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“We’ll need a Christmas miracle,” Oliver said. “All of us will need a Christmas miracle.”

“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. If you don’t mind, can you watch Max for me?” Alice asked.

“Of course,” Oliver said. “We’re family. We’ll help in any way we can.”

“And if I don’t come back?—”

“Ifwedon’t come back,” Carol said.

Alice snapped her attention to Carol. She held onto the wall with one hand and peered around the corner leading to their bedroom.

“Carol, I appreciate the offer, but it’s risky. I don’t even know if I’ll come back,” Alice said.

“Can you get him back?” Carol asked. “Can you bring our Hugo back?”

Alice removed her hat. She turned the brim in her hands. “It’s a long shot. It’s risky. It’s the last hope I have left.”

“Then it’s good enough for me,” Carol said. “If you need to go somewhere to get Hugo, then I can’t let you go alone.”

“Carol, maybe we should think about this,” Oliver said.

Carol gulped, tears forming in her eyes. She held her right hand over her heart in a fist. “We’ve lost too many friends. Too many people we hold dear. And Hugo—” Carol’s voice cracked. “Hugo is like a son to us. I’ve cried every day since you told me he died.”

Tears streaked down Alice’s face. “He died saving me. His last act of love was to ensure I lived. He sacrificed himself for me because he loved me so dearly. There was no other way. I tried. I did, but Sylvia had a hold over him.”

Alice wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her coat. “It was his idea. He told me to do it. I couldn’t . . . I couldn’t stake him,but he insisted. He told me it would be okay. But it hasn’t been okay. I haven’t been able to sleep or eat. I’ve been researching day and night how to bring him back. I’ve tried to call for him, but he didn’t answer.”

Alice sniffled to hold back the deluge of tears. “Hugo was trying to communicate with me, though. He placed a hockey stick under the bed. I was able to speak to him through my reflection. There was a spot where I tried to pull him through until some dark figure interrupted it. I’m not able to pull him through without endangering him. Possibly both of us. I have no choice except to go there myself.”

Carol moved toward Alice and wrapped her arms around her. Alice hugged her back, placing her chin on Carol’s shoulder.

Carol squeezed, holding Alice close. “If you can bring our Hugo back, if you can perform this miracle, then we’ll go together. As a family.”

Carol and Alice released their hug.

Oliver rose from the couch and stood next to Carol. He took her left hand. “We’ll go together,” he said.

“I don’t even know where to go or where it could lead,” Alice said. “Are you up for the trip?”

“For Hugo?” Oliver asked. “Yes.”

“For Hugo,” Carol chimed in.

Alice lowered and shook her head. She placed her hat back on her head. “Alright. Okay. But whatever happens, you must do exactly as I say.”

“Whatever it takes,” Carol said.

Alice smiled and said, “Whatever it takes.”

“So, how do you expect us to get there?” Oliver asked. “It’s not like we can take a plane or bus.”

Alice threw her hands up. “I don’t know how. I was going to ask Ez if she had any clue. It’s far beyond any magick she or I could conjure. We need someone truly powerful.”

Alice turned her head, mesmerized by the Santa figure waving at her from across the room.

“Do you mean like Merlin?” Oliver asked. “Is he real?”

Alice never turned her eyes away from the waving Santa. “Wasreal. A long time ago. We need someone who can really deliver on this. One of the most powerful magick users I know. Someone?—”