My heart thundered in my ears, my jaw unhinging and hanging open.
I dipped, planting a quick smacking kiss to Hex’s surface before yanking myself upright and flying to the door.
“Fiella!” I screamed. “It’s happening!”
CHAPTER 2
Fiella
My fingers ached with an unfamiliar throb as they struggled to find a firm grasp on the bundle of yarn I was holding. The strands were impossibly slippery.
Merry Day was great, sure, but the gift part was absolutely kicking my ass.
Embarrassingly, I was trying to learn how to knit. It was not going well.
The instructional book was not helpful enough, making the steps seem easy and fluid. Knitting was the opposite of easy. My fingers refused to cooperate, and the knitting needles weren’t doing their job, either.
I grumbled under my breath as I untied yet another knot. “Fucking fates. How do folk do this? Why can’t I just buy scarves and sweaters—why do I need to make them?”
A deep laugh rumbled out of Redd’s chest. He sat in a stuffed chair in the corner of my trinket shop with a book propped on his lap. “Nobody’s stopping you from buying the sweaters, love. You’re the one who decided you were going to make them. Just because Kizzi and Tandor are making gifts this year doesn’t mean you have to.”
“Shut up. You’re supposed to be on my side,” I grumbled. My fingers snagged in the yarn. Again.
He was right, though. As he usually was. I knew I could find something in my trinket shop for all of my friends and family. I could give some beautifully woven baskets to Kizzi, some rare oak wood relics to Redd, and some flower vases to Lunette, and so on. And I probably would, if I couldn’t get this damned yarn to cooperate.
Kizzi and Tandor were making gifts because they had blown through all of their silvers on a journey across the realm, when they purchased the dragon eggs.
But something about a handmade gift felt more full of love. More special.
And I had set my mind on knitting my gifts—a choice I was now regretting.
“You can do this, Fiella. Just be patient. You’ll get the hang of it.” Redd closed his book with a gentle thud and set it on the table in front of him, slowly rising to his feet. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.
He never failed to take my breath away. His easy, lethal grace. The way his muscles perfectly hugged his bones, granting him both power and stealth. The way his dark brown hair was always a bit tousled, even when he tried to tame it.
And the way his fangs peeked out between his beautiful lips when he smiled at me, as he was doing now when he caught me peeking at him.
He drifted behind me where I was perched on my stool, stroking his hands over my shoulders and down my arms, stopping before he met my hands or interrupted my handiwork. He knew better.
He rested his chin on my shoulder and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. I softened in his embrace, some of my stress melting away.
His voice was molten, so close to my ear. “Need my help?”
I sighed and fought the shiver that worked down my spine and the way his proximity heated my blood. “You want to help me knit?”
He shook his head, and his short beard snagged on a few strands of my hair, disturbing it where it laid over my shoulder in blue rivulets. “No. I’d be no help with that. I can help you with other things, though.”
This piqued my curiosity. “Oh?”
Warm hands traced up my arms again, over my shoulders, slipping down to slide around my waist. “I can take your mind off of it, for a moment.”
Arousal pooled in my stomach and I leaned into his touch, but I kept my hold on the yarn, determined not to lose my place. I groaned in dismay. “Not now. Can’t. I’ll never finish this in time. Merry Day is only a week away.”
Redd tilted his head, pressing a soft kiss where my ear met my neck, a place he knew was one of my weaknesses. I sighed dreamily. “Later, then,” he said softly.
I nodded. “Later. Definitely later—” I caught a sound from outside, one that straightened my spine and tightened my muscles. “Did you hear that?”
Redd, too, had heard the chilling sound—probably before I did. We were both vampires, but he had more vampire blood than I did, which strengthened his senses.
