The Silver Rose by Rowena May O'Sullivan Page B

at his reflection as he came up behind her. “It quite literally takes my breath away.”

Chapter Eight
    Alanna filled four glasses with sparkling feijoa wine and handed them out, first to Aden, then her sisters.
    â€œI’m so jealous!” 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. “I think there has to be two more necklaces in those crates of yours.”
    â€œUnfortunately,” Aden admitted with a hint of false apology and a wink, “the dolphin is a one-off design.”
    â€œRats!” Alanna took a gulp of wine, and the bubbles caused her to sneeze. Everyone laughed. “Then I get to wear the necklace next.”
    Rosa placed a protective hand over the dolphin, unable to bear the thought of parting with it. This piece was hers. “I’ve made an offer for it and Aden has accepted. So you won’t be getting your mitts on it anytime soon.”
    Alanna’s consternation was evident. “Hey. Isn’t there an unwritten rule on purchasing a display item before it’s shown to the public?”
    â€œWe make our own rules.” Rosa turned to Beth. “Don’t we?”
    â€œI believe so.” Beth grinned. “One of the privileges of being self-employed.”
    â€œYou’ll have to choose from one of the pieces left if you want to buy something,” Aden told Alanna.
    â€œJust as well you’ve hired my cottage,” Alanna schmoozed. “You can start work immediately on a replacement. I fancy a one-off design too.”
    â€œIf I finish my current commission on time.” Aden wasn’t about to be pushed. Good on him, thought Rosa. Her sister didn’t take no for an answer easily. But then Aden added, “Have you any ideas on what you’d want?”
    â€œOh, she’ll want a dragon,” Rosa informed him with certainty. “She’s obsessed with them.”
    What she didn’t 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.
    â€œWhy are you obsessed with dragons?” Aden tilted his glass to clink with Alanna’s.
    â€œShe’s famous for her dragons,” Rosa clinked her glass with his also. “You must have heard about Gregori? The most famous one of all.”
    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 gallery’s courtyard, positioned in the center of the ornamental pond. He’d 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 Alanna’s 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, she’d 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.
    â€œI confess,” Aden told Alanna, “I’ve heard rumors about the quality of this piece, and he is one of the reasons I agreed to come to Raven’s