A Wizard for Christmas Read Online Free Page B

you.”
    “Perhaps. But maybe I’m not a very good judge of people. There is no Oblique Café. No one in my building has ever heard of it. I think you drugged me. Or hypnotized me.”
    “Hypnosis? Really? That’s the best your wildly imaginative mind could come up with?”
    “Goodbye Hadrian. Have a very merry Christmas.”
    She stuck her chin in the air and hoped she looked determined when she felt anything but. Tears stung the backs of her eyes. This was her chance, perhaps her one chance to spend Christmas with someone. Anyone.
    She stopped, but didn’t turn around.
    “What if I told you I didn’t have anywhere to go?” she asked the empty space in front of her.
    “I’d ask what happened to your apartment,” he answered.
    “It’s a long story.”
    “Hmmm...”
    “It’s a stupid, long story,” she amended.
    “There’s plenty of time to tell it, you know. There’s six days before Christmas.”
    She wanted to laugh. But if she did, she’d probably end up crying. So she bit her lower lip.
    “What should I do?” It was a desperate plea. A question framed more for herself than for anyone else.
    “Come to the café with me. Jake has a room upstairs. It’s not the Ritz, but it’s comfortable. And affordable.”
    His offer sounded like a blessing.
    “But there is no café.”
    “Not in this world. But, Holly, it does exist.” He held out his hand. “Believe me. It exists as a refuge for people like you...and me.”
    “A refuge?” That sounded wonderful. The rest didn’t make sense, but Holly was too tired to care. She closed her eyes but not before a tear seeped out. “Okay,” she whispered.
     
    * * * *
     
    “It wasn’t an accident or an act of charity,” the tall arctic blond man had admonished. Hadrian had introduced the man as Frank Stone. Stone seemed to be in charge. Everyone else listened whenever he spoke.
    “But I had nowhere to go. I would have ended up sleeping in the train station.” Holly gushed. Jake, The Oblique Café’s manager, had insisted she stay the week in the small apartment located above the café. It was a beautiful studio loft that was about twice the size of her apartment and about half the cost.
    She still couldn’t image why she couldn’t find the café the other day. It was less than a block from her apartment. She could see her apartment window from the café door.
    “You’re one of us, Holly,” Frank said. He sounded deadly serious. “It’s not charity when it’s what you deserve. It’s time that you understand. You’re one of us.”
    She glanced around the café. A little more than a dozen faces were all staring at her. Silent. Watching.
    “One of you? How?” she asked. A prickle of unease crawled up her scalp.
    “It’s difficult to explain,” Frank said. “We aren’t like the people you pass on the street. We’re different.”
    “Better,” someone in the café muttered.
    “Different,” Frank corrected.
    “You were an orphan? You have no family?”
    “How do you know that? And why do you all know my name?” Her gaze bounced from face to face. Expressions that had looked friendly and inviting a moment ago, now appeared suspicious. Dangerous.
    “As soon as we realized you were one of us,” Frank said, “we started keeping watch to make sure the darkness didn’t consume—”
    “Ohhh-kay.” They’d been stalking her? She held up her hands to keep them all back while she gathered her thoughts. Piece by piece things started to slide together. Hadrian going out of his way to find her. Their friendliness to a stranger. But she wasn’t a stranger to them. They’d been stalking her.
    She gave a nervous laugh. “I knew that apartment was too good to be true. I’ve landed myself in a cult.”
    She edged toward the door. “Thank you for your hospitality, but I’m not really cult material. I like to eat meat. My mind wanders, so meditation is out. And, boy, don’t get me started about following the rules. I’m not very good at