Mack's Marvelous Manifestations, Tome 1 : Brandon's Very Merry Haunted Christmas

[Jon]

Christmas was at full swing at my place. We had both the Havili and Bane families—minus their sister, Sammy, who was with her fiancé’s family—gathered around the living room, and some of them were more in the spirit of Christmas cheer than others, due to the punch. (I don’t know who spiked the punch. I suspected Brandon, but really, it could have been Natalie. Neither sibling was to be trusted.) We lounged on various couches and chairs, Skylar on the floor near the tree and acting like Santa’s elf, passing out presents to each person. We’d chosen to open presents on Christmas Eve so we could all sleep in and do individual Christmases on the day itself. With such a large group, we’d also chosen to draw names from a hat to keep the expenses down, and Brandon had drawn my name.

I’d not expected him to get anything to my taste. We didn’t really know each other, since we hadn’t spent much time together, but truly, he’d done rather well. It was just, um…

Of course Donovan picked up on my hesitation and leaned into my side, looking at the snow globe. “You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s quite nice,” I assured him, then caught Brandon staring at me in growing concern. He looked so like his mother, with those amber brown eyes, that it was hard to take that expression. And it was even harder because he sat directly across from me, so there was no real way to avoid his eyes. “Truly, it’s quite lovely. Probably the best snow globe I’ve seen, and I’m short on Christmas decorations, it’s just….”

Oh boy. I shot Donovan an apologetic smile, wincing in anticipation as I said, “Haunted.”

Donovan left the chair so fast, air vacuumed in his wake. He was on the other side of the kitchen bar before I could say ‘boo,’ and even then, he looked ready to hightail it out the back door. Aaron looked ready to join him, as did Alani, but the rest of the family crowded in to get a better look.

“I can’t see anything but snow and crystal,” Skylar complained. “Are you sure?”

“Oh, quite sure.” Dammit. I was accustomed to putting my foot in my mouth and ruining a moment—that was just the story of my life—but this had to be a first.

“Brandon, what the hell!” Donovan whined from the relative safety of the kitchen. “Don’t bring haunted stuff home with you!”

“Dude, how was I supposed to know it was haunted?” Brandon shot back. “I was on a trip, and I saw it in a gift shop. It didn’t come with any warning labels.”

He made a fair point.