Page 46 of The Naughty Or Nice Clause

“No, I’m worried someone will pry and find out wearen’tengaged,” she argued, putting some distance between them. Being so close to him only muddled her thoughts.

“Only a few more days, and then you can leave and be forgotten.”

“Nice to know I’m so easy to forget,” she muttered. “But how are you going to explain my absence?”

“I’ll tell them you couldn’t face leaving your world behind. Others have left for the same reason. The council won’t wipe your memory, if you leave honestly.”

“So they would only wipe my memory if they discovered our deception?”

“Yes – they aren’t barbarians. All outsiders are given a choice to stay or leave. However, if they think you’ve betrayed their trust, they wouldn’t trust you with keeping Yule’s secrets.”

“This is making my head hurt.”

“I don’t make the rules. Unless this is your way of confessing your love for me and telling me you want to stay and turn our lie into a truth?” He was blocking her path to the door.

Lyla’s eyes flashed to his, and there was a tense silence. She saw the uncertainty in Mason’s eyes, and it made her heart hammer in her throat.

Crossing her arms, she stepped closer.

“Never.”

Chapter Eighteen

“THERE YOU BOTH are! We’re going to the festival to watch the lights!” Mrs Klaus said as Lyla and Mason walked into the house. Kevin and Lou were by her side, dressed to go out for the evening.

After spending the day learning about the ins and out of the workshop, Mason and Lyla had gone for dinner, then to an ice cream shop that served the best peppermint ice cream Lyla had ever tasted. They’d reached home tired and full. All Lyla could think about was a hot shower and bed. Her nose was so cold after a day of walking she thought it might snap off.

“Lights? June mentioned it was tonight,” Mason groaned.

Lyla looked at him questioningly, and suddenly realised he was holding her hand. She didn’t know when he had taken hold of it.

“Fireworks. There’s a display to mark the sixth day before Christmas at midnight,” he explained.

“And there are crafts and food stalls, a few games,” Lou said, coming out of the sitting room.

“I think Lyla’s tired,” Mason told them. “We’ve had a long day. You can go on without us.”

“Sorry – family rules. You can’t get out of the lights festival,” Lou said playfully.

Lyla didn’t want to go against his eldest sister, so she squeezed Mason’s hand, telling him it was okay to attend. As Mason continued to argue with his sister anyway, Kevin crept up beside them. Gone were his usual band T-shirts; in their place he wore a pale blue shirt that brought out his eyes. Lyla noticed they were lighter than Mason’s.

“Ian came by the house, said you went to the workshop. There’s no leaving us now that you know all our secrets,” he said with a grin.

Before she could stop it, nervous laughter erupted from her. She certainly didn’t want to continue a conversation about secrets, so she interrupted the arguing siblings.

“I would love to go. Grandpa here can stay and have a nap,” she announced, elbowing Mason in the side. Her shower would have to wait.

“Then it’s settled. We’re all going,” Lou said.

Bells rang through the village. When they turned into the village square, Mason stopped, and Lyla saw a mass of villagers holding candles and singing around the Christmas tree.

“Is this a vigil for your father?” Lyla asked.

“Unless you know of anyone else who died,” he said, and tried to turn them down an alley while his family went ahead, lost in their own conversations, and then into the gathering crowd.

“Shouldn’t you stay?” Lyla said, taking his arm.

He resisted her pull towards the crowd like a petulant child. “Why? I know he’s gone; do I need to spend the night dwelling on it?”

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