Last Christmas (Book 1 in the Christmas Series)

Chapter Thirty-Three

It had been my Magic he had been taking over those passing months. I was the reason he had been able to escape his prison. He had taken everything from me for his own, stolen what made me a Claus to escape and get revenge on my father. Without my Magic, I was just like everyone else. Normal. My last name meant nothing if I didn't have the power that was part of me, a piece of my DNA. Magic was what made a Claus, a Clause. If Papa didn't have his Magic, he wouldn't be able to fly around the world in just a night, slip down chimneys, do everything he was famous for. If Mama didn't have Magic, she wouldn't have known which children were wishing the hardest for a gift that couldn't be brought or made. Magic made us who we were.

I was without Magic and facing one of the worst enemies I could ever think of confronting. I didn't think my day could get any worse with the arrival of Jack, but it appeared that I was very much mistaken. We had no way of distracting him with my Magic gone, no way to fight him off before Papa could swoop in and save the day. We were on our own.

"What's going on?" Joel whispered, looking rather frightened by my actions, not having not understood what I was doing or why I was doing it.

"You know how you asked if there was anything I could do to distract him? I just tried, and it didn't work," I said, lowing my arm and trying to shake the trembling sensation from my fingers.

"What'd you mean it didn't work?"

"Exactly that. He's done something, blocking it somehow like he did with Mama and Papa to stop them leaving home. I couldn't help even if I wanted to."

"Ah, Mackenzie, how naïve you are. I have done nothing but take what is rightfully mine. Your Magic has not been blocked because you no longer have it, have you been paying attention to what has been happening? I know you have been watching us, listening to our conversations but did you not catch on to who we were talking about? Who we were syphoning Magic from?"

"You can't syphon Magic from anyone, it's not possible," I said. I was trying to keep myself composed, but I knew where he was heading, I just didn't want to believe it.

"That is where you are wrong. You see, it is possible to syphon a person's Magic if they no longer have any use for it. You have barely used your Magic since you left the North Pole, and therefore, you were the perfect subject for my little experiment. I used your Magic to escape my cage, to gain my freedom and you did not even notice. Human minds are so ignorant, they fail to see what is unfolding around them and you are no exception."

My head felt like it was going to explode as Jack unloaded his new information. I had known they were taking Magic from someone, after all, it was all they spoke about, but I didn't know it was me and I certainly didn't know that I was the reason they were doing it. Papa had never mentioned it before, never warned me that the less often I used my Magic, the more chance I had of losing it. I knew Magic could become dormant over time, hide deep down until it was needed, or the person remembered they had it, but I didn't know it was possible for Magic to be stolen. If I did, I never would have abandoned it for so long.

I couldn't believe that I allowed myself to fall into Jack's trap, that I was too stupid to know that it was me he was talking about. For weeks I had to listen to him and his minions go on about taking someone's Magic, using it for their own gain, but I didn't figure it out. I didn't even tell Granny. If I had, Papa would have been able to stop him before he escaped before the situation grew out of control. There were so many things I could have done, things I could have said weeks, even months before, but I didn't. Whether it was pride, ignorance or general stupidity, I didn't know. What I did know was that it was my fault, and I had to be the one to fix it if it wasn't too late.