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“I insist,” Madame Sophia interrupted. “On the house. A Christmas gift.”

“No, really, please?—”

“Consider this a gift for someone who’s troubled. Please. I insist.”

Alice lowered her head and took a deep breath. After a moment, she raised her head. “Okay. A quick reading.”

“Excellent,” Madame Sophia said. She gathered the items back into Alice’s basket before placing everything behind the counter on the floor. “These can wait until we’re done. Follow me.”

She turned to the other cashier and said, “We’ll be right back.” Madame Sophia navigated her way through a maze of cardboard boxes stacked behind the counter as she disappeared behind a curtain shielding the back area.

Alice followed.

“Right in here,” Madame Sophia said as she entered a small alcove room in the back. She held back a thick curtain with one hand and motioned for Alice to sit in a chair with the other. “Please sit.”

Alice did as instructed, taking her seat at a small, round table. She removed her curved, brimmed hat and set it next to her on the floor. The alcove was filled with the usual trappings of someone who gave readings. Incense burning. Candles lit.Stones scattered about. A black cloth draped over the table. It reminded Alice of home.

“Clear your mind,” Madame Sophia said as she closed the curtain. She took her seat at the table opposite from Alice.

“Easier said than done,” Alice replied.

“Give me your hands.”

Alice examined the table. It was empty, lacking any of Madame Sophia’s usual tarot cards. “Don’t you usually have a deck or something?”

“I never said it was a tarot reading. Give me your hands,” Madame Sophia said again in a low, soothing voice.

Alice reached out, wrapping her fingers around Madame Sophia’s awaiting hands one finger at a time.

“Now. Close your eyes and breathe deep,” Madame Sophia commanded in her soothing voice.

Alice blacked out the world and took a few deep breaths.

“You’re missing someone, aren’t you, Alice Primrose?”

Alice opened her eyes, staring directly at her. “How do you know my name?”

“I never reveal my secrets. Close your eyes. I want you to call out his name three times.”

Alice wanted to let go and walk away, but an unseen force held her in place. If this offered even the slightest bit of hope for connecting with Hugo, she would do it.

Alice closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Hugo Dodds. Hugo Dodds. Hugo Dodds,” she said.

“Take a deep breath, and when someone squeezes your hand, I want you to open your eyes. Only open your eyes once you feel someone squeezing.”

Alice took a deep breath. The world went silent. She could no longer hear the faint sounds of the customers on the other side of the wall or the sound of the candles flickering. The smell of incense disappeared. Madame Sophia’s hands slipped from hergrasp. The confines of the steel chair were gone, as if Alice were floating in a vast space.

Alice’s heart raced as she fought the urge to open her eyes, to peel back her eyelids as if she allowed herself to fall into a trap. Some retribution set up by the vampires of the Court of the Crimson Rose as payback for the deaths of Sylvia and Sebastian. She used her might to open her eyes, but something held them shut. She tried again and again, but she remained in the dark. The weightlessness. The darkness. Panic coursed through her veins.

Alice wanted to scream out, but a set of hands squeezed back. Comfort in the darkness. Calm set in, her nerves easing and the panic dissipating. They were different, not as old or wrinkly as Madame Sophia’s. They were the hands of someone much younger. Different in shape and warmer to the touch. Maybe Madame Sophia was able to contact Hugo, and his image would be waiting for her. Alice remembered her instructions and opened her eyes.

Alice was greeted by familiar eyes, but they weren’t Hugo’s icy blues. No. She had seen these eyes, but only in pictures. The familiar hazel eyes. Unmistakable, bright auburn hair. Her radiant smile warmed Alice’s heart.

“Thank you,” the soft voice said. “Thank you for taking caring of him.”

Elizabeth sat at the table across from her.

Alice batted her emerald green eyes a few times in disbelief, but also to hold back the tears. Her mouth dropped open, and she was at a loss for words. Alice couldn’t see anything beyond the table. The room was a blur of shaded colors, as if she were transported somewhere else, but it was still similar to the alcove she had occupied.