Yule Be Magical (Familiar Kitten Mysteries Book 8) by Sara Bourgeois (popular novels TXT) 📗

here as fast as I could. Of course, my men and that sheriff were pursuing me, but I got away. I got back here to you. You have to get me out of here before they ship me off and convict me on false charges.”

“No,” I said and shook my head. “No, it’s not true.”

“It is, my love,” Azriel said. “And I’m not using any powers on you. What you feel, it’s because you’ve opened yourself up to me again. Some part of you believes me.”

“This is all as fake as that ring you gave me for our fake marriage,” I spat.

“I admit the ring was fake. I bought it at a department store, and tried to pass it off. I’m sorry about that. I should have just told you that I bought it because I wanted to marry you as soon as possible. Again, I’m so sorry, my love. I’ll get you a better ring. I should have trusted you to not care. You’re not the kind of woman who cares about things like that,” he said.

Suddenly, I found myself hiding the ring Thorn had given me. I put my clenched fists behind my back.

“I’m not, but you lied about it,” I defended myself.

“I want to be with you, Kinsley. I need you, and I need you to know how hard I fought to get back you.”

I felt myself getting ready to take a step towards him. It was as if my body was acting on its own again, but something was niggling at the back of my mind. Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but then she kicked me.

In all that conversation, not once had Azriel mentioned the baby. “I need to go,” I said. “I need to think.”

“They are getting ready to take me away,” he pleaded. “Kinsley, please. Whatever wrongs I’ve done to you, I’ll make it up. I’ll spend my life making it right.”

“I need some air,” I said.

I had half a mind to tell him about the baby. I wanted to throw it in his face. I wanted to ask him if we were really connected, and he wasn’t just using tricks on me, how could he not sense the baby? But something stopped me. Something told me not to tell him. If what he was saying was true, it was something we could talk about later, but it felt wrong to tell him now.

I turned and practically ran back to the door for Jeremy to let me out. Azriel called after me, but I ignored him. When Jeremy opened the door, he asked me what was wrong, but I ran past him too.

“I just need some air,” I called back over my shoulder. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

But I wasn’t fine. I didn’t want to talk to anybody about it, though. The thing about needing air wasn’t really a lie. I was overwhelmed.

When I got to the waiting area, there was a young woman sitting there. She had curly blonde hair and huge brown eyes that were rimmed with red like she’d been crying all night.

Jeremy must have been right behind me because as I walked to the door, I heard him say, “Pepper,” and the woman stood up.

“Hi,” she said to me nervously and then looked down at her feet. “Coming,” she said to Jeremy.

I wondered what it was all about. My curiosity kicked in and almost made me forget that I was fleeing.

Almost.

I pushed through the door and instantly felt a little better when the chilly air hit my face. It wasn’t cold enough to be painful, but it did make me keenly aware that tears were streaming down both sides of my face. The dam had finally burst.

I took out my phone and desperately tried to call Thorn again, but I got no answer. “I hate him,” I whispered, but I didn’t. Maybe I wasn’t even talking about Thorn. It was all becoming a big blur.

“We should go home,” Meri whispered from inside my bag. “You need some rest. This isn’t good for you.”

I let out a strangled laugh, but he was right. People were starting to look at me too. “Okay, let’s go home.”

Chapter Three

Word must have gotten out that I was acting hysterical outside of the sheriff’s station because twenty minutes after I got home, my Dad showed up. He pretended like he didn’t know, but I knew he knew.

“Dad, I’m okay,” I said when I opened the door.

“That’s great, honey,” he said as if I wasn’t red-eyed with a face covered in snot from ugly crying. “I’m here to see if I can find an old Santa costume I left in storage. Is it okay if I have a look around?”

I wanted to tell him no because I didn’t want him around while I was ugly crying, but I didn’t want him to leave either. Just having him there was a comfort, and I needed all of that I could get.

“Sure, come in,” I said and stepped back so he could. “Do you want some tea or hot chocolate?” I offered.

“You sit down, sweetie. I’ll make us both some hot chocolate,” he said.

“Okay, but I don’t want to talk,” I said.

“Don’t worry about that. I’m not here for chatting. I have to find that Santa suit.”

“Right, Dad. Okay. Do you need my help?” I asked.

“I’ll let you know if I do, sweetie. I’m just going to poke around the basement and maybe the spare bedrooms,” he said. “I played Santa once for the town a few years ago. The guy who normally did it came down with the flu, so I stepped in. It was kind of fun. I didn’t have to do it again, though, so we stored the costume.”

“Why are you doing it now?” I asked, but given the look on his face when I did, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know.

“He died.”

Nope. I didn’t really want to know.

“Oh,” I wasn’t sure what else to say.

“It’s