Carrie’s Christmas Viking by Lindsay Townsend

Author:Lindsay Townsend [Townsend, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prairie Rose Publications
Published: 2020-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

Sitting by the small fire that could be rapidly added to, to create a blaze, Eric spoke the truth of his heart.

“Whatever comes tonight, this has been the best of days for me.”

Carrie touched his thigh briefly, a sign of agreement. His senses stirred, hotter than the tongues of flame, but he remained still. Her former husband denied their marriage this morning. Guard her, even against yourself.

He had a glimpse of this Jack earlier, while keeping the man out. He was, as Elfrida had described him, tall, scrawny and ginger. A Denzil for sure, and up to no good.

“More bread, cheese, dates?” Carrie asked, returning Eric to the present.

“Please.” He was not truly hungry, but sensed it gave her joy to feed him. “I’ll make more tea.”

She grinned at him. “You and tea!”

“Near as good as mead,” he replied, with a wink, “but not quite.”

They moved easily to the tiny kitchen, completing their tasks without colliding. Back beside the fire, lounging on the rug, Carrie drummed her fingers anxiously on the hearth.

“I tell you the rest?” he prompted, though a huge part of him dreaded her reaction.

She pursed her lips and glanced at the deep windowsill where he had once stood. “You must,” she agreed reluctantly. “Though it is unbelievable,” she added.

“I agree,” he admitted, and their eyes met in perfect understanding.

Swiftly, before he lost his nerve, Eric explained then of Joseph Denzil, the necromancer and enemy of Elfrida and Magnus, and how his descendant or reincarnation wanted Cliff Reach. That he had been warned not to allow the man she knew as Jack, her ex, to enter the cottage by invitation.

“Why not?” Carrie said then, adding, “You say that Jack really looks like this Denzil?”

Eric nodded.

“He could be a descendant, or something else? And after the same things as Joseph Denzil?” Carrie gave a tiny smile. “Given how you have materialized, I suppose that’s not impossible.”

He must have looked as stunned as he felt because she went on, “Jack liked secrets, getting one over people, knowing what others didn’t.”

Hidden knowledge such as that of the occult, Eric supplied. The idea was less than comforting.

“It took me a while to admit that about him, to stop making excuses for him being interested in New Age material when it was always a means to dominate others.” Carrie rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache, before stiffening and jerking her head up like a hunting hound. “He came to the cottage once before, so why is now different?”

Despite Jack’s interest in the occult, Eric hesitated to mention workings or dark enchantments, or the dreaded ley-lines, because despite the New Age, the modern world was overwhelmingly one of measures and science—and him being alive and not a statue was wild enough already. Even after all we have been through, all she has accepted, how can she believe me?

In the awkward silence, Carrie asked another tricky question. “Do you think the witch, Elfrida, spelled us to work together so well?” she demanded.

She echoed his own disquiet in this particular regard, but he would not say that.

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