Page 120 of Christmas Magic

She slowly opened her eyes.

Packing peanuts and marshmallows, whirling and diving, encircled them.

“Whoa!” Tim mewled, batting at some of the makeshift snow.

With the sparkling white light beyond blurring out the crowd, she and Lucian could easily be alone, caught, like the lovers in the antique snow globe, in a moment of romantic possibility.

He had to recall their love. If he didn’t—if The Dealers’ spell was too strong, its hold upon him too pervasive—she could lose him forever.

“Do you remember, Lucian?” she whispered.

Please. Remember.

As magic glimmered in Molly’s palms, Lucian tightened his grip on his weapon. If she attacked him again with bolts of magic, he’d deflect the energy with the steel blade and then retaliate with magic of his own.

Her expression, though, wasn’t hard with resolve, as he’d expect of an opponent preparing to attack. If anything, he saw hopefulness and yearning.

A memory brushed his thoughts. He’d seen that look in her eyes before. He’d run his fingertips down her cheek; brushed his thumb over the softness of her lips; felt the warmth of her breaths upon his skin before he’d kissed her—

Shadows crowded into his mind. He tried, and failed, to stop the memory from dissipating.

Hadhe kissed Molly? If so, when?

Why hadn’t he remembered kissing her before?

With her cookies, Cora put an enchantment on you.

No. His Fair Maiden wouldn’t do such a thing.

A whispering noise drew his gaze. Packing peanuts and marshmallows on the street skittered across the concrete and then soared upward. Within seconds, as if they were snowflakes, they filled the air above and around him and Molly.

Another memory sifted into his mind. He and Molly were in the living room of the house they shared. She’d been trying to…what? He struggled to delve deeper into the memory, to recall the finer details of what they’d done and discussed.

Shadows rolled in again.

No!

He fought the darkness.He tried to grab hold of the memory, but like a handful of smoke, it vanished altogether. Even as he scrambled to find it again, Cora’s image filled his thoughts. Once more, he saw her at Coquina Castle, her face aglow and light sparkling off her jewelry. So beautiful.

His heart grew warm…but not as warm as a moment ago, when he’d envisioned Molly.

With her cookies, Cora put an enchantment on you.

Confusion ran through him. He didn’t want to believe it, but…could he have been enchanted?

The make-believe snowflakes still swirled around him and Molly. The kitten, sitting down, continued swatting at snow within his reach. Another memory stirred, fighting to be acknowledged.

As it broke past the shadows, Lucian met Molly’s gaze. Her arms hung at her sides, with her hands turned inward. No physical threat to him at all.

But her expression….

He’d never seen such torment in a woman’s eyes: a blend of anguish, love, and longing.

So much longing.

The last of the shadows in his mind fell way. Again, he and Molly were in the living room of the house; the place that together, as a soon-to-be-married couple, they called home. He held an antique snow globe, while he coached her on using her magic to stir up the snow inside the ornament.

The heat in his heart intensified, and he sucked in a sharp breath. She’d created her own version of the snow globe here and now, just for him.