by Gloria Craw
“Spencer got me out early. It seems His Royal Highness believes I’ve come to my senses enough not to be a danger to society. He called in a favor and Gage reduced my sentence.”
“Have you come to your senses?”
“I’ll always be a danger to society,” he said with a mischievous look. “But I finally burned the painting of Amy. That’s progress, right? I might even call my brother on Christmas morning. I’ve never done that before.”
“I’m happy for you,” I said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “How’s everyone in Greenvale?”
“Stacy is busier than ever. She got the freelance work she wanted, and the repairs keep coming in. She’s thinking of renting a shop to work from. Her house would be less dangerous that way.”
“And Livy?”
“She’s great. She and Skip are expecting a baby now. They are disgustingly happy all the time.”
“What about Frank?”
Theron cleared his throat before he spoke. “He died…a little over two weeks ago. I went to take some groceries in and found him in his armchair. I didn’t realize he was gone at first. I thought he was sleeping.”
“I’m so sorry. I know you had a real soft spot for the old guy.”
“It’s not as sad as I thought it would be. He was happy right up to the end. We’d had a good laugh together the day before. He went the way he wanted to…on the mountain.”
I nodded. Lillian wanted to go on her own terms, too.
“I guess you’ll get officially titled Laurel clan chief soon,” he continued.
“I guess so. Katherine sent me a few emails about it, but we haven’t talked in person since just after I got back.”
“That bad, huh?”
I nodded. “It wasn’t pretty. From what she’s written since, I guess the confirmation ceremony will happen next October. I’d like to fly under the radar a bit longer, but if I’m going to make decisions like a clan chief, I better get declared. I was going to get in touch with you about it. I’m supposed to have two witnesses there. I was hoping you’d be one of them?”
He smiled big. “Sure.”
“You can’t wear flannel, though.”
He opened his jacket so I could see his shirt. It was a dark sweater. “You’re branching out.” I laughed.
“The ceremonies take place in Spain,” he said. “They have nude beaches there. Maybe I’ll wear nothing at all and work on my tan.”
“What’s with all the guys in my life threatening to take their clothes off? Ian offered to do a naked tap dance at the Shadow Box earlier today.”
“You’re just a lucky girl,” he said, unwrapping his silverware.
“I’ll introduce you to Phoebe. She’ll be going through her confirmation at the same time.”
“That’s got to be a little weird, right? I mean, you weren’t honest with her. Won’t she hold you at least partially responsible for what happened to her brother?”
“We’ve kept in touch, and she honestly doesn’t. She understands that I was trying to help Nikki. If anything, she’s ashamed. Not of something she did, but of her uncle and her brother. She’s amazing in a lot of ways. I think she’s one of the few people in the world who instinctively see the big picture, even when things are painful.”
“How’s Yvonne doing?”
“She’s been bedridden since finding out about Jacob. She’s still alive, but who knows for how much longer.”
When a waitress brought plates to us, he said, “I ordered for you because I was super hungry. Don’t be mad.”
I looked at my food. “You got extra sausage for me, so I’m not.”
“Have you told Ian about Linton or the portal?”
“Not yet, but I’m going to within the next couple of days. Have you heard anything from my ghost mother lately?”
“No, and I’m grateful every second she leaves me in peace. I suspect she’s not done with me, though. She’ll be in touch if you need me. Try not to need me, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.”
Theron finished and pushed his plate to the edge of the table. Then he spun his knife on the table. I put my hand over it.
“No more fidgeting,” I said. “What life-altering event is on your mind?”
“I just want to say thank you.”
“For what?”
“I’m not sure exactly,” he said, spinning his fork instead. “All I know is that I felt like absolute crap when I first met you, and by the time you left, I didn’t anymore. I felt…hopeful for the first time since Amy.”
I slapped his hand to stop him from spinning the silverware. “So, you’re saying my natural charms worked a magical change on you.”
“I wouldn’t call what comes out of your mouth charming, but yeah. You helped pull me out of a dark place.”
“I should thank you, too. I’ve been able to talk to you about some stuff I don’t think anyone else would understand.”
“You did the same for me. Remember at the cabin when you asked me that question?”
“Which one? I asked you a lot of questions.”
“The one about if I had a choice, would I choose not to be with Amy because of how it felt when she left?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, I’ve thought a lot about it and the answer is no. As much as it hurts, I wouldn’t give up the good times we had together. I’ll always remember them.”
I looked in his eyes and saw truth. “Thanks for the answer.”
We finished up, and he walked me to my car.
Before I got in, he handed me a key. It was big and old-fashioned looking.
“This is to the cabin,” he said. “It’s really just a gesture. You could open a window and climb through if you wanted. There aren’t locks on any of them. Feel free to use the place whenever you want. Just knock first in case I’m lying around in my underwear.”
I smiled. “If they’re flannel, I’d like to see.”
“Someone somewhere in the universe thinks that’s funny, but I don’t. Just so you know, you’ve been tentatively accepted as a member of my highly skilled, loosely knit criminal network.”
“Really?”
“I’m having a card made for you,” he joked. “Text me the details about your coronation. I’m going to travel in South America for a while, but I’ll make certain to be there for the big day.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ian and Spencer were putting up their tree when I went into the living room. It seemed they’d had trouble choosing between big and bigger, so they opted for biggest. The tree was over twelve feet tall.
“How are you going to decorate the top of that?” I asked, craning back to see.
“We’ve got a plan,” Ian assured me while helping his dad adjust the tree’s angle.
Across the room, Katherine was going through boxes. She’d ordered a ton of stuff while she was away. It had arrived in shipping boxes during the past few days. Ian had refused to open any of them until she got back.
“Hi, Alison,” she said sweetly.
Somehow she still managed to look elegant with her sleeves pushed up and her hair held in a bun by a pencil while she sat among cardboard and foam packing peanuts.
The intercom buzzed, and Spencer left Ian holding the tree to answer it. The weight of it slowly began pushing him to the ground.
I hurried to help.
“It looks like your friend with the fake hair is coming through the gate,” Spencer said.
“That’s Connor. His hair isn’t fake. There’s just a lot of gel in it.”
“Prepare to be talked to death,” I warned.
Katherine pulled a garland out of one of the boxes. “Where am I going to put this?” she muttered.
I didn’t bother answering. Part of the fun of decorating was figuring out where to put things.
Spencer took the weight of the tree so it wasn’t crushing me, and I moved out from under it.
“Let’s just bolt it to the floor,” Ian suggested. “We’re
never going to get it to stand straight if we don’t.”
“We’ll get it,” Spencer encouraged him.
The doorbell rang, and I was the only one with a free hand to get it. “Would you mind?” Katherine asked me.
“No problem,” I replied.
When I opened the door, ten kids from school were standing on the steps. “I brought some friends,” Connor said.
“I see that. Head to the back of the hall, everybody. The others are in the room to the left.”
Felicity was one of the last to come in. Little red bells tinkled on the elf socks she was wearing with her skirt. “You look cute,” I said.
“Thanks,” Connor replied, straightening his shirt.
Felicity and I giggled as we went into the room of chaos. “Where would you like me to put these gifts?” she asked Katherine.
“On the dining room table will be fine for now, sweetheart,” Katherine replied. She held up a snowman candle. “Did I really buy this?” she asked herself.
Everyone congregated around the table, shaking boxes and chatting. I said hi to Melissa, who introduced me to her new boyfriend. He wore black eyeliner and had tattoos up to his chin. He seemed pretty nice.
Connor was talking to Spencer. “My grandma in Wisconsin had a tree that big once,” he said. “I don’t know how she got it in the house. She only has two doors. It’s a small house. The garage is big, though. She parks a motor home in it. Anyway, my cousin’s dog peed on that tree. It smelled in her house for a year.”
Spencer looked a little lost. It was hard to follow Conner if you weren’t familiar with the way he rambled. “I’m glad I don’t have a dog then,” he said.
Ian backed away from the tree. “I think we did it,” he said. “It’s straight, but how are we going to get the lights up on the top?”
“It’s too late to buy a ladder. We’ll just have to throw them up there,” Spencer replied. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Katherine sighed and shook her head. “The lights are in that box,” she said, pointing. “No, the other one,” she corrected when he got it wrong.
When he had the lights out and ready to go, Spencer yelled, “Light stringing party!”
Everyone got to help throw lights. When we finished, layers of them covered the entire tree. Spencer connected the cords and plugged them into a surge protector. The tree lit up like the Vegas Strip.
“Impressive,” Connor muttered.
Katherine pulled me aside. “We need to talk with you,” she said. “Spencer is headed to the den now.”
I’d been dreading this moment, but followed her out anyway.
Spencer was pacing in front of the window. I’d seen him like that before. He paced when he was nervous.
“Please, sit,” Katherine said, offering me a chair. “You too, Spencer.”
“I’d rather stand,” he said.
“Sit,” she ordered.
When he’d done as she asked, she turned to me. “We want to tell you how sorry we are for the way we treated you. We should have told you about your Falco grandparents, your inheritance, and that you’re the Laurel clan chief now.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“The honest to goodness truth is that we were worried about you. Your mood kept switching from good to bad. From moment to moment, it was difficult to tell how you felt. We thought maybe you’d developed PTSD or something after you killed Sebastian. Your mother was worried about your mood swings, too. That’s the main reason she let you go to Colorado.”
At least I knew the last part was true.
“We didn’t want to overwhelm you with details,” Spencer said. “Especially when you were so adamant that you didn’t want to learn about your heritage.”
“We were waiting for things to settle down for you,” Katherine added. “We weren’t trying to manipulate you.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.”
Spencer leaned forward to explain. “We went about it wrong. And then when we found out that Maxwell was at the Ledges, I lost all perspective. You were right to call me on it. You can and should make your own decisions.”
I looked from him to Katherine. They seemed to be telling the truth, but a part of me still didn’t trust them.
“We will do better, if you can forgive us,” Katherine said.
In her big speech, Phoebe said it was selfish not to forgive. When I thought about it, she was right. I was mad and thinking only about myself. Maybe I could forgive them, but that didn’t mean I’d forget or that I’d put my fate in their hands again.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s just move past it.”
Spencer sighed with relief. “We’ll talk more when the holidays are over,” he promised.
“Deal,” I replied.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
When Connor and his crew left and Ian’s parents moved to a different room, Ian and I lay down on the floor and looked up at the lights on the tree.
“Do you think it will collapse from the weight?” I asked.
“What, the tree? Nah, it’ll hold. It’s practically nailed to the floor.”
“It’s snowing,” I said, glimpsing snowflakes out the window. “Lillian said it would.”
“Hmm…a grouchy old woman who sells smelly books is also a weather predictor. We should build her a profile on Match.com.”
“Be nice,” I said. “I think Lillian is actually coming around to you. She told me you can stay at her new house in Ystad. But only for three days.”
“My life is complete.”
I punched him in the stomach.
“Don’t start something you can’t complete, McKye,” he said.
It was good advice. I was thinking about starting something.
At the pancake place, Theron said he wouldn’t change how he’d felt about Amy. That the time he’d had with her was worth the loss. He’d loved and lost, but he was surviving. Given time, he’d get his groove back and look for love again.
Was I strong enough put myself through the same thing and come though it in one mental and emotional piece when it was over?
It was time to make a choice. Move forward or not at all.
I scooted closer to Ian. He put his arm out so I could rest my head on his shoulder. “Remember back at Theron’s when I said I was going to make some changes?” I asked.
“Yep. You’ve made a lot of them.”
“There’s one more I want to make, and it involves you.”
The muscle in his arm tightened. “Am I going to like it?” he asked tentatively.
“I hope so. What would you think if…I mean…how would you like…”
“Spit it out.”
“Oh, crap,” I muttered with my heart in my throat. “Do you want to, you know…date and stuff?”
He shifted a little. “Ah…did I hear you right?”
“I hope so, because I don’t want to say it again.”
“Well, if I say yes, would I get to take you to dinner and then be able to kiss you good-night?”
“Maybe.”
“Hm,” he replied. “I’m not sure it would be worth it.”
I pushed him. “Never mind,” I said, smiling but feeling insecure at the same time. “I take it back.”
“That’s not how the game is played,” he said, starting to tickle me. “No take-backs.”
He tickled me until I couldn’t breathe. Then he pushed some hair behind my ear and ran his thumb along my jawline. “Yes, you can be my girlfriend,” he said quietly. “But only because you wore me down.”
Then he kissed me until I lost my breath.
I went home that night feeling different. I had opened my heart to Ian. For a change, I was looking forward to what the future would bring instead of dreading it.
Flipping the light on in my room, I started getting ready for bed. I bent to untie my shoes and heard the crinkle of the letter in my pocket. I’d completely forgotten my mother had given it to me. Thinking it was another college application, I pulled it out and to
ok it to the trash can. I was going to drop it in when saw the address was handwritten. That was unusual, so I opened it instead.
Inside was a scrawled letter. It read:
I don’t know when or if you’ll get this, Alison, but I have to try. I never thought it would turn out the way it did. I thought Sebastian only wanted to talk to you, but now I know it was much more than that. We never liked each other, but I didn’t intend for you to get hurt. I may never go home now. After the way I betrayed everyone, I’m not sure I want to. All I can do is try to make amends. Sebastian is not dead. He was badly burned, but he survived the fire. He’ll be watching you, waiting for a chance to take revenge. Watch your back, Alison.
It was signed,
Nikki Dawning-Truss.
Acknowledgments
My sincerest thanks to all the wonderful people at Entangled who helped make this dream into a reality. Special thanks to Liz Pelletier for being my editor, fierce supporter, and wonderful to work with. Thanks to Robin Haseltine for her tireless work on this project. Much thanks to Meredith Johnson who I contacted more than once for reassurance and organization. Thanks to Heather Riccio for help with publicity.
Much thanks to my husband and daughters for putting up with me after sleepless nights of writing and editing.
Thanks also to the big guy upstairs I call God. Growing up wasn’t easy, but he blessed me with a wild imagination and a library three blocks away to help me get through it.
About the Author
Gloria Craw grew up in the desert southwest, inspired every day by the wide skies and rich colors around her. After high school, she attended the University of Utah where she majored and got a degree in anthropology. These days, she lives in the ‘burbs’ just outside of Seattle, Washington where she is the shepherd of a husband, four daughters and a very hairy dog. www.gloriacraw.com
Experience Alison’s story from the very beginning in
Atlantis Rising
When a strange man told me I’m in danger because I’m a descendant of Atlantis, I thought he was crazy. Now I know he wasn’t. But he left me with a warning. I’m being hunted by someone who will hurt, maybe even kill, those I love in order to control me.
