at his reflection as he came up behind her. âIt quite literally takes my breath away.â
Chapter Eight
Alanna filled four glasses with sparkling feijoa wine and handed them out, first to Aden, then her sisters.
âIâm so jealous!â Alanna exclaimed, and, in an overtly blatant display, which more often than not worked when she wanted something badly enough, she turned on the charm. âI think there has to be two more necklaces in those crates of yours.â
âUnfortunately,â Aden admitted with a hint of false apology and a wink, âthe dolphin is a one-off design.â
âRats!â Alanna took a gulp of wine, and the bubbles caused her to sneeze. Everyone laughed. âThen I get to wear the necklace next.â
Rosa placed a protective hand over the dolphin, unable to bear the thought of parting with it. This piece was hers. âIâve made an offer for it and Aden has accepted. So you wonât be getting your mitts on it anytime soon.â
Alannaâs consternation was evident. âHey. Isnât there an unwritten rule on purchasing a display item before itâs shown to the public?â
âWe make our own rules.â Rosa turned to Beth. âDonât we?â
âI believe so.â Beth grinned. âOne of the privileges of being self-employed.â
âYouâll have to choose from one of the pieces left if you want to buy something,â Aden told Alanna.
âJust as well youâve hired my cottage,â Alanna schmoozed. âYou can start work immediately on a replacement. I fancy a one-off design too.â
âIf I finish my current commission on time.â Aden wasnât about to be pushed. Good on him, thought Rosa. Her sister didnât take no for an answer easily. But then Aden added, âHave you any ideas on what youâd want?â
âOh, sheâll want a dragon,â Rosa informed him with certainty. âSheâs obsessed with them.â
What she didnât expect was the sudden caution in his eyes. It was there only for a second, but she witnessed it nonetheless before he resumed the slightly amused air he wore like a mask. She wondered if her sisters had seen the slip, but Beth was pottering about at the dining table, listening as she set out the cutlery. Alanna was too self-absorbed to see anything other than what she could get out of Aden.
âWhy are you obsessed with dragons?â Aden tilted his glass to clink with Alannaâs.
âSheâs famous for her dragons,â Rosa clinked her glass with his also. âYou must have heard about Gregori? The most famous one of all.â
Could it be she was reading too much into his casual stance as he sipped his wine while listening to them talk about Gregori? Two years ago, a jade dragon with inset ruby eyes had appeared in the galleryâs courtyard, positioned in the center of the ornamental pond. Heâd been there ever since.
Alanna had claimed she had carved him over several weeks in the evenings, but neither she nor Beth had ever seen her working on him, and Rosa had always felt there was something not right about Alannaâs story.
Gregori was the most exquisite piece. He gleamed with an inner beauty. His ruby inset eyes often glowed in the light of the day, even in the late afternoon sun and sometimes into the evening, as if they had been charged like a solar light. Rosa had often tried to inspect the spell within Gregori. His shield was strong, but she had picked up the fact that yes, Alanna had been the creator of the dragon. Since then, sheâd not questioned her sister again on the matter.
Not long after Gregori was created, word spread of his lifelike appearance, and he had become a focal point of their gallery and fame.
âI confess,â Aden told Alanna, âIâve heard rumors about the quality of this piece, and he is one of the reasons I agreed to come to Ravenâs
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