9. Sparkle

NINE

SPARKLE

"I asked… if I could move in tonight."

I led Dan down a shadowy corridor to a room at the back of the building that Arnold used for storage. There was one small window with cobweb threads sprawling over the smeared glass.

The room was piled with boxes, and bolts of unused fabric lined the shelves. A dusty sofa sat in the corner. That would do to sleep on for now until I tidied the room and got a fold-out bed.

It wasn't much, but it was better than being a figurine stuck in the snow.

"And look, Arnold gave me an advance on my salary and I bought a phone." I'd also purchased a winter coat and boots and a few random bits and bobs.

I pointed out what I would do with the room, trying to muster enthusiasm for my new home. "And the bed will go here, and I'll get a portable electric burner so I can cook, and I'll invite you and Sushi for dinner."

"Sushi will miss you." Dan peered at a stack of old sewing patterns on a rickety table.His voice was so soft it sounded like the baby brother of his real voice.

I told myself I wouldn't cry, so I looked away and picked up a moth-eaten rug that needed to be burned.

"I did say you would stay here tonight in an emergency." Arnold trundled in, a tape measure slung around his neck. "But if you have somewhere else, I suggest sleeping there until we get the room set up." He looked at Dan as if expecting him to offer me the bed I'd been sleeping in the past two nights.

"It's so kind of you to offer Sparkle this room," Dan began.

And a job and an advance on my salary. Dan had been determined to get me a job at the factory, but after spending the day at the store, I'd fallen in love with making men's clothing.

"But Sparkle can stay with me for now."

That was what I wanted, but as much as I adored Dan and wanted him for my mate, I was a little irked he'd made a decision for me.

Arnold put a hand on Dan's shoulder. "I hear what you're saying, but I think that's up to Sparkle."

Dan's face fell. "You're right." He turned to me. "I'm sorry. That was wrong of me."

How could I explain that I desired, more than anything, to live with Dan, Sushi, and the wolf who I'd not yet met? That I wanted to be mated to Dan and be part of their family. I did. But as an elf, I'd been brought up in a huge family and then lived in a dorm with other elves at the North Pole. I craved having a place of my own, even if just for a few hours a week. Not that I owned this dingy room, but it was as close as I could get to "mine."

And if my life was ending on Christmas Eve, perhaps it was better that I was here and not at Dan's. What purpose would it serve being with my mate every morning and night, longing for him to love me and grieving at not being "the one"?

"May I suggest that we fix the room up this weekend, and in the meantime, you stay at my place." Dan looked at me hopefully.

"Thanks. I accept." I squeezed his hand, and he gave me an odd look, as though he was in pain.

"Glad that's settled." Arnold clapped.

We strolled out of the room, but I was inspecting the old light fixture above me and bumped into a box. Dust spiraled into the air, and Dan sneezed. He sneezed again and a third time. Arnold commented that sneezing would clear anyone's sinuses.

Once in the corridor, I glanced behind me, as Dan wasn't at my side. He hadn't moved and was staring at the dust particles falling through the air and onto the floor.

"Dan, what is it?"

"I… I… I'm not sure."

Taking his arm, I led him along the corridor and into the main room. His dazed expression worried me, but he was a shifter, so calling an ambulance was pointless. If he shifted, whatever ailed him would vanish. That was what the reindeer shifters did in Christmas Village.

Arnold put a hand on Dan's brow. "No fever."

I gripped my mate's hand, not wanting him to fall. Again, that would be odd for a shifter, but something was bothering him. If Dasher were here, I could have asked him for advice.

"Go home and rest," Arnold suggested. "My mother insisted chicken soup cured all minor illnesses."

Unless Dan had some in his fridge, there'd be no chicken soup tonight unless I could order in.

"You should drive, Sparkle."

I'd driven a golf cart at the North Pole. Did that count? How hard could it be? You steered and pressed the accelerator. I could do that.

I took the key from Dan, but when I looked up the street, I couldn't see the car.Dan pointed in one direction, but his dazed expression and robotic way of walking worried me. He didn't speak but plodded along the sidewalk.

As he walked, his head fell back, and he inhaled, his chest expanding as his lungs filled with air. Maybe it was dust in his airway that explained his odd behavior.

"Ahhhh!" Dan yelled.

"Are you feeling better?" If we had to go to the hospital, he'd have to direct me.

"No. Maybe yes." His manic grin suggested he was feverish, and there were spots of pink on either cheek.

"Sparkle, you're my mate."

"What?" He hadn't said what I thought he said. Had he?

"I said you're my mate."

I'd been longing to hear those words, to fall into his arms, to stop the curse or whatever it was. But it happened after he sniffed that dust. I sensed Arnold had some magic in him, so was that actual dust that had accumulated over time or was it pixie dust? Arnold thought we made a great couple. Did he alter the universe so Dan would mate me?

"I don't know what to say."

His head slumped forward, his chin resting on his chest. "Of course. That's me assuming I know what you want. Again. Because I feel something doesn't mean you return my affection." He sniffed and rubbed his nose.

Now I was conflicted. There was so much bottled up inside me, and I wanted to spill who I was and what had happened. No one should mate unless they knew everything about their fated one.

I rubbed Dan's back. "You're my mate. That was why I changed from a figurine." At least I thought that was the reason. Everything had been so confusing since I arrived here. Maybe it was a coinkydink. "But we can't mate."

"Why not?" Dan took both my hands.

"You didn't scent me as your mate before, so why now? Did Arnold play a part in this?"

"No." His eyes flicked left and right. "Maybe he did, but not in the way you think."

"Then it's not real if someone else used magic to make you think I'm your mate."

"No. He said the dust would clear my sinuses."

I nodded, wishing Arnold had not interfered. This would be fake mating if we went ahead, and I'd still be turned into a figurine on Christmas Day.

Dan explained he'd had a sinus infection and he'd lost his sense of smell. "If Arnold did anything, it was to clear my sinuses so I could scent you. The real you."

"Are you serious?"

"No, Sparkle, I'm making it all up." He spun around.

My face fell.

"I'm being sarcastic." He grabbed me. "I'm joking."

Oh, I should understand sarcasm, being a prankster. But it wasn't the time for jokes, something I'd learned recently.

"Yes, I'm serious. I've been frustrated trying to scent you and I couldn't."

"Now it's my turn to tell you something."

He shook his head, saying he didn't need a confession, we'd all done things we weren't proud of.

Wishing I had the two notes I'd hidden under my pillow, I felt in my pants pocket and my hand brushed over another piece of paper. I pulled it out and read it.

Tick tock . Hurry up and mate before you either become a figurine forever on Christmas Day or you spend a lifetime looking for your mate .

Dan read it. "Is this a joke?"

"Nope. No joking around now." I told him about the others.

"We should mate immediately."

I longed to have his wolf's teeth dragging over my skin and his cock buried inside me.

"This shouldn't be the reason for our mating."

Dan put a hand on either side of my face. "Forget that for the moment, forget everything."

That was a little hard, but I screwed up my face and did my best. "Not working."

"What if I kissed you? Would that erase the memories temporarily?"

I closed my eyes and puckered up my lips. Dan's warm breath brushed over me, but before he placed his mouth on mine, there was a clunk and his car rolled backward. It hurtled down the slope until Dan jumped in and put his foot on the brake.

"Now where were we?" He opened the car door for me.