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When she sees who it is, she relaxes to a small degree, but is still terrified. He can feel it and it’s too damn good. ‘I’m going to take my hand away and you’re going to be quiet.’
She nods, so he lowers his hand.
Eve attempts to knee him in the balls, but he sidesteps, blocking the hit. ‘What the hell are you playing at, Damon? You scared me!’
He shoves her back into the meeting room, holding her at arm’s length so she can’t aim for his groin again. ‘What was that about?’
‘It was a private workshop meeting. Nothing to do with you. You shouldn’t even be here. You’re not allowed here unless it’s for a meeting. Shouldn’t you be looking for Nick?’
‘I go where I want to go. It’s my thing. What were you talking about with Kane? And also, Kane can talk?’
She rolls her eyes at him. ‘You know he can. And it’s still none of your business, Damon.’
He bares his teeth and his fangs slide down from his gums. He’s still in control of himself, mostly. But Eve doesn't know that. ‘Oh you should know better than to lie to me, of all people. I feed off lies, Eve. Feed off your fear. Now, the Nutcracker predates Nick. He’s watched over the last three Santas. If he’s got his knickers in a twist, I want to know why.’
‘Nick is missing, in case you’ve forgotten. We’ve all got our knickers in a twist. It’s a freaking big deal!’
‘I’m not buying it’s just that. Talk to me, or I’ll let my not so friendly side out.’
She tries to push him away, but he’s too strong. ‘You’re an asshole!’
‘So I’ve been told. Mainly by you. The fastest way to get rid of me, is to talk.’
She focuses on the ground for a minute, before looking up at him again. ‘This can’t go any further.’
‘Who the fuck am I going to tell? The only people who talk to me are you and Nick.’
Something crosses her face but he’s not sure what it is. Whatever it was, she composes herself again, before he can comment. ‘It’s Nick. We need to find him. Urgently.’
Damon is sorely tempted to let his dark side out, just to scare her into talking. Not that he’s so sure it would work on her. He takes a controlled breath and pulls himself back. ‘You're testing my patience, Eve.’
‘I wasn’t aware you had any.’
‘What little I have then. Answer the question.’
‘You know, manners don’t hurt.’
Damon convinces himself to keep quiet. Eve would just continue the back and forth to irritate him. Thankfully, she gets the message.
‘Fine. Nick’s magic is at its strongest at Christmas. He needs all the energy to make the Christmas run.’
‘Yeah. And?’
‘If he’s not here, his magic is unstable.’
‘Unstable how?’
She looks around, then lowers her voice even though they’re alone. ‘He needs the workshop to stabilise his powers, until he does the Christmas Eve run. If he’s not here on Christmas Eve night, the power overload could kill him, Damon. He’ll have surges leading up to Christmas Eve, then, if he’s not back, he’ll lose the connection and the magic will leave him.’
‘So you’re saying he’ll be human again?’
‘No, he needs it to survive. As soon as he signed the contract he was bound to the magic. Without it, he will die. Besides, when I said the magic will leave him, I meant violently. It could tear him apart, Damon.’
‘Fuck! Does he know?’
‘Of course not. Do you think he would have signed if he did?’
‘So you lied to him.’
