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Annise folded over and laughed so hard her face turned red. “Finally!” She crashed her beer can into Niera’s, liquid splashing over the opening. “Let’s have some fun!”

As if waiting for the magic word, a tri-colored tail swayed between their chairs, followed by a rumbling purr as Holly appeared. Niera snickered, scooping up the cat to settle her on her lap.

“You were supposed to stay at Annise’s place,” she chided. The cat meowed, a pleased look in her green eyes and upturned mouth. Holly turned around and around, gently pawing at Niera’s thighs before finding a comfortable position and plopping down in a ball of fur, tail flicking languidly. “Guess there’s no setting rules for you, huh?”

Bray nudged her arm. “The Sherwoods are their own cats. There’s no telling them nothing.”

At last, Niera’s muscles relaxed and warmed enough for her to lounge back in her chair and stroke Holly’s soft head as the first lights of the parade caravan appeared down the street. Bubbles in place of snow gleamed in the flashing array of rainbow colors.

Niera stilled.

Snow. Snowflakes.

The prophecy.

She reached over to Annise and grabbed her attention with a pinch on her arm.

“Confirmation of the reason I came here,” Niera said cryptically, cutting her gaze to Danny’s back. The man had twisted around to view the parade. “You were right.”

Annise’s eyes widened and the smile she thought could get no wider, no brighter, became blinding. “Really?”

Niera nodded, turning a thumb to the sky. “Yep. Pretty strong connection, my friend.”

“Mystical—”

“Ah, let’s leave the nickname behind.”

Annise nodded. She twisted her chair around and moved it closer to Danny’s. Niera grinned as Annise rested her head on Danny’s shoulder, earning a lingering kiss to her hair.

Ah, yes. Those two certainly had something strong linking them. The tangled web of Fates couldn’t keep them apart.

And all before any sign of a snowflake.

Niera sipped her beer, ignoring the sour taste to enjoy the warmth that suffused her body, and scratched her humming kitty as the caravan drew closer. The spirit of the holidays, of Christmas, bloomed all around her. For the first time in years, she thought she might actually take the opportunity to enjoy it.

After all, the twisted, elusive prophecy implied a match would be made before the first snowflake fell.

With the dazzling speckles of light from the stars and the lustrous white moon overhead, there was no chance of snow tonight. That dark, slithering entity in the shadows of her mind was nothing more than the anxiety of the last day.

Another sip of beer.

Another stroke of Holly’s head.

Another love match confirmed.

She’d played the game of Fates and won.

Then why did dread tug at the pit of her stomach like an anchor threatening to pull her to the bottom of a black abyss?

Her momentary ease shifted to something dire. An urgency that caused the crowd and the caravan to fade from sight.

Holly nudged her hand, licked her palm with a rough tongue, and nuzzled her head against Niera’s belly.

“Annise was one-hundred. One-hundred matches in thirty years,” she mused, her low voice drowned out by the noise of the happy crowd. “I didn’t make a mistake. IknowI didn’t make a mistake.”

By the gods and the fickle Fates, what was she missing?

As if sensing her discord, Holly hooked the nails from one paw into Niera’s jacket and tugged. Before Niera could stop her, the cat snatched the rope cinching the small pouch of crystals and yanked the bag from her pocket with her sharp teeth.