Mistress Of Hypnosis Holidazed -

“Just for a moment, Mark,” Cora said. Her eyes locked onto his. There was a flicker of something ancient and patient in her gaze. Mark’s protest died on his lips. His jaw went slack.

Chloe stared, bewildered, then looked at the yams. She smiled. “You know what? They are. Mark, try one.”

Lila tried to protest, but the word “ridiculous” turned into a yawn halfway through. Serena’s grip on her phone loosened, and the device slid onto the table with a soft thud. The toddler, Leo, stopped hiccupping. He stared at the swinging silver teardrop, his mouth forming a perfect little ‘O’. Mistress Of Hypnosis Holidazed

Cora sat in her corner, eating a slice of her clay-like fruitcake, which she had secretly laced with a calming, non-psychoactive tincture of chamomile and skullcap. The pendulum was back in her pocket.

Seven heads lifted. But these were not the same people who had been snarling over the yams. “Just for a moment, Mark,” Cora said

Cora’s voice became the only real thing in the room. It wove around the clinking ice in Mark’s scotch, the crackle of the fire, the distant sound of sleigh bells from a TV commercial. She spoke of deep forests, of soft snowfall, of the perfect, heavy silence after a storm. She didn’t erase their personalities; she just… unclenched them.

A wet, heavy silence fell. Leo hiccupped. Mark’s protest died on his lips

Lila blinked, then looked at Serena. Her eyes welled with real, uncomplicated love. “Darling,” she said, her voice soft. “I’m so sorry you’re hurting. He was a fool.” She reached across the table and squeezed her daughter’s hand.