Free Davies, Corinne - Wrapped in Fur [3xtasy Lake 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Corinne Davies Page B

of nerve gas? Made you a tea out of special leaves?”
    His aunt gave him a sharp look as she opened the box he had practically dropped on the table, and lifted out a large plate of holiday cookies. “I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just question my intelligence. I know what happened. I found the ornament hidden in an antique box. I found the spell that released her and I freed the poor thing. She was terrified when she appeared in front of me. Not knowing where she was or how much time had passed. Really it was heartbreaking.”
    “A spell? What kind of spell? Don’t you need a magic wand or herbs or some sort of circle?”
    “You’ve been watching that TV show with the three skinny girls again. Welcome to real life. Magic isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes all you have to do is believe in something for it to work. I know I don’t have any children, though certainly not from a lack of trying. You know I just never found the right man, or two that could keep up to me.”
    “Ewwwww,” Brand groaned and debated on covering his ears. Fortunately, she realized his discomfort and didn’t say any more on the subject. Wiping her hands on a tea towel first, she crooked a finger at him. He dutifully followed her into the living room where a large decorated Christmas tree stood. She plucked a snowflake ornament off the tree and handed it to him. She was etched in the middle there as plain as day.
    Brand stood there inspecting the innocent-looking ornament as his aunt filled him in on the details of Holly’s appearance.
    “There has to be a reason all this happened. She needed to forgive herself for trying to curse that man so many years ago. Maybe you need to do the same. I love you and always thought of you as my own child. All I want is for you to be happy.”
    Unable to think of anything to say, he just sat there, holding the beautiful crystal ornament. Imagining for a moment what it would look like with Holly trapped in there. Purgatory in its truest form. All that life and energy trapped in an emotionless prison of perfection.
    His chest tightened as he thought about Brittany’s death. He hadn’t been in love with her, but he’d allowed her to assume otherwise. That had been his crime—he’d always wanted to try a ménage and had used her feelings for him to manipulate the situation. He’d talked Colwyn into joining them in bed one night and forced the issue with her. When she had reacted badly to the idea, he’d let her get behind the wheel of a car. What kind of man let anyone drive, knowing it wasn’t a good idea?
    While he’d sat around getting drunk and feeling sorry for himself, angry that the situation hadn’t gone well, Brittany had died an icy death wrapped around a tree. For the last ten years, he’d believed he didn’t deserve to be loved. In a way, he had trapped himself in a prison of numbers and cold, emotionless computer programs denying himself a friendship that he felt he didn’t deserve. Not much different than the sterile crystal Holly had been trapped in.
    “Brand, I know what happened that night. Colwyn told me.”
    He felt a familiar bitterness wash over him. “Is there anyone that Colwyn didn’t tell?”
    “Hey!” His aunt pinched the back of his arm. The sudden sharp pain made him jump. “Don’t you dare try to blame everything on him. He stayed here, Brand, and never said a word to anyone about what happened. There were some people who blamed him for her death and said that he was the one who upset her, and he never spoke of it. I knew there had to be more to it and I made that boy tell me the truth.”
    A deep-seated guilt pounded at Brand, the same guilt he’d felt for the last decade but had tried to bury away. He’d known that there might be gossip, which was why he’d left so quickly, and thought that Colwyn would be going to school in the city and would avoid the gossip mill.
    “I was a self-centered asshole, I still am.”
    “Sweets, you were a confused