Page 30 of Letters to Satan

“No,” he says, a hint of sadness in his voice. “The previous Santa, Bernard… he and my mother were in love, but she refused to marry him. To do so would’ve allowed her to assume his magic, and with it, his lifespan. But she had me, and I was only human. She wouldn’t take on his long life without a means to do it for her son, and no way is known to pass the magic to anyone besides a spouse or biological child.”

“He wasn’t your father?”

“No, my father died when I was very young. My mother was struggling with being a single parent, and she stumbled upon Bernard leaving presents in our home when I was only a few years old. He claims he never heard her coming, but I have my doubts.”

“You think he planned it?” I ask as he finishes washing me and sits back on his feet.

“Yes, I do,” he says, a nostalgic smile crossing his lips. “I believe he saw her the previous Christmas and decided he wanted her for himself, then made enough noise that she’d wake and find him in the living room. He always was a hopeless romantic.”

“So he brought you both to the North Pole to live?”

“Yes. I was a giant among elves.”

“And they never had children of their own.”

“No,” he says, scooping water over my arms to rinse the suds from my skin. “He was a good man… fair. Didn’t want me to feel as though I had to compete for his love. And Mom would not have agreed to have more children, anyway. She was older when I was born and always complained I had too big of a head to go through that again.”

I grin as I lean back, sinking into the steaming water. “What happened to your mother?”

“She died, eventually. Peacefully, in her old age, surrounded by those she loved. And once she did, Bernard didn’t want to live this long life without her. He passed the magic to me and chose to follow her out of this life.”

“The magic works that fast? If you decided to no longer be The Santa, you’d die?”

“No, sweet Damien, I wouldn’t die.” My heart sputters again at his words.

Sweet?

Me?

Throughout my life, I’ve been called many awful, spiteful things that are… possibly mostly true. Iamthe devil, after all. The actions I take on arandom Tuesday would probably haunt most people for years. I’m evil. Conniving.

But sweet?

I could be sweet for him. I immediately freeze as the thought registers in my brain.

He doesn’t notice my conflict as he continues with his story. “The magic doesn’t stop your aging, just significantly slows it. The longest living Santa in our history stepped down after almost six hundred years in the position. Bernard had been in the office many decades and could’ve kept living for another several centuries or more. When he passed the title along, he told me the magic gave him a choice. Pick up where he’d been in age, which in his case would’ve been his mid-sixties, or let the years catch up to him.” He waves his hand through the air vaguely. “He chose to move on.”

“How long will you hold the title?”

“You mean, how long will I live?”

“They go hand in hand.”

He stares at me for a long second. “As long as I have something to live for, Damien.”

I hesitate as I lean forward, resting my arms over the side of the tub. “And do you have something to live for right now, Nik?”

“I’ve been asking myself that a lot recently.”

“Don’t you love the position? Being The Santa?”

“I do… growing up here, in this setting and around these people, has given me a unique view of life, that’s for sure. But at the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s about everyone else and bringing joy to those that need it… like how Bernard brought joy to my mother.”

“What, so you’re going to kidnap yourself a bride?”

He snorts and grins, and I can’t help it as my lips pull up in a smile as well. “Smartass,” he mutters, shaking his head.

“You bring me joy,” I say without thinking, then flinch as he tilts his head, staring. And holy fuck, I want to rewind time by a few seconds and take that back, because not only is it something the Devil should never be caught saying, but it’s goddamnedembarrassing. “I just… I just mean that… this thing between us… this is fun, you know?”

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