Page 78 of North Bound

Damon pushes Nick back onto the bed before he can lash out again. ‘Hey! Calm the fuck down, Nick! Just look at me and breathe for a few minutes. You’re safe, okay.’

Nick looks up at Damon as he gets himself together. Whatever the hell Reve did to wake him worked, but it was far from easy. Tears are still pouring from his eyes and he looks downright terrified.

‘What the hell was that?’ Eve asks, slapping Reve on the shoulder.

‘The workshop had too good a hold on him. I had to forcefully separate them so he could wake up.’

‘Forcefully how? He’s freaking out.’

‘Nightmares. Really bad ones.’

Damon places his palm against Nick’s forehead, trying to soothe some of his pain. He’ll take it from him without question. At least he can deal with it, harness it, use it in their favour when they fight. Reve had used memories of Nick’s family to jolt him out of the sleep. Harsh but necessary.

‘It’s okay, Nick. Just keep looking at me.’

Nick eventually calms down, so Damon removes his hand. He was able to push the memories back a little to give him a chance to recover, but not deep enough that he won’t remember if he wants to. ‘You good?’

Nick swallows and nods quickly. ‘Yeah. I’m good. Thanks.’

‘I’m sorry, Nick,’ Reve says, ‘I didn’t know how else to get you to wake up.’

Nick closes his eyes and nods. ‘Sorry... for choking... you,’ he says, still trying to catch his breath.

‘I deserved it.’

‘Why did you wake me? What’s wrong?’ His eyes have cleared, but he’s still shaking under Damon.

‘Krampus took Scarlett before she could get back to the city.’

15

Scarlett groans, thesickening headache hitting her as soon as she wakes up. ‘Move slowly. Take your time.’

She doesn’t recognise the voice, but at that moment, she can’t do anything other than as it says. Her head is killing her.

‘I have water. Open your mouth.’

---