She tilted her head as she stepped closer, curiosity lighting those beautiful hazel eyes.
I pulled the little black box from the bubble wrap. It had seen better days, the corners frayed, edges worn down, but what lay inside the box was just as perfect as it had been when I’d first brought it home to her.
Her lips parted the moment she saw it.
“Here,” I said, holding it out to her.
She hesitated a moment before she took the box from my hand. “Is this...”
I nodded, and her eyes lit up before she lifted the lid. For a moment, I saw Elena standing before me, beaming like she had when I’d given her the ornament. Lucia’s eyes had lit up the same way when I’d presented it to her our first Solstice together after I found her again. Time could stop, and I almost wished it would, just so I could be lost in this moment with her.
Tears dotted her eyes as she reached into the box and looped her fingers into the ivory ribbon she’d tied to it over seven hundred years ago. Time had left no marks on the carved crystal, the etchings of crescent moons and delicate swirls of the wings glittering still.
She lifted the ornament, allowing it to dangle from her fingers, the crystal coming to life in the fire’s glow. “It’s as beautiful as I remember it,” she whispered, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
I stepped closer to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she ran her hand over her cheek, brushing away the tear. “Anywhere?”
I nodded to the tree. “Wherever you like.”
As she hung the ornament, the front door opened, and I turned to see Zephyr, James, Vincent, and Anna enter the living room a few moments later.
“Sorry we’re late,” Vincent said, rubbing his hands together as he stepped into the living room. “It took us a bit longer to finish packing the harvest for The Order’s celebration.”
“Sorry about that,” Anna said sheepishly. “I misjudged the timing.”
“I didn’t know you were supposed to be here at a certain time,” I muttered before my eyes slid to Barrett. “Didn’t even know any of you were coming tonight.”
“What?” Barrett said, feigning innocence while Anna snickered. “We’ve gotta pick names for Solstice, and you’ve been dragging your feet on preparations.”
“Pick a name?” Cassie asked as I opened my mouth to retort.
“Barrett is overseeing the gift exchange,” Vincent explained. “We pick a name and that’s who we gift.”
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot you mentioned that,” Cassie said.
“Since everyone’s here, let’s get that knocked out and then we’ll finish decorating,” Barrett said as he grabbed something from one of the boxes he’d brought.
“Okay, Damien, since you’re hosting this year, you’re first,” he said, holding out the small box full of folded slips of papers.
“You’re hosting?” Cassie asked, brows rising.
“We’rehosting,” I said, smiling down at her. “Why did you think we were decorating?”
“I don’t know,” she said, clearly flustered, her cheeks turning a faint shade of pink. “People like to decorate for the holidays. I thought it was just a thing.”
I pulled her closer to me. “This is our home now, and I’d love nothing more than to celebrate the end of the season with you at my side.”
A soft smile tugged at her lips. “I’d love that.”
My heart soared at the sight of her smile, at the fact that she was accepting the invitation to be with us—our family nearly whole once again.
Barrett held the box out to me, and I reached inside, grabbing the first piece of paper I felt. He then went around the room, holding out the box to everyone as they took their own slip of paper.
“Spitfire?” he said, turning to her. She rolled her eyes but grabbed a piece of paper, and Barrett grabbed the last one. “Okay, open ‘em up.”
I unfolded my paper just as everyone else did, smiling when I saw Cassie’s name written out in Barrett’s scratchy handwriting.
I guess you won’t be getting her lingerie after all.
