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‘Thanks. I’ll get revenge for her when I find out who’s behind whatever happened to my sleigh.’ He gasps, then tightens his grip on her as his whole body tenses.
‘Nick?’
He pauses and hugs her closer. ‘Sorry. Just my magic. It’s sort of hitting in waves. It’s getting stronger though. I’ll have to try and get home tomorrow. My magic will be at its peak in a few hours, but we’ll need to get to higher ground. I’m depending on one of my team picking up on my magic. High open ground will make that easier. Is there somewhere nearby we can go? Ideally with a large body of water.’
‘Water? Why?’
‘Depending on how my magic is behaving I might need all the help I can get. Water can sometimes amplify magic. And I’ll need all my team to be able to perform at their best. Cobh can fight on land as well as anyone else, but if he can get into water, he’s fucking lethal.’
‘The nearby reservoir. High ground and lots of water. It’s the nearest place accessible by car. It’s about ten minutes drive from here.’
‘That’ll work.’
‘I’m absolutely not trying to get rid of you sooner, but why can’t you try to attract their attention now?’
‘My magic is too unstable right now. It will peak on Christmas Eve. I need that extra surge to compensate for the fact I can’t quite control it right now. Do you have the keys to your car?’
She pulls them from her coat pocket, then takes his hand as he leads her around the side of the house. Nick checks her 4X4 before walking down the driveway to the track leading from the house. ‘I’ll have to dig some of the track clear, but we should be able to get it out.’
‘We?’
Nick leans against the bonnet of her car, drawing her into his arms again. ‘I’ll need your help Scarlett. I can’t use my magic unless someone makes a Christmas wish. Santa is selfless, apparently,’ he adds with a smirk. ‘My magic exists to make others happy. I’ll need you to help me attract the attention of my team.’
Now he’s spelled it out for her, she understands what he’s talking about, but it doesn’t help ease her worry about having such a vital part in his plan to get home.
‘Hey,’ he says, lifting her chin so she’s looking at him. ‘It’ll be fine. I promise.’
‘Has anyone ever told you you’re a strangely optimistic person?’
‘Part of the Santa thing I guess. I know everything is up in the air at the moment. Someone clearly doesn’t want me to do my job. I’m trapped here and my magic is seriously screwing with me. I should want to get away from here as fast as I can.’ He meets her eyes, and they swirl with white. ‘But I’m kind of glad I found my way here.’
‘You are? Why?’
He pulls her closer. ‘Because I met you.’
Scarlett’s breath catches in her throat at his words. She feels the same about Nick. No question, but not for one minute did she imagine he’d feel the same. He’s trapped here, thousands of miles from home with a lot on the line. She never thought he’d be happy about that. ‘Me too. I mean I hate that there’s this big load of doom and gloom hanging over us, and I hate that one of your reindeer was killed, but I’m glad you crashed outside my house.’
‘Just for the record, I didn’t crash,’ he says, smirking at her. ‘Santa doesn't crash. That would just be ridiculous now, wouldn't it?’
‘Yeah. I guess it would be. I apologise for misspeaking, Santa.’
‘As you should be. And stop calling me Santa.’
Scarlett grins mischievously. ‘I apologise again... Santa.’
He laughs and pulls her close. ‘Brat!’
Scarlett snuggles in against his chest. While she couldn’t be happier about Nick bursting into her life, the fact he is potentially being targeted by someone or something, scares her. Downright terrifies her. After seeing the wreckage of his sleigh, it’s clear they want him dead, not just to incapacitate him. Not that the second option would be great either, but she’s not so sure she wants to be part of a world where someone is trying to kill Santa.
But even with all that craziness and the potential unknown threat hanging over them, she doesn’t want him to leave. He’s thrown everything in her relatively normal, but boring life, upside down, and she likes it. Life had become predictable of late. Work, home, repeat. Nothing about Nick is predictable. Nothing about being with him is predictable, and she’s going to deeply miss that. And him.
‘Nick?’
‘Why am I sensing one of your deep questions?’
‘Because you can read my mind.’
‘Only when it comes to what you want. I can’t read your thoughts, I swear. So, what do you want to ask?’
