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Allegiance(97)

By:K. A. Tucker


I patted my vacant belly. “This is a little excessive, don’t you think?”

“Not with a pack of hungry wolves. Sofie wanted you all well fed for Christmas morning.”

Speaking of which … “Where is Sofie?” She should’ve appeared out of thin air by now. I looked around, expecting to find minty eyes watching me from some unseen corner. Then I remembered that Wraith was here. Maybe she couldn’t handle being near me.

“She was pulled away for an … urgent matter,” Mage answered cryptically.

Yes, definitely avoiding me. Disappointment piled onto my anxiety. “Will she be back today?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Mage picked up an enormous platter as if it were an empty paper plate. “Eat!”

I used to be hungry. Before Amelie discovered Julian’s secret, Caden all but condemned me, and Amelie tried to squash me. Anything going into my stomach was going to come right back up. “I will … soon. Thanks.”

Bishop helped himself to a carafe full of red liquid, filling a wine glass with it.

I cringed, memories of the thick, sugary port still fresh. “Please tell me that’s nonalcoholic, Bishop.”

He grinned, taking a sip. “It’s not port.”

“Come,” Mage’s cool hand slid into mine. She led me to the twinkling Christmas tree where a myriad of pretty paper-covered parcels filled the space beneath. “There are a few things under there for you,” she said with a smile, prodding me with nimble fingers. “Go on. It’ll be a good way to distract you while you wait …” I didn’t miss the wink. For Caden, she meant. How did she always know? I nodded and gingerly walked over to the tree, more because I needed a diversion than because I was expecting or wanting Christmas gifts. The end of the world was coming, I was turning into a hideous goblin, and Caden hated me. Sitting here and unwrapping pretty little boxes seemed silly in comparison.

And yet, there was tiny flicker of hope within me, some tiny bud of simple delight in this act. I forget what Christmas morning feels like … Kneeling down in front of the tree, I let my attention drift over the colorful packages.

“Oh, here,” Mage swooped in to grab a tiny black box. She thrust it into my hand. “This is from Sofie.”

My hand partially recoiled, panic rushing through me. The last time Sofie handed me a tiny box, a hundred-and-twenty-year-old curse bound itself to me.

Seeing my hesitation, Mage chuckled. “This one isn’t cursed.”

Inside was a piece of paper. I unfolded it to find Sofie’s beautiful scrawl staring back at me. Filled with those who love you. S.

What did this cryptic little note mean? Had Sofie exhumed my mother’s bones and cremated them to fill the box? Brushing the morbid thought aside, I lifted the note and unfolded the soft velvet cloth. Déjà vu rocketed through me as I found the heart-shaped pendant sitting inside. The shape was the only similarity. This one was twice the size as the original, and thick, made of what looked like platinum, encrusted with a coat of crushed, multicolored diamonds.

“Wow,” I murmured, lifting the chain to let it hang in the light. Its brilliant sparkle danced along the walls, even in the dull incandescent light from the lamps.

“You’ve got to be f … you’re kidding me, right? Another heart-shaped pendant?” Bishop crouched down to study it. “Is this supposed to be funny? What will this one do to you?”

“What more could it possibly do to me?” I answered. Still, I placed the pendant back into its box and set it on the coffee table. I wasn’t in a rush to put on anything heart-shaped again …

Bishop let out a mock sigh of exasperation. “Well … way classier than what I got you,” he said, sliding a long, silver package across the floor in one fluid motion. I caught the mischievous smile and my senses started to tingle. This can’t be good … When I peeled the paper back and spotted the Victoria’s Secret logo on the top of a pale pink box, my wariness increased tenfold. I lifted the top cover and upon seeing the hot pink lace, I slammed the box shut, my face matching the color of the seductive outfit.

“Bishop!”

“What?” he answered, shrugging. “You had no issues with that stuff before. Remember, that one night you wore it and we—”

I gasped. “That wasn’t me! That was—” I bit down on my tongue to stop myself just before I said her name, breaking Bishop’s delusion, setting him back into his dark place of misery. It had been Fiona wearing her trademark hot pink outfits for Bishop. As if it weren’t bad enough that the Fates had implanted Caden’s memories of me into Bishop’s head, now they had taken some of his memories of Fiona and swapped her out for me! Bishop’s brain was a hot mess of delusions.