Page 79 of North Bound

It tastes incredible, helping to moisten her dry throat. Her head is still killing her, so much worse than the worst hangover she’s ever had. ‘Nick?’

The low rumble of a laugh isn’t Nick’s. But why would it be? He had left and gone home. ‘I’m not Nick, I’m afraid.’

She opens her eyes, wincing, even though the room is in shadow. Even her eyes hurt. ‘Who are you?’

A light turns on behind her, casting a little light in the otherwise dark room. The hooded person beside the bed stands up. ‘You should move slowly until you recover. Reve’s powers take a while to recover from.’

‘Where is he?’

The man moves over to the fireplace, adding more wood to the embers. His face is still hidden under the hood, but the voice clearly belongs to a man. A giant of a man, unless her perspective is all wrong. He’s incredibly tall.

‘I do not know. I presume he went back to the workshop. You’re going to be my guest for a while, so get comfortable.’

‘Who are you?’

He sighs and shrugs off his coat. Scarlett’s breath catches in her throat when she sees the creature in front of her. He has to be at least seven foot tall, with long braided black hair, two massive twisted horns, and grey skin. His ears are pointed and pierced, a black plug in each lobe. His wide chest is bare, the leather trousers and boots the only clothes he’s wearing. Whatever he is, he appears to be at least partly human. The shape of his body is human... mostly.

He crosses his arms and smiles at her, showing pointed teeth. ‘You have no idea who I am, do you?’

She shakes her head. ‘This world is still new to me.’

He nods, his yellow eyes examining her. ‘You could be part of this world for centuries and still not be familiar with all the details.’ He sits on the chair beside the fire and looks over at her. ‘My name is Talen. You probably know me better as Krampus.’

‘Oh God...’

He smiles again, his long tongue flicking out of his mouth. ‘Funny how that reaction still bothers me. But I suppose centuries of being accused of hunting children will have a detrimental impact on my popularity. I would have thought after meeting Santa, you would not be so quick to believe all the stories you’ve heard.’

‘So you don’t? You know. Do what they say you do?’

‘Oh I do. Or at least I did,’ he says, stretching his legs out in front of the fire. ‘I’m sure your boyfriend has explained the basics at least. We all have our roles to play in this world. Whether on the side of light or darkness, we are all pieces in the bigger picture. Unfortunately, I took things a little further than most. Not recently, but I doubt that makes much of a difference to you.’

‘What do you want with me?’

‘You’ve managed to get yourself in the middle of something I don’t fully understand.’ He gestures to the chair opposite him. ‘I don’t ever have guests. Will you join me?’

Sitting anywhere near him isn’t appealing, but the last thing she wants to do is piss him off. She slowly gets to her feet, her head throbbing when she stands upright. Scarlett lowers into the chair opposite him. Being a little closer to Krampus, she realises he has more human features than she originally thought. His eyes may be yellow, but she could swear he’s sad.

‘Why did you take me?’

He massages his forehead as he looks at the fire. ‘Someone has big plans for Nick, and I don’t mean that in a positive way. He wasn’t supposed to get back to Lapland in time for Christmas. You found him, and not only brought him back to your house, also helped him reconnect with his team. You, Scarlett, saved Christmas, which is quite impressive. I’ll give you credit for that. Not many humans would have done what you did.’ He turns his head to look at her. ‘But that has placed you in danger, Scarlett.’

‘You tried to kill Nick?’

He shakes his head. ‘Of course you’d assume that. Of all the men to take up that role, Nick is the one I have the least issues with. What reason would I have to kill him?’

It’s a fair enough question. She had just assumed he was the one behind everything. ‘I suppose the stories I have heard about you, and you have captured me.’

Talen laughs and rests his chin on his hand. ‘Granted the stories don’t exactly help my position. As for capturing you, did I do that? Or did I rescue you?’

‘Rescue me? From who?’

‘The real creature behind all of this. Look around you Scarlett. You’re not tied up. I’m not stopping you from leaving. I haven’t hurt you and don’t plan to.’

‘I just—’

‘Because of my appearance you assumed I’m not to be trusted.’ He looks into the fire and shrugs. ‘That was true once, but not now. We all began our lives as human men. But when we sign our contracts...’ he pauses and sighs, lost in thought for a few minutes.

It’s easy to jump to conclusions given the horns and grey skin, but seeing him like this, staring into the fire, she realises he’s not as scary as she originally thought. He could even be attractive, or perhaps once was, before he was altered the way he is.

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