On a Clear Winter Night: An Irin Chronicles Short Story Read Online Free

her grandchildren.”
    Ava started to sniffle again.
    “What?” Malachi laughed and pressed her face to his shoulder. “No, not again. Stop, Ava. You cried at the tissue advertisement on the television the other day.”
    “It was really cute!” She swiped at her cheeks. “And the mom was so sweet with the little boy and she just… I know. It’s ridiculous. Ignore me.”
    He captured her lips and devoured them thoroughly. By the time he pulled away, Ava was breathless and her pulse was soaring.
    “Never,” he muttered against her mouth. “Never will I ignore you.”
    She slid an arm around his waist and pressed closer. “I miss you.”
    Sex had become very uncomfortable a few weeks before. For two people who had such a strong physical connection, going without it was difficult. They could do other things, but…
    Malachi leaned down and whispered, “We’ll have to be creative again tonight.”
    “Sounds good to me.”
    He gave her a wicked smile. “I enjoy being creative.”
    “And as for the Christmas and Midwinter idea,” she said, “that sounds great. I’d love to do that. But I don’t mind having Christmas in Istanbul. Or we could go to Malibu to meet her there. But I want the babies to be able to celebrate Christmas too. There’s no reason we can’t do both.”
    “Extra cookies.”
    Ava perked up. “There are cookies?”
    “I’m fairly sure I smell some right now. Do you want to go look?”
    “Yes.” She held up her arms. “Okay. Hoist me up, babe.”
    “Oooh.” Malachi stood and looked down at her, his hands on his hips. “I might need to call Bruno in to help with this.”

    THAT night, Ava was put to work twisting the soft kringle sweet breads that Karen was making for Midwinter. She cut the dough at the table and twisted it into pretzel-like twists that would rise and bake in the oven. It was a tedious task, but she could listen to Karen and Candace talk while she worked and it allowed her to stay off her aching feet.
    She looked up when Candace sat next to her.
    “Hello,” the quiet American woman said. “How are you feeling?”
    “Good. Ready.” Ava had never felt particularly close to Candace, even when she’d stayed at Sarihöfn. The soft-spoken brunette had lost her mate eight years before Ava had met her. Perhaps Ava’s own grief at the time had been too new, but she’d avoided someone with wounds so similar to her own. “How are you and Brooke liking the Czech Republic?”
    “We like it. Everyone is very friendly. Brooke is better with the language than I am. I still have trouble not thinking in English all the time.”
    “So you were born in America?”
    Candace nodded.
    “And your mate was American, too?”
    “Canadian,” she said quietly. “In Europe, the Irin travel so much, but in the Americas, villages were much more spread out. Ezekiel and I both came from very small communities. We didn’t meet until just after the Rending. It was during that period when Irina were disappearing everywhere. I felt so… lost. All my family was dead. A woman from my village said she knew of a way to Canada. Her son was there with his mate, and she wanted to try to find them. She was very old. Powerful. I went with her because I didn’t want to be alone.”
    “And you met your mate.”
    Candace nodded. The pain in her eyes was still so raw that Ava had to look away.
    “I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Ava said. “I need help.”
    “Oh?” Candace’s green eyes lit up. “What can I help with?”
    Ava put her hand on her belly. “Well… this, I guess.”
    “Oh, but Astrid—”
    “Is great. She’s delivered a lot of babies. But you’re the only singer I know who’s actually given birth.”
    Candace smiled. “I suppose that’s true. I hadn’t thought about that. Zeke and I lived so quietly after… I grew up in a village with many births, so I didn’t worry when Brooke was born. I had helped other Irina give birth when I was young. I saw my grandmother