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‘No.’
Damon steps into the elevator with the two of them and leans against the wall. ‘Someone is trying to kill you, Nick. You do understand that, right?’
Nick feels Scarlett’s hand grip his a little tighter, so he squeezes back. Damon tended to say it as it is. It’s part of the reason they get on so well. ‘Yes, Damon. I understand that. The fact my sleigh blew up was a bit of a hint. I’m only here because of Scarlett.’
Damon nods. ‘I heard. That’ll put a target on her too.’
Nick’s warning glare comes a little too late.
‘Me! Why?’
‘Ignore him,’ Nick says, but the damage is done. Fucking Damon! ‘Okay, so if someone wants to put a stop to Christmas, they’ll be looking at me, and anyone close to me. That may include you now.’
‘Oh, yay for me!’ She smiles, but she’s worried, and she’s not the only one.
He’d prefer she wasn’t included on that particular list. Damon is right though. He brought her into his world and helped put that target on her. ‘You’ll be safe here,’ he says as they step out of the elevator and walk down the corridor to his suite. ‘I can protect you. I don’t work with elves, and we don’t play with tinsel all day,’ he says, smirking.
‘You realise you’ve just killed all remaining images of Santa I had in my head?’
He unlocks his door and smirks down at her. ‘I think I did that with the whole less cuddly thing?’ Damon snorts behind him, but he ignores his friend. ‘You will be safe here, I swear. We’re all trained to look after ourselves.’
‘Oh, I sort of got that impression when you took down an army of those things, with only my fire poker and a kitchen knife.’
Damon smiles, his fangs appearing as that image goes through his head. He gets seriously turned on by fighting and blood of any kind. ‘Kitchen knife? I like that, Nick. I might be a little impressed.’
‘You would, you sick fuck! Like you didn’t sweep in and take care of the leftovers!’
Damon shrugs as he sits on the arm of the couch. ‘I may have enjoyed tearing a few of the stragglers to pieces. By the way, Eve found your cuff beside your bed,’ Damon says, getting back on track again. ‘I’m presuming you didn’t take it off and leave it there.’
‘No. I didn’t. So, it was someone from the team, or the workshop? I suspected as much.’
‘We, as in myself and Eve, think someone is after your magic. It can be taken from you if you’re away from the workshop when Christmas Eve hits. It would have killed you, Nick. No more Santa.’
‘Someone on your team is trying to kill you?’
He shrugs, wishing he could give her a definite answer. ‘Someone wants my magic. That’s all we know for sure. Damon, are you picking up on any negativity from anyone on the team?’
Damon shakes his head. ‘Everyone fucking loves you! It’s irritating. But we all have powerful magic, Nick. If someone wanted to block me or throw me off, they could probably do it too. Reve mentioned Krampus as a possibility?’
Nick hadn’t thought about Krampus, but it would make sense. They’re very similar, and so is their magic. ‘He couldn’t get into the workshop.’
‘Unless he’s working with someone on the inside?’
That’s certainly a possibility. ‘Damn it! Okay, I need you to keep a close eye on everyone. You, Eve, and Scarlett are the only ones I trust without question. If it is someone on the team, I’d prefer to get to them first, before they have a chance to take another shot at me.’
Scarlett ignores Damonand Nick as they talk about things she can't get her head around right now. A few hours ago she was convinced both Nick and herself would be killed by the Púca. Now she’s in Santa’s workshop having a conversation with the Boogeyman.
She’s still struggling with the fact she’s in Santa’s workshop, before you even bring Damon into the equation. She’s in freaking Lapland! The house or workshop is hands down the most beautiful building she’s ever seen. Nick was right, from the outside, it’s just a house. A stunning house, but there was nothing to suggest to anyone looking at it, that Santa and his reindeer lived here.
Where they are right now may be buried deep under the ground, but it doesn't feel that way at all. If she didn’t know otherwise, she’d swear they were in a log cabin at a fancy ski resort. There’s wood everywhere. Vast beams and tall ceilings help make the space feel spacious and homely.
And that’s before she saw Nick’s personal suite.
Everything about the room matches Nick perfectly. From the huge four poster bed that she can see through the door at the far side of the room, covered with dark green throws and blankets, to the deep brown leather couches surrounding the huge fireplace, and the tall bookcases against the far wall, packed with an assortment of leather bound books.
It’s him. And it smells like him. The entire workshop does. She thought it was a cologne he was wearing but now she’s not so sure. Maybe it’s Nick himself, or this place. Whatever it’s from, she loves it.
Eve joins them, carrying a tray of food. She places it on the table behind the couch, then hands Scarlett a bag. ‘Fresh clothes. I scrounged them from some of the other women here. Hopefully something will fit you and keep you going for the moment.’
