“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!” The room began chanting a countdown for the solstice and the new year it heralded.
As the numbers wound down, Ferron reached out and ran his thumb across his wife’s mouth.
At zero, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Aurelia’s. A camera flashed. The room exploded with cheers, and kissing, and clinking glassware.
Ferron’s lips remained pressed against Aurelia’s, but as he kissed her, he raised his eyes, and his gaze locked onto Helena’s face.
She stared back, forgetting to breathe, frozen in place.
Her stomach flipped, and her heart began pounding until her blood roared in her ears. She wanted to draw back, to disappear, but she was trapped by that cold silver.
He didn’t look away until Aurelia broke off the kiss, turning from him. His eyes immedi
