“There is no need to sulk,” she said, her voice cold. “You would think we were marrying you to a gargoyle.”
Miranda McAllister was anything but a gargoyle. Rafe knew that for a fact, because he’d seen the pictures Angela McAllister, her mother, had sent Genoveva. And that wasn’t the point. What difference did it make how beautiful Miranda was if he didn’t get any say in the matter? As his jaw clenched and he tried to think of the best way to reply, his mother continued.
“It is not as if I had any say, either,” she said. “The prima-in-waiting must go with the consort that God decrees for her.”
“False equivalencies,” he shot back. “No one arranged that bond. It just happened. And at least you knew Dad.”
“Not well,” she replied, although her tone wasn’t quite as confident as it had been a moment earlier, as if she knew she was on shaky ground here. True, Rafe’s father Eduardo had grown up in Belen, south of Albuquerque, and so hadn’t spent a lot of time with the Santa Fe branch of their witch clan, but even so, he had met Genoveva a handful of times before they shared the fateful kiss that bound them together forever.
“But he wasn’t a goddamn stranger.”
“Language, Rafael.” Genoveva turned her back on the window and faced him, arms crossed. “You have had plenty of time to reconcile yourself to this marriage. Stop acting like a child and accept your responsibility to your clan.”
“Responsibility” and “clan” were two words Rafe would be happy never to hear again. “And what if I don’t?”
This time true anger, rather than mere irritation, flashed in his mother’s dark eyes. Her elegant, patrician features hard with displeasure, she said, “You would go against the will of your grandmother, her vision that this was the match fate had decreed for you?”
“Her words to you,” Rafe shot back. “It would have been nice if she could have specifically mentioned why it was so important that I marry Miranda McAllister. Vague mentions of possible futures don’t really do it for me.”
“Events were moving quickly. I did not have much time to speak to her before she went with the McAllister prima and her Wilcox consort to confront the dark warlock in California.” Genoveva drew herself up; she was not a short woman, but she still had to work to look directly into her son’s eyes. “But your grandmother’s sight was never wrong, Rafael. She might not have had time to tell me the particulars, but I would never question her judgment.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” Rafe remarked. He was tired of this, tired of the whole thing. The clock on the wall told him he had only a few hours of freedom left. No, the wedding wouldn’t take place the second Miranda McAllister stepped off the train, but as soon as she set foot in Santa Fe, he would be as bound to her as if he’d already put a ring on her finger. He ran a hand through his hair, then said, “Text me when she gets to the house.”
“Rafael — ”
He had no desire to stay and have his mother browbeat him any further. Without responding, he turned and left the study, and slammed the door behind him. A childish gesture, he knew, but the only thing he could think of to show how angry he was without actually becoming violent.
In a few hours, his life would be taken away forever.
And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
Hidden Gifts will be out on March 7, 2018. Preorder it here.
Also by Christine Pope
THE WITCHES OF CANYON ROAD
(Paranormal Romance)
Hidden Gifts
Darker Paths (May 2018)
Mysterious Ways (July 2018)
THE WITCHES OF CLEOPATRA HILL*
Darkangel
Darknight
Darkmoon
Sympathetic Magic
Protector
Spellbound
A Cleopatra Hill Christmas
Impractical Magic
Strange Magic
The Arrangement
Defender
Bad Blood
Deep Magic
Darktide
Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices.
THE DJINN WARS*
(Paranormal Romance)
Chosen
Taken
Fallen
Broken
Forsaken
Forbidden
Illuminated
The first three books of this series are also available in an omnibus edition at a special low price!
THE WATCHERS TRILOGY*
(Paranormal Romance)
Falling Dark
Dead of Night
Rising Dawn
THE SEDONA FILES*
(Paranormal Romance)
Bad Vibrations
Desert Hearts
Angel Fire
Star Crossed
Falling Angels
Enemy Mine
The first three books of this series are also available in an omnibus edition at a special low price!
TALES OF THE LATTER KINGDOMS*
(Fantasy Romance)
All Fall Down
Dragon Rose
Binding Spell
Ashes of Roses
One Thousand Nights
The Wolf of Harrow Hall
Moon Dance
The Song of the Thrush
Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices.
THE GAIAN CONSORTIUM SERIES*
(Science Fiction Romance)
Blood Will Tell
Breath of Life
The Gaia Gambit
The Mandala Maneuver
The Titan Trap
The Zhore Deception
* Indicates a completed series
About the Author
Christine Pope has been writing stories ever since she commandeered her family’s Smith-Corona typewriter back in the sixth grade. Her work includes paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and science fiction/space opera romance. She fell under the Land of Enchantment’s spell while researching her Djinn Wars series and now makes her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Sign up for Christine Pope’s newsletter and get an exclusive Witches of Cleopatra Hill prequel short story!
Christine Pope on the Web:
www.christinepope.com