“Can I touch it?” Merideth asked.
“Go ahead,” Alix said.
Merideth picked it up and held it in her hand. “It just feels like an ordinary rock,” she said and put it back on the table.
“Not to me,” Alix said. “When I hold it, I can feel my energy increase tremendously. That’s the only reason I was able to save the missing Nykara and destroy the Grynn energy.”
She put the Power Stone back in her pocket and turned to Gordon. “Not that I don’t love being back here but what time do we leave for home tomorrow?”
“We’ll need to leave here about six in the morning Miss Alix,” he answered.
“Okay, good to know. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m ready to relax for the rest of the day. Does anyone know where my bag is?” she asked.
“It’s in the same room you used last time, Miss Alix,” Gordon said. “Dinner will be served at 6:00.”
“Thank you, Gordon,” Alix said and got up from the table.
The group broke up and went different directions. Alix wanted her eReader so she headed for the stairs to go get it. Ben and Logan followed her.
“What are you two doing?” she asked them.
“Um … following you?” Ben said slowly.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I still don’t like you being alone,” Ben told her.
“I can’t be in a much safer place, Ben. I’m just getting my book and then I’m headed back downstairs to read.”
“That’s fine. Now you just have company, right Logan?”
“Yep, that’s right,” Logan said.
“Guys,” Alix mumbled, shaking her head and continued to her room.
She got her eReader out of her bag and went back downstairs with the boys. They started talking about video games and Alix was happy that they’d decided to get Logan a gaming system for Christmas.
On her way back to the main foyer, Alix was noticing how many Christmas decorations were all over the place. She had intended to read but now she wanted to look around the castle. Christmas was her favorite holiday and she loved when everything was decorated. The boys followed her as she wandered from room to room taking pictures on her phone. She was going to show her mom and Shay when she got home. She finally found her favorite part of Christmas, the tree. It was in one of the rooms that seemed to be used for watching TV and movies. She noticed that there were no presents under it and it was only four days until Christmas. She needed to fix that.
“Ben, we need to go shopping.”
“Okay … why?” he asked.
“There are no presents under the tree and I would like to fix that,” she told him.
Ben just smiled. He’d already figured out how much she loved Christmas, so he wasn’t surprised by what she said.
“Alright. Let’s go find Gordon and see if we can go somewhere to shop.”
They found him in the kitchen with Merideth and asked if they could go shopping for some Christmas presents. Alix was very careful not to say who she was shopping for. He agreed to take them. They went and got Natalie and then left for the spontaneous shopping trip.
Chapter 15
Gordon took them to a mall that was on the outskirts of London. When they got there, Alix told Natalie their plan and they started shopping. Alix gave Ben and Logan the task of finding gifts for Paul and the other two men that lived there permanently. Alix and Natalie were going to shop for Gordon, Merideth and the other two ladies that stayed at the castle.
After a few minutes of wandering the mall, Alix saw a bookstore and went straight to it. She found a cool cookbook for Merideth and books for the other two ladies as well. Next, they went to a store that sold bath stuff and got each of the ladies a nice gift basket full of body wash, bath bombs and other things to make you smell good. They found a kitchen store and got Merideth a cute new apron.
Last on their list was Gordon. Alix wanted to get him something special since he’d been so good to her. They finally came across a store that sold all kinds of watches and Alix had an idea. She went in to see if they had what she was looking for. After browsing for a minute, she found what she wanted. It was a pocket watch that looked old but was actually new. She purchased it and asked the lady if there was anywhere in the mall that did engraving. Luckily for her, there was, and they went straight there. They had to wait a little while for the man to do the engraving, but it was worth the wait when Alix got the watch back and looked at it. She’d had them engrave Gordon, Thanks for everything! – Alix.
They stopped and got some wrapping paper and were officially done shopping. They found Ben, Logan, and Gordon who were also done shopping. They looked exhausted and only had to buy three gifts. They went back to the car and headed for Fox Hollow.
On the way back, they talked about the gifts they’d found, all except Gordon’s of course. When they got back to the castle Alix and Natalie took the gifts to Alix’s room and wrapped them. The boys carried them downstairs and put them under the tree. Alix looked at Logan as they finished arranging the gifts. He looked a little sad.
“Don’t worry Logan, there will be a gift under here for you too. I think that Gordon has it hidden because I know it already arrived here,” Alix told him.
“That’s great but that’s not what I was thinking about.”
“You miss your family?” Alix asked.
“Yeah. This will be the first Christmas I’ll spend without them and it just doesn’t feel right.”
“I understand Logan. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to spend it so far away from the people I loved. I know I’d be sad though.”
“Gordon got me a laptop for my school work that has a camera, so I’ll be able to see them and talk to them. It’s not the same but it’s something,” he said.
“Thank you for doing this. I know it wasn’t easy to give up everything you’ve ever known and stay in another country,” Alix said.
“It was the least I could do for you and everyone else. I’ll do anything I have to in order to make sure the Grynn never get their hands on me again.”
“Okay,” Ben said, “that’s enough serious talk for now. It’s time to do something Christmasy.”
“Christmasy huh?” Alix said with a smile. “And what would that be?”
“A Christmas movie of course,” Ben said grinning.
Alix had to laugh at him. “I guess I’ve been rubbing off on you.”
Logan looked at the two of them. “Am I missing something?”
“Yes,” Alix said. “I’ve been making Ben watch Christmas movies for almost three weeks now. He complained at first, but I think he was secretly enjoying it the whole time.”
Logan smiled at them. “My little sister loves Christmas movies and I haven’t watched a single one this year. So, Ben, I think your idea is perfect.”
They left the room with the Christmas tree and Logan showed them where they kept the movies. Alix was surprised at how many they had. They were also organized by genre. She found the Christmas section and picked one. Logan was just about to put the movie in when Alix heard her name being called.
“In here,” Alix called back.
“Oh, there you are,” Natalie said as she came in the room. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. It’s dinner time.”
“Wow, we totally lost track of time. Guess the movie is going to have to wait, guys,” Alix said.
They followed Natalie back to the dining room and joined everyone else for dinner. While they were eating Alix mentioned they were going to watch a movie, and everyone thought that sounded like a good idea. So, after dinner, they all went to the room they watched movies in last time and settled in for some Christmas cheer.
It wasn’t that late when the movie ended but they had to be up early so Alix, Ben, and Natalie headed upstairs to turn in for the night. Natalie went straight to her room, but Ben stopped Alix outside of hers.
“Are you okay to sleep here alone tonight?” Ben asked her.
Alix s
miled at the sincere look on his face. “Yes Ben, I’ll be okay. There’s nothing bad going on right now so I’ll be fine.”
“If you’re sure,” he said.
“I’m sure,” Alix said.
“Okay. Good night then Alix.”
“Good night Ben,” Alix said and went into her room.
It had been a very long day and Alix was really ready for bed. She had a quick shower and went to bed. She was asleep in no time.
* * *
Her morning wake up door knock came a little too early for her but she knew if she didn’t get up that they would be late to the airport. She got dressed and was downstairs a short time later. Merideth had made them breakfast and after saying goodbye to Merideth and Logan they were off to the airport.
Ben and Natalie got out of the car at the terminal. Alix was just about to get out of the front seat when she remembered something.
“Gordon,” she whispered, “I forgot to ask you about the books for Ben.”
“Don’t worry Miss Alix, I already have them safely stored on the plane,” Gordon told her.
“He’s going to be so surprised. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Go on in and I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”
“You’re coming with us?” she asked.
“Of course, Miss Alix.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
Alix got out of the car and joined Ben and Natalie as they walked into the airport.
“Is everything okay?” Ben asked.
“Yes, Gordon was just telling me that he’ll meet us at the gate,” Alix told him.
“He’s coming with us?” Ben asked.
“Yep.”
“Okay, cool.”
They made their way through the terminal to the gate for their private plane. They sat in the lounge for a while before Gordon joined them. Not too long after that they were on the plane and taking off. Alix looked out the window for a while then pulled out her eReader. She knew she had a few hours before they landed, and it had been too long since she got in a good long reading session. She probably should have been studying for her two finals, but the call of her book was greater than that of school right now. She clicked on her book and was soon lost in the imaginary world.
* * *
Many hours later they finally landed in Bozeman. During the flight when Ben was busy Gordon had shown her where the books were, and she slipped them into her bag. She hoped he was going to love them.
They said their goodbyes to Gordon, found their car in the parking lot, and headed for Sunset Creek. It had snowed quite a bit in the three days they’d been gone so the drive home took them longer than usual.
It was late afternoon when they got back and as soon as they got in the house, Alix called Shay.
“Alix!” Shay yelled into the phone. “You’re back. Where are you?”
“We’re at the house.”
“I’m coming over,” she said and hung up.
Alix just looked at her phone and smiled. She went up to her room and put her bag away. She’d bought a couple of souvenirs for her parents and Shay, so she took them out of her bag. About five minutes later Shay came flying through the door and gave her a great big hug.
“I haven’t seen you in forever,” Shay said.
“It’s only been three days,” Alix said laughing.
“Three days too many. So … what did you bring me?”
Alix laughed harder but gave Shay the little things she’d brought for her.
“Oooh, I love this bracelet Alix, you did good. And this t-shirt is great. I’m going to wear it tomorrow. Thank you.”
“Your welcome. I’m just glad you like everything. Want to see the pictures?”
“Uh … of course. Show me, show me, show me.”
Alix showed Shay the pictures of Newgrange and told her all about the vision and finding the Power Stone. Then she took it out and let her hold it.
“I wish I could see what you see,” Shay said.
“Me too, it’s really neat.”
“So what else happened?”
Shay knew her too well. Alix told her all about saving the missing Nykara and then going to Fox Hollow and destroying the Grynn magic that had been in Logan.
“Wow. I can’t believe you did that all in one day. And now you have to come back here and take finals. Somehow that really doesn’t seem fair.”
“I know, but that’s just the way it is right now.”
“So how was Logan?” Shay asked.
“He was doing better than when we left. He’s sad that he won’t get to spend Christmas with his family, but at least he’ll be able to video chat with them. Speaking of video, the video game system is going to be the perfect gift for him. I didn’t think Ben and Logan would ever stop talking about different video games.”
The rest of the evening was spent making dinner and filling everyone else in on what happened the last three days. Alix was really glad to sleep in her own bed but not looking forward to writing her two finals tomorrow.
Chapter 16
Alix, Ben, and Shay went to school the next morning both dreading it and looking forward to it. No one wanted to take their finals, but they were really glad it was the last day of classes before Christmas break.
The girls had their Spanish final in the morning. It went better than Alix expected. After lunch, Alix and Ben had their Biology final. When Alix was finally finished a smile crossed her face. She had survived her second last semester of high school.
As they were leaving the school Alix decided something.
“I think we need to celebrate finishing our first semester as seniors,” Alix announced. “Who wants ice cream?”
“That’s a stupid question,” Shay said with a smile. “Of course, we want ice cream.”
“So, Lyla’s it is,” Alix said. “Let’s go.”
Ben drove them to the café, and they found a table. They remembered the flavors from last time, so they were ready to order when they sat down. Alix got the Gingerbread Cookie Crumble and Vanilla. Shay ordered White Chocolate Peppermint and Chocolate. Ben wanted the Eggnog Swirl, so he got two scoops of that. After they ordered they texted their parents to let them know where they were. As always, the ice cream was fabulous, and they enjoyed every bite.
While they were eating their ice cream, they decided that Shay was going to spend the night. It was only two days until Christmas, so this was the last night they could have a sleepover before Christmas day. Both of them were very excited. On their way back to the house they stopped and got Shay a change of clothes. Natalie was already in the kitchen making dinner when they arrived.
“Smells great mom, what are you making?” Ben asked her.
“Baked chicken penne alfredo,” she replied.
“Yummy. What time is dinner?” Alix asked her.
“Six. And after dinner, we have a little surprise for you guys.”
“I can’t wait,” Shay said excitedly. “You always have good surprises.”
With no studying or homework to do, they went to the den and turned on the TV. They flipped through the channels until they found a show they all agreed on. At 6:00 they went back to the kitchen and joined everyone for dinner.
“This is so good Natalie,” Shay said after a few bites. “I think it’s even better than the Italian place.
“Thank you, Shay,” Natalie said with a smile.
Shay was the first one to finish.
“Were you starving, Shay?” Alix asked her.
“No. I just really want to see what the surprise is.”
Alix just laughed at her. When everyone had finished dinner, they all helped clean up so they could get to the surprise.
“Okay kids,” Rick said, “go get your coats and boots on. Oh, you might want a hat and gloves too. We’re heading outside.”
Alix, Shay, and Ben looked at each other but quickly ran upstairs to get their stuff. When they got back to the kitchen everyone was gone.
“Backdoor?” Alix
asked.
“Let’s have a look,” Ben said.
They went to the kitchen door that led outside and all three of them grinned when they opened it. In the snow, there was a path made of energy lights. They followed it until they were almost at the cabin. They grinned harder when they saw what had been planned for them.
Natalie and Rick had made them a skating rink, and beside it there was a fire to warm up at.
“This is great,” Alix said. “I haven’t been skating in quite a while.”
“Me either,” Shay said. “Can you skate Ben?”
“Yes, actually I can.”
“Cool,” Shay said. “Um … I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we kinda don’t have any skates.”
“All taken care of,” Heather said holding up two pairs of skates.
Alix and Shay recognized their old skates and went to put them on. Alix hoped she didn’t fall and embarrass herself. She wasn’t exactly the greatest skater.
With Shay’s help, she made it to the ice. It took her a bit, but she managed to stay on her feet. Shay had taken figure skating when she was younger, and she was still a good skater. Ben was whipping around the ice like he’d been born with skates on. When he slowed down enough for her to talk to him, Alix asked him a question.
“How did you learn to skate so well?”
“I played some hockey when I was a kid and they told me I was a natural,” he told her.
“Of course, you are,” Alix said. “You’re good at everything.”
Ben just chuckled and continued to skate circles around her. They skated until they were tired and then went to warm up at the fire. Natalie handed them each a cup of hot chocolate and they sat down to enjoy the warmth. When they were done everyone made their way back to the house.
“That was really fun,” Shay said as they took off their coats. “We’ll have to do that again.”
“Yeah,” Alix said yawning.
“Did we wear you out?” Heather asked with a smile.
“I think so,” Alix replied. “Between finals today and then skating, I think I’ll probably fall asleep early.”
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