She saw the look on my face and put two and two together. “He said no?”
“More or less.”
Her lips turned down. “We’ll still have a great time.” She was eyeing the broken mirror. Unlike in the human world, supernaturals didn’t believe in the whole broken mirror, bad luck thing. What they did believe in was a break in the connection of the MirrorNet. A small roaring sound filled the air followed by a pop as the portal associated with this particular mirror closed.
“We will have an amazing time,” I said through gritted teeth. At first it was just something I said not to sound like I was a party pooper. But as the day wore on, the festive cheer settled its magic on me. I didn’t forget that Kai had turned down my party invitation, but it was pushed to the background. It was hard not to be filled with joy when Max arrived at our doorstep with a seven-foot Douglas fir braced on his shoulder.
“You ordered a Christmas tree?” he grinned. His gaze skirted to the kitchen where Sophie was brewing something that smelled distinctly of dark berries and citrus. The sound of her laughter intermingled with Basil’s slightly drunk baritone made my skin tingle.
Behind Max, Charles balanced an enormous cardboard box with tinsel bursting out the top. They traipsed through the living room leaving a trail of pine needles and bits of glitter on the floor. Max disappeared into the kitchen while Charles and I decorated the tree.
“It looks like shit,” Charles said, surveying our efforts.
I had to admit, there was a certain haphazard quality to the way we’d just thrown decorations on there. “Give me a break. I haven’t had a proper Christmas in six years.”
“Are you going to harp on about that the whole time?” Isla’s voice said behind me. I whirled, readying myself for some kind of trick.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. My eyes tracked to the hideous red sweater she wore with a reindeer and a blinking red nose on the front. Never in a million years would I have expected her to own something like that.
“I’m afraid that’s my doing,” Jacqueline said. “Isla’s parents are working on a special project for the Academy, and she was going to be spending the holiday alone. I hope you don’t mind.” She entered the room with an armful of beautifully wrapped gifts. Cassie skipped beside her. I’d already told them of Kai’s less-than-stellar reaction, but it seemed they were used to his surliness at this time of year.
Isla and I surveyed each other. “Don’t ruin this for me,” I warned her half-heartedly. She rolled her eyes.
“The way I see it, you’ve already ruined it.” She made a sweeping gesture towards the tree. Charles had all but given up on the project now that Cassie had arrived. Luther showed up five minutes later and they all disappeared. I placed my hands on my hips.
“I’ve rearranged it a bunch of times, but it still looks like Christmas vomit.”
“Let me try,” Isla said. She got to work removing much of the tinsel. Then she replaced the configuration of the Fae lights and set them on a warm glow as opposed to the seizure inducing flashing that Charles had preferred. By the time she was done, it looked like a tree in a magazine.
“I hate you,” I told her.
She smirked. “Thanks!”
“Whoa! This place looks awesome.” I turned around to find Diana and Roland sizing up the room. “Exactly how rich is Basil?”
I burst into laughter. In fact, I couldn’t stop laughing for the next twelve hours. The contrast between what my Christmas last year had been and the one I was having now couldn’t have been any more opposed.
“Put that down right now,” Basil said just as I was about to take a sip of Sophie’s grandmother’s brew.
“But –”
He lifted the cup from my hands. I raised a brow at him. I supposed arguing that it was only a tiny bit alcoholic wasn’t going to cut it. It was also nothing compared to the amount of liquor I might have consumed last year. Just to pass the time really.
“You’re taking this way too seriously,” I told him.
“No he’s not,” Nora interjected. She gave me the hard stare until I huffed and backed away.
I found Sophie with her head over a fire. The roasting iron contraption Basil had bought to cook the goose and various other foods was working overtime. The sound of fat sizzling was like a symphony to my ears. “How far did you get before they took the mulled wine away from you?” she asked.
“I didn’t even get a sip.”
“Told you. I’m sweating my butt off here and Mama wouldn’t even let me drink it.”
“Parents.” But I was smiling. I thought of Nanna. She still wasn’t herself but my revelation about how I’d unbound Basil had given me hope that one day soon, I’d be able to free her as well. It killed me not to be spending Christmas with her, but nobody thought it was a good idea for her to be away from Seraphina.
At the window, Diana made a dainty sound I would never have guessed could come from her. She turned to us, her mouth slightly ajar.
“What?” I asked, not really wanting to hear her answer. Everything was almost perfect. I didn’t care what might be happening outside. But as I continued to stare past her into the darkness outside, something landed softly on the window ledge. It was followed by several other white, fluffy bits.
“It’s freaking snowing,” Diana said.
A grin split my face. I bolted to the back door and flung it open. The air was still slightly warm, but with each speck of snow that swirled around, it was rapidly
