Page 314 of Heart So Hollow

At that, Colson lets out a chuckle, scratching the bridge of his nose.

“There will be no show and tell, thank you very much!” Dallas barks across the coffee table.

“Mase,” Alex lets his head fall back as Mason walks behind them, “have I told you lately that your woman’s batshit?”

“What, are you new here?” Mason scoffs as he rounds the corner and sits down next to Tyler.

“Don’t be shy,” Tyler raises her chin, casting Alex a pompous glance, “I think it’s a beautiful homage to your most prized possession.”

At that, Dallas’s face instantly softens and her mouth falls open, “That is so sweet, thank you…”

I have no idea what they’re talking about and Alex doesn’t seem interested in elaborating. “Fine,” he narrows his eyes at Tyler, “then why don’t you quit talking about mine and show her yours?”

She throws him a smug look and turns, tossing her leg over Mason’s. His eyes light up as she straddles his lap and leans onto his chest. Hooking his thumb in the back of her sweatpants, he pulls the waistband down to reveal a string of ornate lettering across the small of her back.

I push away from Colson’s side and lean toward her to get a better look, “La…” I pause as I try to make out the second word.

“Strega,” Alex rumbles menacingly, switching from a Spanish accent to Italian.

“What does it mean?” I ask, admiring the smooth curls of Edwardian script.

But Tyler doesn’t answer. When I glance up, Mason is gripping the back of her neck, kissing her while his hand gradually dips lower until I can’t see the letters anymore. I lean away, retracting back into Colson’s side again.

Colson averts his eyes and then looks away altogether, not so much out of respect for them, but for me, “The witch…” he mutters with a faint smile.

“Why the witch?” I ask, gazing up at him.

“Because,” Mason’s voice cuts in, “she is…”

“La Strega…” Alex finishes his sentence in the same deep, Italian accent, nodding slowly as a smile plays behind his eyes.

“Clearly, I need to catch up—with the ink and the stories,” I say, brushing my thumb over the compass rose on Colson’s arm, “does Sydney have any tattoos?”

“Just one,” Tyler replies with a hint of bitterness.

As she slides off Mason’s lap, her fiery gaze slowly shifts from me to Aiden, who’s appeared behind Alex and Dallas.

A devious smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, making him look positively wicked as he locks eyes with Tyler. He stays that way until Sydney appears behind him and he turns to follow her around the corner of the sofa.

“Are we ready?” she asks as she takes a seat on the sofa across from us.

She’s so full of poise, her posture perfect as she sits at the edge of the cushion, beaming at everyone around the coffee table smattered with mugs and bowls of festive snacks. Aiden settles in next to her, leaning back into the cushions with his arm slung over his head and his legs spread wide. In this opulent mansion, he looks like some war lord who should have a couple of Dobermans or a Bengal tiger sitting at his feet.

“Alright,” Dallas slides her legs off of Alex’s lap and straightens up, “I would like to start off this magical and horrifying evening off with a couple of toasts—” she raises her mug, “to Evie and Emily, who should be here with us right now. We never forgot, and we never gave up, and I hope we’ve made you proud.” Dallas pauses in reflection, “I wish we’d gotten to see who both of you might’ve been,” she says softly. A moment later, she takes a deep breath and casts a sly glance to Sydney, “And also to the first federal court date for Canaan’s finest.”

At that, a cacophony of whoops and whistles echoes through the room, bouncing off the high ceiling. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, indeed. Once the commotion dies down, Dallas continues her introductions.

“Now, as we all know, Brett is a writer—a best-selling author of the grotesque and macabre. She and Colson have travelled all this way and I promised her some scary stories, so we—” she glances at Sydney and Tyler, “thought this would be the perfect opportunity to tell her some of our own.” Dallas swivels her head around to me with a smirk, “Are you ready?”

“You have my attention,” I glance up at Colson, “especially after you said he doesn’t even know some of them.”

“Wait, what?” Colson perks up, “Know what?”

“Ooooh…” Sydney taunts him from across the table, drawing her knees up and settling back against Aiden, who laughs under his breath.

Colson narrows his eyes at Dallas, “The fuck did you all do?”

“We didn’t start the fire…” Tyler starts singing from across the sofa, “it was always burning, since the world was turning…” soon, she descends into laughter and the three of them break into giggles.

“Alright, alright…” Dallas brings order back to the group and picks up a flashlight that’s sitting amongst the snacks on the table, “Sydney, will you please do the honors?”

Sydney grabs a remote from the side table and dims the black chandelier hanging above us. They’re not kidding with the ambiance. Candlelight flickers in the hurricane lamps scattered throughout the room, decorated with holly berries and garland.

“Now,” Dallas clears her throat and clicks on the flashlight, raising it to her chin in dramatic fashion, “pay attention. Because this story has a lot of twists and turns, and if you get lost,” her dark eyes brim with anticipation, “you’ll never find your way home…”

THE END

---