“It’s Yuletide Eve,” she said. It was quiet enough to hear the snow fall. Not even a murmur could be heard from the Unseelie side. “Therefore I’ve given you a gift.” That was when she noticed Ronan standing to the left of the queen, hidden in the shadow of her glow.
Bella’s heart stuttered and then started again, beating twice as fast. She took a step toward him, but something in the way the queen stood made her halt. The queen seemed like a raptor ready to strike—
one false move and she’d sink her fangs in deep.
“Happy Yuletide to you both, but it’s not all sunshine.” The queen drew a breath. When she spoke next, it was loud enough for everyone around them to hear, including the Faemous film crew. “Bella Rhiannon Caliste Mac Lyr and Ronan Achaius Quinn are hereby banished from the Seelie Court, effective immediately.” She turned and walked back into the tower, a brace of guards following her.
The doors shut behind her with a final-sounding thump.
Bella ran to Ronan and threw her arms around him, concerned only with one thing—he was alive, warm and real in her embrace.
Ronan pulled her up against his chest and slanted his lips over hers. His tongue slipped within her mouth and heated her blood, making her forget the snow and cold, making her forget all the other celebrating fae in the square who looked on in curiosity.
When they broke the kiss, she drew a trembling breath. A look of sorrow had enveloped his face.
“Because of me you’re banished from Seelie. You’ve lost everything. It’s exactly the thing I was trying to prevent all those years ago.”
“Oh, Ronan.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “No. Don’t you see? I have everything because I have you.”
“Even if we have nowhere to sleep tonight?”
“We’ll figure it out. We’re together now and we can overcome any obstacle in our path. Why did she let you live?”
“I’ve had contact with the Phaendir. I know who might be able to be swayed for a certain price. The queen held a blade to my throat and demanded that information from me after you left, but I refused to give it up. Instead I told that when she had need of me, I was hers. So long as the rest of the time I could be yours—warm and alive.”
“So pragmatism won out over her slighted pride.”
“The banishment is her way of saving face in front of the court.”
“Where do we go now?”
Ronan looked at the Black Tower and squeezed her hand.
“Unseelie,” she said.
He nodded. “I don’t know how this will turn out, Bella. The Shadow King is not pleased with me for turning my back on the Black Tower, and now I’ve given the Summer Queen a piece of the bosca fadbh, something he would like to possess.”
She chewed her lip. “Bodes ill.”
He pulled her toward him for a quick kiss. “I have reason to believe he’ll take us in despite all of this.
Leverage, Bell. I have it on both the royals.”
“It’s a dangerous game we’re playing.”
“Life in the courts is always dangerous.”
They turned and walked toward the center of the square. Bella supposed she ought to be nervous about the fact she was now banished from the only home she’d ever known, yet all she felt was gratitude and happiness, leavened with a dash of excitement for the adventures to come and the things they’d see.
Aislinn stood near the maligned statue of Jules Piefferburg that marked entry into Unseelie territory.
“I’ll miss you,” her best friend said, staring up at the Black Tower.
“I’ll miss you too.” Bella gave Aislinn a hug, feeling a cloud of loss rising up into her chest and throat.
When people were banished from the Seelie Court, that meant no contact with its members. She and Ronan had given up a lot to be together. Bella wiped away a tear. “Can you make arrangements for Lolly?”
“Of course I will.”
She parted from Aislinn and took one last look at the Rose Tower. There were many people she would miss—Lolly, her other friends, her family. Ronan caught her hand and followed her gaze. He’d be missing people too.
Then they looked at each other and smiled. They didn’t have to say a word, because they each knew what the other was thinking: The sacrifice was worth it.
Hand in hand, they walked farther into the square. Above their heads fireworks sparked and exploded, and all around them Yuletide bonfires glowed. The celebrations had resumed and lighter days were on the horizon.
Before them lay their future, a brand-new path they’d create and walk together.
A Christmas Kiss
Lora Leigh
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A special thank-you to all the dear and special friends who have stood behind me, beside me and in front of me through a very difficult year.
Lue Anne, Natalie, Jennifer and Janine. Jessica, Crissy, Donna and Sheila. For my son, Bret, who always has my back; and my dearest friend, Sharon, who has supported me more times than I can count.
For my daughter, Holly, for running the roads; and Ryan, for putting up the fence. For Renae, for helping when I needed it the most; and for Ann Marie, for the shoes and wonderful e-mails.
All of you have made my life brighter, enriched it and understood when things got crazy.
Thank you.
ONE
Wolf Mountain, Colorado Wolf Breed Compound, Haven
There was something about a winter snowfall that Jessica Raines had always loved. A sense of warmth, despite the cold. A sense of wonder, a remnant of her childhood that she had never lost.
Now, as she moved through the soft, heavy winter white that fell around her, she had never felt less like a child. At twenty-four, she felt old, worn and tired.
Christmas was coming. Lights were strung around the Wolf Breed Compound of Haven and windows were lit up with the festive colors of the season as lavishly decorated trees twinkled merrily into the winter night.
Christmas was coming and Jessica had never felt less festive.
The snow was beautiful though. She had missed it last year during her imprisonment in the underground cells to which the Wolf Breeds had kept her confined. Because she had been a traitor. No matter how reluctantly, still, she had betrayed the very people she had believed in so deeply. Even as she had done it, helpless against the compulsions rising inside her, Jessica had raged, fought, screamed silently. But still, she had hidden information, relayed defense maneuvers and revealed the residences of the Wolf Breed alpha and his mate, as well as their second-in-command to her father.