“You like the yellow color? Rather than white?”
“I do,” I said, looking at it. “It’s all golden and sunny.” I touched my fingernail to the faceted edge. “I like this rectangle solitaire style. It’s real elegant.”
Bryn slid the ring back on my finger.
“But it’s too expensive. People are going to think I’m a gold digger. Plus, think about all the rolling around in the dirt I have to do. And the baking. I work with my hands. This kind of ring belongs on a princess or someone like that. Somebody who isn’t so rough-and-tumble.”
“As soon as I saw that ring, I knew it was the one I wanted to give you. Just like the first time you kissed me, I knew you were the woman I wanted to marry.”
“Aw!” I said, and gave him a quick kiss. “But you being romantic and sweet isn’t going to distract me. I can’t walk around wearing a ring that costs as much as a house! Besides, if I kept it, you’d get the wrong idea. I wear Levi’s and cowboy boots. Half the time, I go barefoot. I’m not fixing to let you dress me up like a Barbie doll in designer clothes once we’re married.”
“You don’t have to wear designer clothes if you don’t want to,” Bryn said, pulling me close to him for another kiss. “But you would look beautiful in couture dresses.”
I thought of the drawer full of fancy lingerie and knew we were going to have a lot of fights about money. I frowned. “And another thing,” I blurted out. “I want a prenuptial agreement.”
Bryn just laughed.
• • •
I HAD ONLY two dresses left in the closet at Bryn’s. I stared at the rows of his designer suits, his silk ties and Italian shoes. There was a small desk inside the walk-in closet, and I leaned on it, my palms pressing down on the wood.
“We’ll move that desk to the room down the hall,” Bryn said. “That way we can fit another dresser in here.”
I touched a finger to the brushed silver frame of the mirror above the desk. The magic mirror is where I’d first met his friend Andre, another wizard. I supposed we couldn’t have that kind of mirror in the closet if I was going there to get my clothes when I wasn’t dressed.
Bryn leaned against the doorway, wearing a black bathrobe. He was as handsome as ever, and his smile was sweet and sated. We’d had slow, delicious sex, and the magic that had passed between us helped my healing. There would definitely be advantages to living with Bryn, but I did feel a little worried about how fast it was all moving.
“I never thought I’d live in a mansion,” I said, taking a black cocktail dress from the hanger.
“Do you want me to sell this house? We could pick one out together,” he offered.
I blinked. “You’d give up this house? And leave all the custom work you’ve had done to it? And all the magic spells you invested into it?” I shook my head. I reached behind me for the dress’s zipper, but Bryn stepped forward for it. I lifted my hair, and he raised the zipper and kissed the back of my neck.
“Wherever we live has to feel like your home, not like a place you’re visiting.”
“I’ll talk it over with Mercutio,” I said, putting my feet into the pair of black satin pumps that went with the dress.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Bryn asked.
“Pretty sure,” I said.
I was going home. Well, I was going to Momma and Aunt Mel’s Victorian. Aunt Mel was supposed to be at the house by six in the evening, and I wanted to bake a cake and make a blender full of Brandy Alexanders so she’d be in a really good holiday mood when I told her about me getting engaged to Bryn.
“I think I should talk to her alone at first,” I said.
Besides telling Aunt Mel about the engagement, I wanted to examine the locket that used to be the anchor for Edie’s soul and to tell Aunt Mel about Vangie’s body possibly being the new Edie locket.
Wow. Edie back alive! And where had she gone? It was Christmas. We were her family. And now Bryn would be, too. Oh boy. Holidays were going to be very interesting. If people didn’t get along, I’d be caught in the middle, like a flaming marshmallow in the center of a s’more.
S’mores. Yum.
I’d have to make things work.
I turned and gave Bryn a kiss. “I hope that Aunt Mel will get used to the idea really quick and that she’ll be willing to come over here for Christmas dinner. If not, I’ll stay there until around eight or so and then come back with a suitcase.”
Bryn nodded. “I love you.”
I smiled because I believed him. I slid my arms around his neck and hugged him. “I love you, too.” With a last quick kiss, I slipped out of his arms and left the room.
At the bottom of the big stairwell, Mercutio gave me a look and meowed.
“I don’t have any jeans here,” I explained. “Besides, it’s Christmas. For once, it actually makes sense for me to be in a fancy dress.”
The diamond ring sparkled, and Mercutio batted it with a paw. “Yep. A whopper, right?” I said, going outside. Mercutio joined me in the Focus. “I could buy about eight copies of this car for the price of the engagement ring.” I shook my head. “So whatever we do, we can’t lose it in the woods or at the bottom of the river.” I took a deep breath. “It’s going to be kind of nerve-racking.”
Mercutio licked his paw. He doesn’t concern himself with jewelry. That’s one lucky thing about being a jungle cat. He’s already all decorated with spots and stripes. He doesn’t need bling.
We drove across town in a companionable silence until I said, “Yikes!” and slammed on the brakes.
Years ago, Miss Jolene’s fiancé left her at the altar and a month later married her sister. Since then, every Christmas when her family got together, there was a knock-down, drag-out fight that spilled out onto the lawn.
I rooted for Jolene, her being my neighbor and the wronged party, but I didn’t get actively involved in their shenanigans unless there was blood or broken glass. So normally I wouldn’t have stopped to watch, but this fight had an unexpected fixture. A ghostly spectator sat in a lawn chair, her head turning back and forth to watch the players like she was at a tennis match.
Vangie wore a long black skirt and an Indian-style headband with hanging feathers. From dusky sparrows? Her shirt might have been purple. Hard to tell since it was buried under about seventeen multicolored scarves. She was a kind of hippie Pocahontas. When she saw me, she waved cheerfully and sprang from the chair with her arms outstretched. She flew toward me Superman-style.
“Hi, Tammy Jo.”
I recovered from my drop-jawed expression and glanced around to be sure none of the lawn combatants were watching us.
“Oh, Vangie! You’re a ghost.”
“Yes,” she said, beaming.
“I’m so sorry. Edie stole your body. I don’t think she meant to.”
“Not to worry. You killed Jackson. That’s what matters. And look at me,” she said, giving a twirl. “No one will ever be able to lock me up again. Straightjackets? Electroshock therapy? Sensible shoes? All a thing of the past. I’m free! I can go anywhere I want. I can eavesdrop on the president of the United States. Or the president of WAM! I’m free!”
“I—well, I guess that’s one way of looking—do you want me to see if Bryn and I can get you back in your body?”
“Good God, no! Haven’t you been listening? No more worries about steprelatives trying to kill me. No more lonely nights in my apartment trying to drown out the voices in my head. There’s no problem with brain chemistry when there’s no brain. Oops, hang on,” she said, whipping her gaze to the family on the lawn. “Here comes Jolene’s granny with a frying pan. See you later!” Vangie sailed right into the cluster of yelling, pan-waving people.
“Wow,” I mumbled, returning to the car. “Vangie’s a ghost and she likes it, so everything worked out . . . I guess?” I said to Merc.
He meowed speculatively as I pulled the car up to the curb in front of our house. Our old house, I corrected in my mind.
“We’ll have to wai
t and see if Vangie changes her mind about wanting to be a ghost. Not that I’d know how to swap her into a body. I bet that sort of spell would take more juice than a New York City power grid’s got.”
I unlocked the front door, and Mercutio and I went inside. We had about an hour before Aunt Mel was due to arrive.
“I don’t think I should be wearing the ring when Aunt Mel gets here. She’ll spot it right away before I get a chance to fill her up with ice cream liquor drinks. I’ll just put it on the gold chain Bryn gave me and hide it inside the dress at first.”
A noise made me freeze in the foyer. My eyes narrowed, and Mercutio made a low growl and crouched.
I heard the hum of the television and relaxed. “Hang on. It’s probably Edie,” I said. “She knows where to find the spare key. Or Aunt Mel’s home early.” I set my keys down and walked to the living room.
Sitting on the couch with his legs stretched out in front of him was Crux. He was drinking orange juice and watching an episode of Dancing with the Stars.
Mercutio hissed, and I grabbed Merc.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing here?” I demanded.
Crux turned his head. “Watching the box.”
“You didn’t help me turn visible, and I definitely didn’t invite you to be a houseguest.”
“What’s that yellow gemstone about?” he asked, nodding toward my hand.
“It’s my canary bird engagement ring. If you don’t leave, I may punch you with it. It’s a diamond. It’ll probably put your eye out.”
Mercutio squirmed and yowled. He wanted to take a bite or two out of Crux. “Hang on, Merc. You’ll snag my dress! I have to take care of the clothes I have left.”
Crux rose, tall and handsome, radiating gold and magic. “Who gave you the ring? The wizard?”
I nodded.
“You have to give it back.”
“I tried to,” I mumbled. “He’s stubborn as a box of rocks.” I walked to the bathroom and dropped Merc on the floor. “Stay in there for one minute,” I said, using my leg to block him from darting out before I closed the door.
“Look, I’m pretty busy. I’d appreciate it if you’d go now before Mercutio tears up the wallpaper trying to get out here to kick your butt.”
“I’m not leaving yet,” he said, walking closer and leaning against the counter. “You’ll have to take off both rings. The band on the right hand, and the diamond on the left.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re Seelie fae.”
“Am not.”
“You are. And the queen will never allow you to marry a wizard.”
“The queen? I don’t even know her. I’m American! We don’t have kings or queens. It’s against our Constitution.”
Crux grinned. “You may live here, but this is not your homeland. We’re older than the human race. First and foremost you belong to us.”
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I snapped.
“So come and tell her. See what happens.”
“Did she send you here to get me?”
“No,” he said. “I stumbled upon you.”
A loud bang on the door made me jump. Crux’s gaze slid to the foyer. Another loud thump rattled the walls. Mercutio yowled and rammed against the bathroom door.
“For the love of Hershey, now what?” I said, marching down the hall.
I opened the door, and I fell inside.
Actually it would turn out not to be me, but it was an honest mistake. She looked a lot like me. And she felt like me.
In one instant, my whole life changed. She was what had been missing for so long. The two magicks inside me uncoiled. The sunny fae part surged forward; the shady one fell back and to the right side. It mirrored the girl’s own divided magic.
So many green vines tangled through her strawberry blond hair it took me a moment to realize her hair was much lighter than mine. Still there was a flame tint to it, enough red to make it Trask hair. Her eyes were a little different, too. Hazel green, like crushed grass mixed with crumbled fall leaves. My own eyes were more gold-flecked brown. There was maybe a little green to my gold, but not much, not like hers.
In a realization that hit me harder than a lych’s fist, I realized that the girl I’d seen riding the horses and being chased across bridges hadn’t been me. It had been this girl. She’d been the one helping me tap into my fae power, helping me to heal my injuries. And she’d been the face I’d seen when I’d called for help as Jackson Greer killed me. She’d told me to stab him. Had maybe even given me some strength to help pull the dagger from my body. I owed her my life.
I smiled at her, and her eyes twinkled.
Staring at her face delayed me from looking the rest of her over, but after a moment, I looked down. She wore a ragged brown calfskin skirt and a black T-shirt with a picture of a rock group named “the cranberries” sitting on a couch. The lower right edge of her T-shirt dripped beads of crimson, speckling her skirt.
“You’re wounded,” I said with a gasp.
“Aye, a bit,” she said, waving the bow in her left hand as if the wound she held with her right was nothing. “But I made it, didn’t I?” she said with an Irish lilt. “Do you know me then?” she asked a bit shyly.
“Not your name,” I said. “But I recognize you.”
“My first name’s Kismarley, but I go by Kismet. You and I, we’re sisters. Twins, it seems.”
“I never knew,” I said. “But something’s always been missing. And twins run in our family. All the way back! I should’ve guessed—”
She leaned against the wall like she needed it to hold her up. “You weren’t to know. Neither was I at first.”
A gold coin clattered to the floor at our feet and I turned.
Crux’s eyes were fixed on Kismet, who sucked in a startled breath.
With a cool smile, he said, “Coin for a Kis?”
It was exactly what he’d said that first time he’d seen me. He’d told the truth when he’d said he hadn’t come to Duvall for me. He’d been tracking my sister and had mistaken me for her.
Kismet pushed me aside, loaded an iron arrow in her bow, and aimed it at Crux’s heart.
“You will go back and say you couldn’t find me,” Kismet said in a low, very dangerous voice. Her green eyes shone hard as emeralds.
“It’s no use, Kis. Ghislaine knows I’d never stop tracking my quarry until I’d found it. She knows I’m in this town and that you were on your way here.”
“She can’t. No one knows that.”
He cocked a brow and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “I caught you. You can’t pretend I haven’t.”
“I’m not caught,” Kis said, giving the tip of the arrow a little bob. “If I kill you, she’ll never know where I am.”
“It’s too late. I told her about Tammy.”
She let the arrow fly. It whizzed through the air, barely missing him when he flung himself to the side.
He scowled, standing with the liquid grace of a dancer. “You’ll return to the Never,” he said. “Both of you.”
“We will not!” I snapped. The Unseelie fae lived under Duvall, but the Seelie fae—my kinfolk—lived across the Atlantic, under Ireland and Scotland. “I’m not leaving Texas and my—my sister’s staying here in Duvall with me if that’s what she wants. Nobody’s taking her anywhere she doesn’t want to go.”
Crux folded his arms across his chest. “Caedrin will be sorry to hear that, since if you don’t come back they’ll kill his love.”
“That’s not our problem,” I blurted, too distracted to recognize the name at first.
“His love is named Marlee.”
I froze because that was the one thing he could’ve said to change everything. There was no way in the world I could stay in Texas if somewhere across the ocean, a faery queen planned to kill my momma.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, that changes things.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Kismet said. “She chose to enter. We’l
l not risk our lives to save her, mother or not.”
My brows shot up. “Um, that’s not actually how our family works.”
Her cool green gaze didn’t soften.
Oh boy.
“Let me make you something sweet. It’ll make you feel better,” I said. It’ll make me feel better, too.
“I’d like pie,” Crux said.
“You can starve,” Kismet and I said at the same time. She smiled at me, and I smiled back.
Crux appraised me coolly. I shrugged at him, but in the end, I did serve them each pie and cookies. Even though I didn’t like Crux, if I had to go into the Never, I wanted every faery I knew on my side.
I dumped ice cream and brandy into the blender and turned it on. As it churned, I called Bryn.
“Hey, it’s me. Tammy Jo.”
“I know,” he said with a chuckle. “How’s it going?”
I chewed the corner of my lip. “This day’s been full of surprises. Remember how we talked about going to Ireland?”
There was a pause before he said, “Yes.”
I turned off the blender. “Well, it turns out we might be going sooner rather than later.”
“We are not,” Kismet said.
“Why?” Bryn asked, apparently not having heard Kismet in the background. “When?”
“Well, I might be. You might decide not to.”
“Why is that?” His light tone didn’t cover the wariness in his voice.
I poured Brandy Alexanders into glasses. “My momma’s in trouble. I have to help her.”
“Your mother. Where is she?”
“That’s the tricky part. Underhill, I guess. I’ve got to get some more details about it. Listen, though, you don’t have to go,” I said, licking brandy shake off my finger. “Really. I’ll understand. I know how you feel about the fae, and I don’t know how this trip will affect me. I might not be myself.” I frowned. Maybe it really would be better if he stayed home.
“When you’re at your best, so am I. When you’re Bonnie, I’m Clyde, remember?”
“I thought maybe you just said that to needle Zach. I didn’t know whether you really meant it.”
“I meant it.” He sighed. “I just didn’t expect to have to prove it so soon.”
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