Upon the Midnight Clear (18 page)

Before she could comment, he vanished.

Aimee stood there as she considered his words. He was right, but knowing something and acting on it were two entirely different things.

“What did he want?”

She hesitated at her father's question. Over seven feet in height, her father intimidated almost everyone who saw him. But not her. As his only daughter, Aimee knew he'd never harm her. “He was wishing me a Happy Holiday.”

Her father smiled before he pulled her against him and kissed the top of her head. “You attract the strangest creatures.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” She looked meaningfully at her brothers.

Her father laughed.

But his laughter didn't ease her. “Papa? Can I ask you something?”

He narrowed his gaze on her. “I'm not sure I like that tone of voice, but you can try.”

Before she spoke, she glanced to where her mother played with the cubs. “Had you not been fated for Maman, would you have still stayed with her?”

His gaze turned dark. “Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity.”

His expression hardened and she could see that her response didn't appease him. “Don't lie to me, Aimee. I can smell it on your skin. You're thinking of that wolf, aren't you?”

She looked away, unable to answer him. Not that he didn't already know.

Her father's eyes snapped fire at her. “He is not our kind.”

And in her mind that changed nothing. “I know that, Papa. I tell it to myself every day.”

“If you leave us for him, I don't know if Nicolette could handle it. Your mother can be harsh, but she does love you and she only wants what's best for all of us.”

“I know.”

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “But this is your life,
ma petite coeur.
I will always be here for you.”

Aimee closed her eyes as those words eased her heart. “Thank you, Papa. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now smile and join the party.” He left her to speak to her brother Serre while Aimee felt suddenly out of place and she didn't know why. This was her home. These were her people and family, and yet …

She'd never experienced anything like this before and it made her ache.

“You okay, sis?”

She nodded at her brother Kyle as he paused by her side. “I have a headache starting.”

“You want me to get something for you?”

She smiled at his youthful face. He was the most precious of all her siblings. “It's okay, baby. I think I'm going to lie down for a few minutes. Tell Maman that I'll be back down shortly.”

“Okay.”

She squeezed his arm before she made her way from the bar through the door that connected this building to the house where they all lived. It was eerily silent with everyone in the bar. This was the only time when the house was truly quiet.

Aimee made her way up to her room.

Pushing open the door, she paused as she caught a familiar scent.

Fang.

Her heart pounded as she slammed the door shut to look for him. But he wasn't here. She wanted to cry … at least until she realized his scent was still strong by her dresser.

She looked underneath a pile of papers to find a small box. Lifting it up, she inhaled the scent that was uniquely Fang's. How she missed him. Her eyes tearing, she unwrapped the gift and opened the box to find a small locket. It had a bear claw engraved around a diamond on the front. On the back was the paw of a wolf. But it was what was inside it that made her tears fall.

It was a piece of his fur. Aimee sobbed at the sight of it. Animals didn't give out things like this. With this fur, an enemy could track him through time.

But he trusted her enough to let her have it. Nothing had ever touched her more.

Her hand trembling, she closed the locket and hung it around her neck. The long chain fell down between her breasts, and she tucked it into her bra so that she could keep it as close as possible to her heart and keep it out of the sight of others.

As she reached for the box, she realized there was a note in the bottom. Unfolding it, she smiled at a typical Fang comment.

Miss you.

No “I love you.” Nothing sappy or romantic. Just a short, clear truth.

“I miss you, too,” she breathed, trying to stop the tears that fell. And it was then she looked up to see the remnant of a hand print on her mirror.

Fang's.

Aimee held her hand up to it, placing her palm against the imprint of his. “One day, Fang. One day…”

*   *   *

Fang blinked as he watched Aimee through the window. In wolf form, he was able to hide himself against the darkening sky. He wanted to hold her so badly, but he knew better than to try. His mere presence jeopardized her.

“One day, Aimee…”

His heart breaking, he backed away and padded across the roof until there was enough distance between them that he could change over to human form, flash into the clothes he'd been wearing, and climb down. He made his way to where he'd left his Suzuki GSX-R. He pulled his helmet on before he started the Jixer and headed home for the night.

It was so hard to be with his family when what he really wanted was Aimee. His brother Vane was a lucky wolf. His human mate, Bride, had accepted him, and the Fates had decreed them as partners for life.

If only a wolf could mate with a bear.

Sighing, Fang parked his bike and entered the house through the back door.

Bride had decked out the entire house for the Christmas holiday. There were bells, holly, and poinsettias everywhere. He heard laughter coming from the living room as he dropped his keys on the counter.

His brother Fury paused in the doorway. He cocked his head before he made a wolf sound in the back of his throat. “You better wash the bear off you before you get near Vane. You go in there smelling like that and he'll skin your ass raw.”

Fang started to tell him what he could do with his warning. The last thing he wanted was to remove Aimee's scent from him, but it was Christmas.

Time for peace and family.

“I'll be down in a few minutes.”

Fury nodded as he watched Fang head for the back staircase. He felt so bad for his brother. If he could, he'd hand Aimee over to him, but it wasn't meant to be. The bears would never tolerate their only daughter mating with a wolf. It just wasn't done. And if the Fates didn't decree it …

Man, it must suck.

“Fury?”

He turned to see Maggie coming down the hallway to join him in the kitchen. “You need a hand?” she asked.

“Nah,” he said, heading for the fridge. “I was just getting some water. I don't like to drink that human stuff. It screws with me and I don't think you want your dad to see me flash into wolf form while he's here.” Her father had no idea that he was surrounded by animals that were taking human form to placate Maggie and Bride's families. “My luck, I'd be so drunk I'd piss on his leg.”

Maggie's mate, Wren, laughed as he joined them. “For that, I might pay you.”

Maggie elbowed her mate in the stomach. “You promised me you'd behave.”

“I'm behaving. But if Fury happens to piss on your dad…”

“Wren!”

He held his hands up in surrender before he gave her a wink.

“You are all so evil.”

Wren only smiled as he grabbed water from the fridge before they returned to the living room where Bride's family was singing Christmas carols. Bride sat on the couch with her son in her lap while Vane sat on the floor, holding her hand as he cringed a bit from the disharmony of the a capella song.

Fury felt a deep need to howl, but the sharp look from Vane kept his jaw locked shut. He caught Fang's gaze as his brother rejoined them. His dark hair was still wet from his quick shower.

Sniffing, Fang made a very wolf-like cringe as his nose was assailed by the human scents around them. It was hard whenever there were this many around. But they'd become masters at blending in.

Sometimes.

Fury walked over and handed him a bottle of water. ‘Merry Christmas, brother.”

Fang nodded before he unscrewed the top and took a drink. But even so, Fury saw the longing on his brother's face and wondered what was worse. Knowing what he wanted and not being able to claim it or to be like him and have no idea if he'd ever find someone who could tolerate him …

 

 

New Orleans

Hunter Household

Kyrian Hunter looked around at his friends and family who were gathered for Christmas dinner. His son, Nicky, and daughter, Marissa, were playing under the tree with his mother-in-law while his best friend, Julian, and his wife Grace were helping their kids open the last of their presents.

His wife's family, the Devereaux clan, were all here, laughing and celebrating.

He had to be the luckiest bastard on the planet. It seemed like only yesterday he'd been alone in the world with no one to love. No one who cared about him.

And one night a lethal enemy had almost taken the very people who were now crowded into his home.

His sister-in-law, Tabitha, stood up and clanked her glass to get everyone's attention. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to take a second and say Merry Christmas to all of you.”

A shout went up, but Tabitha motioned them to silence. “You know, my Romanian grandmother always said that enemies and lovers make strange bedfellows.”

Kyrian met Valerius's gaze over Tabitha's head. The two of them had spent centuries hating one another. But for the sake of their wives who were twin sisters, they'd buried the ax—just not in Valerius's head as Kyrian had wanted. He raised his glass in a silent toast to Valerius who returned the gesture before his gaze went to his brother, Zarek, who was holding hands with his wife, Astrid. Like Kyrian, Zarek had spent eternity hating Valerius, too.

Now the brothers were reunited.

Miracles did happen. The people in this room were living proof.

“To family,” Tabitha said, holding up her glass. “And to those we've lost, but who we still hold in our hearts, I'd like to propose a moment of silence for them…”

Everyone bowed their heads in respect.

But it wasn't sadness Kyrian felt, it was gratitude that all of them were here tonight, alive and well.

He lifted his head at the same time Talon and Sunshine did. Kyrian smiled at them, remembering a time when he and Talon had been the only two Dark-Hunters to patrol New Orleans. Boy, how things had changed from that fateful day when he'd awakened handcuffed to his wife, Amanda.

And thank the gods for it.

*   *   *

Nick stepped back from the window as he watched the group inside lifting their heads from prayer. He placed his hand against the window and remembered Christmases past when he and his mother had been in Kyrian's house, celebrating.

Every year his mother had demanded he attend midnight mass with her. Every year until she'd been brutally murdered.

Now Nick had no one.

You could tell them.
Kyrian and Amanda would welcome him back. But he couldn't allow them to. He'd sold his soul to the devil for vengeance and whatever he saw, Stryker saw.

And Stryker wanted Kyrian's daughter.

No matter how much Nick might hate Acheron for allowing his mother to die, he couldn't let Kyrian suffer. He owed Kyrian too much for that.

Closing his eyes, Nick turned away from them and pulled his collar up higher on his neck to block the chill. There really should be some kind of do-over for mistakes. But there wasn't. Life was cold, and it was brutal.

For him, there could never be forgiveness. There was no way back to the life he'd once had.

No way back to the mother he'd once loved more than his own life. He'd screwed everything up royally.

His heart broken, Nick left Kyrian's home and crossed the street to where he'd parked his Jag. After getting inside, Nick paused to stare at Kyrian's house. The red and white lights sparkled in the night and he could hear the laughter that came from the party inside.

“Merry Christmas,” he breathed before he started his car and drove it over to the St. Louis Cemetery on Basin Street. He parked at the gas station across from it and crossed the empty street until he was at the locked gates. Nick looked to his right and then his left before he leapt to the top of the ten-foot wall and then jumped to the ground inside.

It was pitch black, but as a Dark-Hunter, he could see better at night than in full daylight. He ignored the hungry souls that reached out for him as he made his way to his mother's tomb. Because of his ties to Stryker, he was immune from possession by their souls.

Nick parted his coat and pulled out the roses he'd brought for her. Shattered by the tragedy of his life, he knelt down before her tomb and placed his forehead against the cold stone. “I miss you, Mom. And I'm sorry.”

And there in the darkness for the merest sliver of a moment, he thought he could feel her presence. But he knew better. She was as lost as he was.

Falling to his knees, Nick curled up against the tomb and squeezed his eyes shut as overwhelming grief racked him.

*   *   *

Stryker rolled his eyes as he saw the image of Nick at his mother's grave in his mind. “Why did I make him my servant again?”

His sister, Satara, looked up from her corner. “What?”

Stryker sighed as he shifted himself on his throne. “Your pet. He's whining again. Go get him.”

Satara let out a loud sound of disgust. “Why don't you kill him already?”

Stryker considered it. “Because he will be my tool to kill Acheron. Trust me.”

“Trust you…” She blew him a raspberry. She lifted her hand to form a ball so that she could see Nick. “Oh, just leave him. Let him wallow in his grief. The more he feels her loss, the better for us.”

Perhaps his sister was right.