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Maybe it hadn’t been a vision. Maybe it was nothing but a figment of a deluded and deranged brain.

But she knew that wasn’t the case. She’d had visions all her life. It was part of what she was. And her visionsalwayscame true.

Up to now.

But this one…

Never going to happen.

Not if she had any say in it.

A whimper from beside her pulled her thoughts back from the future to the present. A warm, wet tongue licked her face, and she swiped it away. Another whimper and she opened her eyes. A huge dog sat beside her. Blond fur and golden eyes, pink tongue hanging out of his mouth.

“Sorry, boy.” She patted his head. “I’m okay.” She’d met her new friend shortly after she’d arrived two months ago. She’d snuck out to go explore the moor and found him with his leg caught in a hunter’s trap. She’d freed him, and they’d been friends ever since. She’d always wanted a puppy. But her sister Regan had two Hell hounds and they would have no doubt eaten it.

Or it would have run away and abandoned her like everyone else did.

Her mother had dumped her when she was no more than a few days old. Handed her over to her sister, Regan, like she was an unwanted kitten to be given away—maybe she should be glad her mother hadn’t just drowned her.

She didn’t even know who her father was.

And while Regan loved her, her sister had always been a little distracted, and now she’d fallen in love and wastotallydistracted. And she’d sent her away. To the end of the world or what might well have been. For her own protection.Hah.

But that was two months ago, and the danger was over now, and they still didn’t want her back.

Instead they expected her to stay with a bloodsucking, cold-hearted monster.

A shiver ran through her that had nothing to do with the cold.

The dog rubbed against her, and she rested her hand on his back and pushed herself to her feet. He came almost to her shoulder, the biggest dog she had ever seen. Though a total cutie, without an aggressive bone in his body.

She pulled her phone from her pocket. No signal. What a surprise. The snow was falling thick and fast, and the night was dark and cold.

She magicked up a flame of witch-light. That was about all the magic she was allowed to do as yet—little tricks and glamors. Though Regan had promised to start her proper training as soon as she got home. If she ever got home.

She looked around and then headed up to a small knoll, climbing to the top, raising her phone above her head and eventually managed to get two bars. She punched in the number and waited. They probably wouldn’t even answer. Obviously, they had abandoned her. Probably forgotten she even existed.

Finally, someone picked up. “Catrin Morgan, speaking.”

“Catrin. It’s Lola. I need to come home. Now.” She hated to beg, but really. “It’s Christmas. Christmas is for families, right? And I want to come home.”

“It’s not really… convenient right now.”

Notconvenient? She was nothing but aninconvenience? That hurt. But she had to convince Catrin.

“I had a vision,” she said.

“A good one?”

“No, not a good one,” she snapped. “A really, really, never-going-to-happen-in-a-million-years bad vision.”

“But your visions always come true.”

“Not this time.”

Catrin was silent for a moment. “What did you see?”

She took a deep breath. “I saw me. Kissing Lachlan MacNair. Under the mistletoe.”