Eggnog Trifle Trouble (Murder in the Mix #28) - Addison Moore Page 0,84
to her hand where she’s still clutching at the gun and he does his best to bite off her finger.
Candy lets out a howl as she pulls her hand away and I quickly scoop up the gun she’s just abandoned.
“Freeze!” I call out, just the way I’ve seen Noah do dozens of times before.
Ethan’s ghostly frame begins to shimmer like the deepest part of the ocean as he sheds a mournful smile my way.
“Tell her I’ll always be with her.” His voice strums from him, sorrowful. “Tell her that this too shall pass, and that she will be whole again.”
And just like that, the ghost of Ethan Lionel Markus dissipates into thin air.
I quickly relay to her the words of her father and Candy lets out a mournful groan.
“What about me?” Kringle begins to rise into the sky. “Oh dear, this is it, Lottie. I’m going to bite the big one. I’m going to meet my maker. I’ll be dead as a doornail—and oh, wait. I’m all of those things and more.” He floats higher, easy and light like a helium balloon. “And what am I saying? I’ve already met my maker. And He throws one heck of a party this time of year. Have a merry Christmas, Lottie Lemon! Enjoy Sugar Cookie!” A sprinkling of red and green stars swallows him whole just as a tall, dark, and unstoppably handsome homicide detective and his partner Ivy Fairbanks stride by.
Noah does a double take my way. “Lottie?” His voice rises with a note of panic as he draws his weapon. “What the hell is going on?”
Ivy runs over and I quickly give her the weapon in my hand.
“It’s Candy Brighton. She did it. She killed Gloria.” I rattle off as many details as I can while Ivy lands some cuffs on Candy and helps her out of the snow.
Noah swoops over and wipes the snow from my shoulders before pulling me in.
“Lottie Lemon, you are going to be the end of me.” He brushes a kiss to my forehead. “Let’s get you inside.”
“I’ll go. You do whatever you need to do as far as this case goes. We’ll talk.” I make my way into the Evergreen Manor and head for the ballroom.
There’s one more thing I need to do tonight.
The last thing I did broke Ethan’s heart.
This one will break mine.
“Here Comes Santa Claus” blares over the speakers, and it seems as if all of Vermont is grooving on the dance floor. The lights are a notch dimmer than they were earlier, and the entire room is alive with an energy that only the deep end of the night can bring.
I spot Evie and her friends gyrating their limbs right along with my mother and sisters as I thread my way through the tangle of bodies. The frenetic movements of those around me make me dizzy as I bump into a woman with a sparkling red dress, and that dress seems like a dime a dozen tonight.
“Serena,” I say as I pull her close by the arm. Her dark hair is swept up and her lips expand at the sight of me like a malevolent fire. “There’s a transmundane conference coming up in a few weeks. Will you be there?”
“There is?” Her lips part. “Where?”
And for a second, we both gasp—Serena because I’ve caught her transmundane-handed and me because I was right.
“I want to know everything,” I snip.
She gives an incredulous huff at the thought. “You deserve to know nothing.” Her body relaxes as she sighs. “Is there really a conference?”
“I’m sure there is somewhere. Look, I’ve just learned about the beguilers a few months back. When that Hearst curse—”
“Fell upon you.” She nods. “I know. I can’t help you with that.”
“I’m not asking you to. Serena, whether I like it or not, Suze Fox is like family to me. Is she a beguiler? Is Elodie Frost?”
She takes a moment to glance around the room. “I’m not at liberty to divulge the identity of any of my brothers or sisters, but I will say this. Does Suze appear to have the ability to influence things to go her way?”
“I’m not dumping Noah, so I guess she’s not a beguiler.”
Her brows hike. “Are you married to Noah or Everett?”
I take a quick breath because I’m not married to Noah.
“You mean she is?” My hand clasps over my belly because if my sweet sugar cookie belongs to Noah then my baby shares Suze’s strange DNA.