Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Yule Be Magical
by
Sara Bourgeois
Chapter One
I woke up to the sight of Thorn and Jeremy putting Azriel in handcuffs. “You’re arresting him?” I asked as I rubbed my eyes.
Mom and Dad were there helping me to my feet. Dorian, Viv, and Reggie were all there surrounding us too. “What is going on?” I asked as I leaned against my mother. I felt healing magic seeping into me from her, and from the tiny kitten rubbing against my ankle. Meri was there purring furiously.
“We’re taking him in for conspiracy to commit murder,” Jeremy said. “I should say that I’ll be taking him in unless I can get another deputy to do it. Give us a few minutes, Kinsley, and we’ll get this all out of your hair.”
“Thorn?” I asked.
“I don’t want to hear it, Kinsley. We’re arresting him,” Thorn said sharply. His words stung, and he barely looked at me. I hadn’t asked him to arrest Azriel. Hadn’t even made the hint of the suggestion, but something about Thorn’s posture and the strain of his jaw told me he was upset. Not just because my former husband, and father of the baby I carried, had crashed our wedding. He seemed to be angry at me, but I had no idea why.
Thorn’s accusation was followed by the sound of a sharp barking. Suddenly, something was at my feet pawing frantically at my dress. Meri stiffened and then ran out from under my train. He didn’t go far, but it was obvious he didn’t want to get pawed and clawed by the little Pomeranian begging for my attention.
Tangerine.
“Oh, my gosh, Tangerine,” I said and scooped the little dog up. “I’ve got you, baby.”
“I’ll take the dog,” another deputy said.
“Over my dead body,” I hissed and held Tangerine close.
“Kinsley, don’t be ridiculous. Give my deputy the dog. He can take it to the pound,” Thorn said.
“I’ll repeat myself, then. Over my dead body,” I said.
Thorn let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. “Come on, sweetie.” His voice had suddenly changed back to a more soothing tone.
“I’m keeping the dog,” I said. “Azriel, do you want me to keep Tangerine for you?”
These were the first words I had spoken to him in a long time. What felt like forever, actually. Seemed like there should have been more to it than that, but it was what it was.
“Please, Kinsley,” he said, and my heart skipped a beat at the sound of him saying my name.
“There you have it,” I said. “I’m keeping the dog. No one is taking her to any pound.”
“I can handle all of this,” Jeremy said to Thorn. “Why don’t you finish up what you came here for? Get back to your wedding.”
“We can’t finish the ceremony with me not knowing this monster is behind bars,” Thorn said, and then he turned away from all of us to address the crowd. “I’m sorry, folks. The ceremony will have to be postponed. Kinsley and I will make an announcement when we’re going to try this again. Please stay and enjoy some cake.”
“Thorn, you don’t have to do this,” Jeremy almost sounded like he was pleading. “You guys are almost done with your vows. Just stay and finish the ceremony. I can handle Azriel. Don’t do this.”
Thorn didn’t respond to him. He just said, “I’ll call you later,” to me, and then grabbed Azriel by the shoulder.
I stood there dumbstruck as he shoved him toward Jeremy’s cruiser. What had just happened? After begging me to marry him, had Thorn really just walked out of our wedding?
“Did he really just walk out on the wedding?” Dorian whispered. “Like, for real?” His sentiment echoed mine.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Reggie practically snarled.
“Are you all right?” Viv asked. She’d made her way over to me.
“Can you get me out of here?” I asked. “Can any of you get me out of here?”
My cheeks began to burn with embarrassment as I realized that everyone was looking at me. Tears stung my eyes, but I wasn’t sure exactly why. I saw Azriel cast one last look at me over his shoulder before Thorn shoved him into the cruiser, and the dam broke.
“Pass cake out to anyone who wants it,” Viv instructed one of her employees who was standing nearby. “Time and a half for working, yeah?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the girl said.
“Okay, who is coming with us?” my mom asked the group of friends who’d quickly closed ranks and formed a tight circle around me. It was a huge relief to be blocked from the prying eyes of the crowd.
“We all are,” Reggie said. “We’ll meet you back at the house.”
My Dad gave her a nod, and then all of them walked me to my parents’ car. My friends only disbanded after Dad helped me into the back seat. I still had Tangerine tucked under one arm when Meri jumped up into my lap. The dog immediately began licking his head enthusiastically, but Meri didn’t say a word. He just put up with the onslaught of doggy affection and even purred against me. That magical humming kept me from losing my mind on the drive home.
The sight of Hangman’s house, my real home since I was born, should have calmed me. Instead it spiked my anxiety into overdrive.
It should have been Thorn and me arriving home after being married. He was supposed to carry me over the threshold, and the we could begin planning a honeymoon.
We still hadn’t decided on that aspect of our marriage. Our options were to go while I was pregnant or wait until after the baby was born. If we waited, we’d be waiting a long time. I couldn’t fathom leaving the baby even for a week right after she was born.
She…
It hit me as Dad pulled into the driveway that that was the second time I’d thought of the baby as a girl. Before, it had always been completely nebulous, but as I put my hand over my barely showing belly, I could almost feel that the little peanut was a girl.
Was it a premonition? Her reaching out to me? Or was it just my imagination playing tricks on me because I was so completely stressed out?
“You all right?” Dad asked as he put his car in park.
“As good as I can be,” I said through a forced smile. For whatever reason, I suddenly didn’t want people feeling bad for me. I knew it would make the whole thing worse.
Everyone filed into the house, and I made my way upstairs to take the dress off. “Please, just wait down here for me,” I said as my mom and Reggie started to follow me. “I’ll be right back down.”
“Are you sure?” Mom asked.
“Yeah, Mom. I’m fine. I just need to get into some sweats and throw my hair up in a bun. I’ll be as good as new,” I lied.
“Okay, honey. Just call down if you need me,” she said as I ascended the stairs.
“I will,” I called back over my shoulder.
Once I was in my room, I locked the door. For the briefest moment, I contemplated just staying up there and waiting until everyone got bored and went home. I knew that wouldn’t happen, though.
They were all waiting down there with bated breath for me to reappear so they could comfort and console me. It nearly turned my stomach. Not because I wasn’t grateful and I didn’t love them all, but because I knew it would melt me into a puddle of depression. I was a razor’s edge away from collapsin
g into a heap of sobbing mess, and I didn’t want to be that way.
I wanted to stay strong. After all, it wasn’t like Thorn had left me at the altar because he didn’t want to get married. Did I really believe that, though? Maybe when he came back and begged me to marry him, that was the part that wasn’t true. Perhaps when he’d taken off to deal with his sister’s drama alone, that had been… how he really felt about me. He didn’t need me…
“Do you need help with that?” Meri’s voice startled me out of my doom spiral.
“How did you get in here?” I asked.
“That’s a dumb question,” he said flatly.
It made me laugh so hard, I nearly peed my pants. I took the first deep breath I’d taken since I saw Azriel’s face. If Meri was still being a snarky butthole, then things couldn’t be too bad.
“You’re right. Can you help me with this zipper?” I asked.
“Whatever,” he said, but Meri used a little magic to help me get my zipper started. Then he retreated to the other side of my bed and faced the wall while I took the dress off.
I rooted through my drawers and found my comfiest pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that was buttery soft from being washed so many times. As I got dressed, Meri waved a little paw in the air and put the dress back on the hanger.
“I’ll put it in the closet,” I said.
“Don’t you want to give it back to Lilith? I’d have thought you’d want to be rid of the thing,” Meri snarked.
“That has yet to be determined,” I said. “I’m not saying that this could all still turn into a happily ever after, but maybe it will be fine.”
“Kinsley,” Meri said both sadly and sort of angrily.
“Don’t start with me, cat. Thorn’s a good man. I know it deep down inside. Has he had some issues? Yes. But, something just isn’t right, and…”
“Don’t say you think you can fix it, please. I hate it when women think they can fix men,” Meri said.
“Except in this case, I think his problem is spiritual or metaphysical. I can fix that,” I retorted.
“Promise me that if it turns out he’s just a jerk, you’ll let him go,” Meri almost sounded as if he were pleading.
“Meri?”
“Whatever, Kinsley. I don’t want to talk about it. Just promise,” he demanded.
“Do you know something about Thorn that I don’t? Do you have reason to be concerned?” I asked.
“No, and if I did, I’d have told you a long time ago. My job is to protect you and the baby. Thorn has always been a fine and upstanding young man,” Meri admitted. “Even if he’s a little uptight sometimes.”
“So, then why are you so worried about it?” I thought about it for a moment when Meri didn’t immediately respond. “I’m not going to run off with him or anything, Meri. He’s the sheriff of the town. Whatever happens, I’m staying here.”
“What if it’s the opposite? What if things don’t work out with you two?” Meri asked. “Will you stay here? Can you stay here if you have to see him every day?”
“Of course,” I said. “I’m home, Meri. Whatever happens with Thorn, Hangman’s House and Coventry are my home. This is where I’m going to raise my child.”
“Your mother didn’t have to do that with Thorn’s father. He left town,” Meri said.
“And I’m sure Mom and Dad would have been fine if he had stayed,” I said. “Everything will work out. I promise.”
“Kinsley?” I heard my Mom call from downstairs.
“Let’s get down there and get them out of here,” I whispered to Meri. “They all mean well, but I could use some alone time. Plus, I don’t want them all here fussing when Thorn inevitably shows up.”
When I got downstairs, everyone was standing around waiting for me. “You all look like you’re at a funeral,” I said, but the joke fell flat. “Come on, guys, I’m holding it together. If you all keep acting like the world is ending, I’m not going to be able to hold it together anymore.”
“Are you okay?” Dad asked. “Really okay?”
“I am, but I think I’d like to be alone for a while. All of you fussing around me like someone died is going to deplete what strength I have left. I think I just want to watch movies and eat snacks alone. Eventually, Thorn is going to show up, and I want to be ready for whatever that means,” I said.
There was a lot of fretting about me being alone, but eventually, Mom and Dad ushered everyone out. Everyone except Dorian. He sort of hung back as everyone was leaving, and I got the strong sense that something was very wrong.
His eyes were glassy like he was about to start crying at any moment, and his hair looked disheveled. He must have been nervously running his hands through it the entire time I was upstairs because it had looked perfect at the wedding.
Mom lingered in the doorway waiting for Dorian to leave, but I gave her a nod to go on. Dorian had stayed after I asked everyone to leave, so I wanted to know what was going on.
“You look like you really have been at a funeral,” I said after Mom closed the door. “Surely you’re not that upset on my behalf, right? Something else is going on?”
“Oh, Kinsley, I don’t want to drop this on you today of all days, but I don’t know what else to do. Seeing Thorn walk away like that just opened up all this awful, raw pain for me. I’m being so selfish, but I was hoping maybe we could just be miserable together for a little while. If Thorn comes, I promise I’ll leave right away. I’ll slip out the back door, and I won’t even interrupt things with him. I know I’m being selfish,” he said again. “I just need my best friend for a little while, and then I think I’ll be okay to go back to my apartment. We can eat snacks and watch movies, and I won’t even talk.”
“Dorian, what’s wrong?” I asked and gave him a huge bear hug.
After we’d parted from the hug, he said, “I think Isaac and I are getting a divorce for sure. He’s talked to a lawyer and he didn’t want to come to the wedding because he didn’t want to give me any false hope.”
“No,” I said. “I’m so sorry, Dorian. I thought you guys were working things out.”
“I thought we were too,” he said, and a single tear broke free and ran down his face. “I really thought we had some good talks this last week, and I could have sworn he was at least going to come visit me.”
“He’s not even going to try moving to Coventry? I think that’s what you guys need. A fresh start here will do wonders for your marriage,” I said.
“That’s what I’ve been saying too, but the times he’s visited, it hasn’t been that great for us. So, he doesn’t think living here is going to do any good,” Dorian said.
“But those times he was upset about you working and resentful of having to stay behind and watch over the mirror. All that’s behind you now, and I know you’re working hard. You’re making your own money now too. He has to see that,” I said.
“I think that’s one of the things that’s bothering him the most, actually. He’s not working now. We’ve only gotten a couple of crappy offers on the house too, but there’s money in our bank account now because I am making money. It’s weird, but I think he’s resenting it,” Dorian said. “I don’t think he wants to move here and depend on me.”
“That’s a huge mess,” I said. “Please don’t give up. You guys have been through so much, and I’m sure you can work it out. We just need to find him a job here. He can’t resent you for being successful if he’s working too.”
“You have enough to worry about, Kinsley. You don’t need to concern yourself with my husband’s… maybe soon-to-be-ex-husband’s employment,” Dorian said.
“Hey, I don’t know everyone in this town, but I’m sure someone in my family does. We can find him something. Didn’t you say once that he was a chef?”
“Well, he was more of a cook in that job…” Dorian said. “He doesn’t like to tell people that, though.”
“We’ll find an opportunity for him here, and you can present it to him. You said he doesn’t
have a job, so he’ll at least have to consider it,” I said. “And, you need to seriously consider taking one of those crappy offers on your house. Stop trying to maintain two households on your growing income. Cut ties with the past and move on. I think that will help you both so much.”
“I think so too, but I’ve got to convince Isaac. He’s got one foot out the door already.”
“We will figure this out,” I said.
“I will figure this out, Kinsley. You’ve got your own issues with Thorn and a baby on the way,” Dorian protested again.
“I think I’d rather dwell on your troubles than mine,” I admitted. “Plus, it’s going to be a while before the baby gets here, so I need something to keep me occupied. Don’t want to get in trouble with the law again.”
Yule Be Magical (Familiar Kitten Mysteries Book 8) Page 1
