AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I doubt it,” Lucien said, with a mouthful of food. “I wouldn’t take it the way you’re taking it.”
I glared at Lucien, but he was oblivious to my stare, or he knew what he was doing by saying that to him. He was protective of Katarina.
“Ok, don’t make this a big deal, but we used to exchange gifts at home. It’s nothing big but Blessed Yule.” She set down bags in front of each of us. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a brown bag, but it had a gold ribbon holding it closed.
No one moved to open their bag as Katarina’s smile began to fade from her face.
“Uh... you don’t have to open it now, but...”
“Kit Kat, you shouldn’t have, I don’t have anything for you,” Lucien said, opening the bag revealing bright red small things that said Kit Kat, and he pulled out a necklace. It was a bright looking stone with one side a burning orange and the other side a bright white.
“I took inspiration from the yin and yang symbol. Two halves of a whole, the sun and the moon. It’s meant to bring you balance. I know not having balance is hard so I wanted to give you a piece of it. If you ever feel off, this might give you a sense of peace. Where there is darkness, there is light.”
Katarina fidgeted with her hands. She didn’t look at any of us, clearly shy that she had given us something meaningful, but I loved it even if I hadn’t seen it yet. I stood up, walked to her and kissed her.
She yelped in surprise before she melted against me, kissing me with the same intensity. I gave her one last nibble before I rested my forehead against hers.
“I don’t deserve you, but thank you for my gift. I love it.” I kissed her again, a little upset that I didn’t have anything for her.
“You haven’t even seen yours.” She smiled at me.
“I don’t need to, but I’ll go and open it right now.”
The sound of a chair scooting back echoed in the library as we looked to see Zev walking away from the table. He had a scowl on his face as he left.
“Zev!” Lucien called out, but he didn’t slow down, and it wasn’t long until I heard him shift.
I looked down at Katarina who looked heartbroken. She quickly masked it with a half-smile. Lucien walked up to us with an annoyed expression, but he had put his necklace on already.
“It’s fine guys.” She cupped Lucien’s face, kissing him softly. “As we like to say, Merry Christmas.”
I wrapped my arms around both of them.
“Merry Christmas,” I said, kissing Lucien and then Katarina. “Thank you, Katarina.”
“You should open your gift.” She looked up at me.
“I don’t need to, anything you give me, I’ll be grateful for.” I rubbed my nose against hers. “I love you, Katarina. Everyday I’ve had with you is a gift.”
“Aeon,” she cried, as she threw her arms around me. “You were a pain in my ass, but I’m so glad we got over ourselves. I love you too, Aeon.”
I kissed her softly even though I could feel her need for more. Holding her face in my hands, I poured my heart into making her feel everything that I felt for her. Katarina was my life, my air, and my reason to live.
Katarina gasped, making me pull away from her, expecting Lucien behind her kissing her neck, but all I saw was her gray and glassy eyes. Heartache tore at me; it seemed Katarina had inherited one of my powers. She wasn’t lucky enough to be spared, and I hated that for her.
31
KATARINA
Ididn’t see the future; I saw the past. The vision began with my grandmother writing in her grimoire around the same age as I was. She was furiously writing while looking over a few books, like she was taking notes or copying a spell. The frustration on her face spoke volumes. Either she was running out of time, or she had no idea what she was going to do.
I could relate to both emotions because that was where I was right now. It was almost the new year and we had combed over every spell she had in her grimoire, but nothing looked useful, or was unfinished. The memory was growing weaker as the days went by, but nothing seemed to stand out from it. I didn’t even get a good look at what she had been writing.
“Katarina, not everything that is shown to you has meaning, my power is never concrete,” Aeon said, running his hand down my back. We were naked on the floor in front of the fireplace that Lucien had in his drawing room. I was lying on my stomach, reading while he was next to me. Lucien was drawing on a chair across from us.
“Then what is the point of this damn power if it just shows you stupid shit,” I said frustrated, slamming the book shut. “I was always told magic was a gift and this just feels like a curse.”
I laid my head on my hands looking into the fireplace.
