Page 42 of Hostile Holiday

“Well, I will tell you two a quick story. Your mom taught me to knit. We would sit while you were engaged in a dance or sport I couldn’t afford, and we would knit. One time, she was working on a red and green holiday sweater, and she was smiling the whole time. I asked her why, and she said she had put her heart and soul into the sweater. If it ever mattered, it mattered around the holidays, so this was the time. I helped her decorate it, and I felt the power in it. You have it on your arm.”

Emery asked softly, “Orlas, would one of you sacrifice your body to give your mother’s soul a place to go again?”

Orla looked up. “Absolutely.”

The other one said, “No. Take me. I can see that you have skills I don’t have yet, and I don’t want you to waste that effort.”

Orla extended her bloodied hand, and her other self took it. Their souls met and melded. She whispered, “Oh, wow.”

Emery caught the body and said, “The sweater?”

Orla unwrapped the knit from her arm, stroked it, and handed it over. She watched as her body was stretched out on the ground, and Emery moved quickly to cover the torso with the folded knit.

* * * *

Emery focused, pressed her hands to either side of Orla’s temples and breathed slowly, easing the soul from the fabric and into the body. She surrendered the piece of Yinmar she had carried since she first met Orla and put it into the body. Now, she needed to reshape the body to its original specs. Fortunately, transformation magic was her forte.

She hummed and focused, and when she burst into flame, the body lifted off the ground, and Emery knit body and soul together.

Fire and darkness mixed with starlight, and Yinmar settled down once again. Emery fixed her energy on her fist and started the heart. There was a count of three, and Yinmar gasped, heaving upward.

Orla stood, dripping with blood, and she started to cry. “Is she okay?”

Emery sat back and watched the woman settle into the body that was half hers anyway. “Yinmar, you are back. It has been a decade and a half since you walked the world. Your daughter is grown and about to have a partner of her own. Your husband and his family are dead.” Emery stroked the dark gold hair. “Orla is a little bloody.”

The woman opened and closed her mouth. Emery helped her sit up, and she stepped back and let Orla come in.

Yinmar whispered, “Baby girl? Golden princess? Is that you?”

“My hair got darker as I aged, but yeah, Mom. It’s me.”

Emery smiled and walked to open the door that wasn’t there. “Do the witnesses of the council confirm that it was a proper kill?”

Kelnen, Olmin, and Argo nodded. “We confirm it. What are you doing with the bodies?”

“Disposal. They will be gone in ten minutes.”

Kelnen walked up to her and ruffled her hair. “Well done, soul star.”

“Thank you. Hey, you guessed the star.” She smiled.

He chuckled. “It glows out of you. You are constantly trying to make others happy in every way you can.”

“Happy souls weigh on me less.” She shrugged.

“Well, you did well. Your sword skills are impressive.”

“Yinmar found me a tutor when I was fourteen. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone, and that is when I had to pull my body back and keep it from turning into this. No one needed to know.” She pulled a hank of her black, red, and gold hair forward. “Still haven’t decided whether I am going to keep this now that I can wear it.”

“Rowen has been asking about you.”

“Lovely. I have to go destroy some blood and bodies. I hope your Yule tomorrow is fun and festive.”

“What are you doing for Yule?”

“The diner is open until seven, so fuzzy slippers by seven thirty and takeout delivered by seven forty-five.”

“Would you like to come to the Yule party? Winter is hosting it this year.”

---