opened my eyes, thinking I was just going to have to take my chances right here. Until I saw Sandy was holding a gun at her side.

Son of a nutcracker. I hadn’t counted on that. We were parked on the side street next to the stockroom. I looked past her, at Main Street. It was deserted. The snow was coming down pretty good.

I stared at her, defiant. “You’re not going to shoot me.”

She tipped her head. “You don’t think so? You want to test that theory?” She gestured at me with the gun. “Get out of the trunk.”

I actually didn’t. “That would be a lot easier to do with my hands untied.”

“No dice. Move.”

“I don’t think so.” I really didn’t think she’d shoot me. The town might be practically empty, but someone would hear the sound. Right? Someone in Howler’s? Although I could hear the distant thump of music coming from there.

No one in Howler’s would hear the shot.

Before I could make an attempt to get out, she leaned closer. “Get out or I will shoot you, then go back and shoot your little cat, too.”

Every cell in my body got angry. Oh, it was on now. If only looks could kill, Sandy would be one dead duck.

I swung my legs out so fast she backed up. I got my feet on the ground, then threw the rest of my body forward, relying on momentum to lift me up. It worked. And only added minimally to my aches and pains. I stood in front of her, glaring icicles at her. “You hurt a single hair on my husband or my cats and I will make you regret being born. You have no idea what I am capable of.”

She chuckled. “Sure, sweetheart.” She pointed toward the stockroom door with the barrel of the gun. “You better be capable of unlocking that door and getting us in. No funny business either. If I hear an alarm …” She wiggled the gun.

I started for the door. I didn’t know if my trouble code would set off an audible alarm or not, but I didn’t care. Just like I didn’t care that I was too weak to use my magic. If I passed out, I passed out.

But I was taking Sandy down first. I was done with her and her threats. No one hurt my family. Like the saying goes, revenge was a dish best served cold.