“If I open it, are you going to tell me about the god of death’s sect?”
She nodded once. “Absolutely.”
I rolled my shoulders and strode to the box. It couldn’t be anything bad, right? He was an archangel. Maybe it was something cute, like a mini angel statue or a special edition bible. I grabbed the ribbon between my fingers and tugged the bow loose. It fell away, and I lifted the lid. Glitter exploded in my face and shimmered in the air, making me stumble back and cough. My father glitter bombed me? Seriously? It could be worse—oh no, wait. The sparkly substance dissipated, revealing a glass-enclosed heart.
My eyes rolled to the heavens as I breathed in, held it, and released it. That was definitely a humanoid heart, and it was still beating. Well, that was novel. You didn’t get those at Macy’s on sale.
“Snacks. I approve,”Indigo purred. Of course she did.
“What is it?” Dayna asked with a little bounce.
I grabbed the dome-shaped case and lifted it free of the box. She froze. Hudson snarled. Aunt Liz cursed. A small note was tacked on the top.
The beating heart of the hound who dared to touch my daughter. Unfortunately, he still breathes, mostly likely through a deal with Donn. But rest assured, the pain he felt was very real.
Happy belated Christmas,
Father
I blinked. My father had tried to kill Michael Glaister as a Christmas present to me. I was more freaked out about that than the heart thumping strong and steady in front of me. After carefully placing it back in the box, Rebecca peered over the edge with a look of disdain.
“It smells like death.”
“It’s a heart that no longer exists in a body. What did you expect it to smell of? Vanilla and cherries?”
“No, but it’s alive, still beating,” she said with a raised brow as I replaced the lid.
“And?”
“It should smell fresh. Yet it stinks like utter and complete death.”
“It’s a wonder we didn’t smell it before,” Hudson replied, his voice deep and growly.
I had never felt more happy that I lacked supernatural senses.
“I think the glitter bomb released it into the world,” Dayna added.
I glanced down at myself and tried dusting it off. Nope, not shifting. Wonderful. This shit stuck around for days. I’d be finding it a week from now in the weirdest of places. People who used glitter in cards were in league with the Devil. Figures his brother would see fit to shower me with it.
“The sect?” I prodded as I strode into the parlor. Dayna followed me, followed by Aunt Liz. I stumbled to a stop when Aunt Sophia appeared from downstairs. Why was my great-aunt in my office? I narrowed my gaze, and she flapped a hand at me.
“Don’t look at me like that. My scissors broke, and I needed them to finish the sweater.”
“You could have tried the kitchen.”
She rolled her eyes and sat in an armchair. “You don’t mix culinary and craft scissors. That’s unsanitary.”
“But getting them from a doctor’s office is okay?”
“Did you use them to cut someone open?”
“Well, no?—”
She snorted. “Then stop stalling and let’s hear Dayna’s news. Unless you want to explain the glitter?”
I turned my pleading gaze to Dayna. She folded her hands in her lap and glanced at Hudson, Liz, Rebecca, Sebastian, Sophia, and then me, making sure everyone was listening.
“The upshot is they will meet with you,” she said.
