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  “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*

  (Paranormal Romance)

  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

  Awoken

  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

  Threads of Gold

  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