Mila sighed. “She has a lot on her plate. And she does love you, in her way. She just wants to see you be as successful as she has been.”
“Well her way sucks, and she may be a success as a fairy, but she’s a failure as a mother.”
“Enough.” Mila’s voice was hard. “I get it, it’s not for you. But you love your job, and your father’s absolute adoration more than makes up for your mother’s reserved nature. Some of us don’t even have that.”
It stung, but she was right. She’d spent so much time trying to please her mother and prove herself, she hadn’t even realized she was already a success. She was a standout Tooth Fairy, she was a good, caring person and she had her dad. Her sweet, lovable, human dad who lavished her with hugs and support.
Lucienne needed to be powerful and surrounded in her castle with adulation and fealty. But Holly? Maybe it was time for Holly just to let herself be happy.
“You know, I’m glad I did it. I needed to try. Not just for her, but because if I didn’t, it would have always bothered me. I didn’t want to miss out, but now I know I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”
She paused, allowing herself to think about him.
“And even with Alex, maybe that was meant to happen too. To help me grow up and lose the over-the-top optimism and get a reality check.” Her face grew hot. She’d been such a fool. “God, I can’t believe how naïve I was.”
“Don’t be so quick to turn your back on that part of you. Hope is magic in itself. And trust is a priceless gift. Both to the person receiving it and the person bestowing it,” Mila said, her wistful tone so out of character, it seemed to come from someone else.
Holly opened her mouth to question her about it, but the cool mask of indifference had already slid back into place.
“So, it’s back to work tomorrow for you. Get a good night’s rest and I’ll see you in a few weeks for the quarterly meeting.”
“Wait!” This was the part she’d been dreading. She’d blown it big time, and this was only going to add insult to injury. “I-I left something behind. I’m sorry, but I can’t go back there to get it.” Her voice broke and she bit her lip hard.
Holly waited for the condemnation but Mila’s expression remained inscrutable. “It’s been taken care of.”
With a wave of a hand, Mila had gone, leaving Holly behind in her quiet little house by herself. How had Mila known about the pen? And how had she gotten it back?
She let the questions roll around in her mind for a moment and then shoved them aside. Who was she to question Mila’s power? She should just be happy she had one less problem.
And no reason to ever go back to Alex’s again.
The realization had been bittersweet.
It was probably for the best. A clean break. But that didn’t stop the dull throb of pain in her heart from beating double-time. She’d been alone for most of her life and it never bothered her before. But since Alex, alone felt very…lonely.
She shook off the maudlin thoughts and focused on the present. Right now, though, she had a job to do, and little Stevie Thompson was counting on her. It was New Year’s Eve and he had lost his very first tooth.
She reached down to her belt and unhooked the silken silver bag. Trying to conjure up happy thoughts, she extracted a pinch of fairy dust from the sack. If he woke up when she was trying to get the tooth that had lured her there from under his pillow, she’d dazzle him with a little fairy sleight of hand. With a sprinkle of dust, their interaction would seem like it had been a lovely dream when he awoke the next morning.
She eyed the lump on the bed appraisingly and went back for a larger pinch. Stevie was a big fella.
Pulling back the cover gently, she sprinkled the dust onto the head of the child, who promptly sneezed in her face.
“Bless you,” she said reflexively, then paused, confused. That wasn’t a child’s sneeze.
“Thank you,” Alex said as he sat up in the bed.
Holly’s heart skidded to a stop as she squinted in the dim light to make out his features.
“What are you doing here? And where is Stevie?” she demanded, her mind reeling with shock as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
“Stevie is my nephew, and he and his parents are having a luxurious mini-vacation in Boca on me.”
Holly turned to flee, desperate to get away before the hot tears burning her eyes let loose, but he took her arm, stilling her.
“Please. Don’t go.”
His voice sounded so raw, she halted.
“I thought I’d never smell that again,” he said softly.
She tamped down the urge to put a hand to her pounding heart. “Why are you doing this to me?” Hadn’t he done enough?
“I don’t want to hurt you. I just want a chance to explain.”
“What more is there to say? If it makes you feel better, I don’t hold any ill will toward you. But the thought of you laughing inside about what a sucker I was…” She shook her head slowly, the ache in her throat making it hard to speak. “If you’re truly sorry, you’ll do as I ask and leave me alone.”
Her voice cracked on the end and she tensed her jaw, pursing her lips shut tight to keep her mouth from trembling.
“I want you.”
Ah, so he wanted a repeat performance. She both cringed and ached at the thought. Anger replaced sadness in a flash. “I think you’ve had as much as you’re going to get of me, and far more than you deserved.”
“Shit,” he groaned and shook his head. “I didn’t mean it that way. I want…you. All of it, the whole package. The clumsy, cute, neurotic mess who doesn’t like to curse. The wild, sexy, femme fatale who, no matter what you say now, I know only comes out for me. I want it all.”
He gazed at her intently.
“I’m sorry I deceived you but I’m not the kind of guy who believes in fairy tales. I thought it was all a prank. And even then, deep down, I knew better, I knew I was seeing the real you. This may sound crazy but I don’t care. I’m nuts about you, and the thought of never seeing you again makes me feel sick and hollow inside. Please, Holly. Please just give me a chance.”
He was nuts.
About her.
Dizzy with elation, she gave up on controlling the lip and let out an involuntary snuffle.
He stood and pulled her into the warm circle of his arms. She pressed her forehead against his shoulder and tried to keep from sobbing.
She could forgive him and he would be hers if she wanted. That was good. Really good.
“It wasn’t pretend, you know,” he muttered into her hair. “At first, maybe. But the things we did together… I never allowed myself to go there with anyone else. It was never about making them shiver, it was just about making them come. You made me realize what I was missing. And what I was missing was you. If you never did another spell again, you’d still be pure magic.”
Joy coursed through her at his words. Maybe she was just being stupid, naïve Holly, but she had faith in her heart he was telling the truth.
She chuckled against his chest. “I still can’t believe you stole your nephew’s tooth for this. That’s a little coldhearted. Did you at least give him a dollar for it?”
The nightstand lamp clicked and the room was bathed in warm light.
Alex looked down at her, a gap-toothed smile wreathing his face. “Who said anything about stealing a tooth?”
Her stomach did a little flip. “Oh my gosh, what did you do?”
“Mila said the only way to summon a Tooth Fairy is to be in her territory, hide a tooth under your pillow and yearn for her. The first part worked out great since my sister lives here, and the last part was a piece of cake. The middle bit, not so much,” he said with a rueful smile. It faded quickly as his hazel eyes gazed into hers. “It was worth it though. I was a little worried that you wouldn’t think I was sexy anymore, but Mila said you can fix it.”
“I can,” she confirmed with a nod. “The question is, will I? You look kind of
cute like that.”
“Whatever you want, Holly Tucket. As long as you say you’ll give me a chance to prove that I’m good enough for you. Give us a chance to fall in love.”
“Yes.”
She pressed her lips to his, the thrill of it sending a tingle down her spine.
A chance to fall in love this holiday season. That’s all she’d ever really wanted, and it was hers.
Now that was real magic.
The End
About Chloe Cole
Chloe Cole is the New York Times bestselling author of the Montana Wolves, Montana Dragons, and New England Nightwalkers series.
www.chloe-cole.com
Raging Winter by Colleen Gleason
About Raging Winter
A Max Denton Vampire Hunter Story
When vampire hunter Max Denton goes undercover at an English estate over the Christmas holidays, the last person he wants to find there is the lovely Savina Eleiasa. But present she is--and on the arm of her new fiancé.
Prologue
~ Resolve ~
February 5, 1925
London
MAX DENTON STOOD at the open window, welcoming the icy breeze that cut his bare skin. The slicing cold reminded him that he could still at least feel something.
He couldn’t sleep again, as usual.
The nightmares he’d fought for years had recently become even more dark and insistent, more horrifying and violent…for they’d moved from being the memories of his dead, brutalized wife to even more haunting images.
Felicia was gone these thirteen years, ravaged at the hands of the vampires Max Denton hunted because of his family legacy. But their daughter Macey still lived—somewhere in America—and would soon become an even more compelling target for the undead.
Macey was destined to follow in the footsteps of her father, for Max was one in a long line of Venators—divinely empowered vampire hunters—in the Gardella family. She was soon to be called to take up the stake, to wear the protective vis bulla amulet, to spend her life hunting the undead. Living a life of violence and loneliness and sacrifice.
For all Max knew, she’d already done so.
And that was part of the reason he stood at the open window in February, clothed in nothing but a pair of trousers. He couldn’t sleep. He needed to experience something other than numbness…yet he dared not allow himself to feel anything but physical pain. Silent and still, he looked out over the frosted city of London, watching the full moon play over the rooftops and along the rippling Thames.
And even as he thought of, worried for, missed Macey—whom he hadn’t seen nor contacted for thirteen years—it was the loss of another woman that haunted his dreams.
Savina.
He closed his mind off to the nocturnal memories that had ultimately pulled him from sleep—the ones of sleek, warm skin, soft curves…a wide, smiling mouth that pursed softly when she spoke to him. Thick, ink-black hair, soft moans, and delighted laughter. Intelligent brown eyes, exotic in shape and color, flashing with determination, bright with love.
A love he’d been terrified to take and keep.
So now the bed behind him in this small, anonymous hotel room was empty of everything but rumpled sheets and bunched-up pillows.
Once again Max slept alone. Traveled alone. Ate alone. Hunted and planned and strategized alone. It was necessary, he told himself over and over, for he was determined to destroy the amulet that had belonged to the mysterious Rasputin, confidante of the Russian royal family. The powerful pendant had been missing since Rasputin’s death eight years ago, and Max needed to find it before it fell into the hands of the undead.
Or, more accurately, before it fell back into the hands of the undead—for the sly, mysterious Rasputin had been a powerful vampire himself. He’d wormed his way into the affections and confidences of the Romanov family of Russia beginning around 1908—particularly the tsarina, who came to adore the rough-looking, lecherous, and supposedly holy man when he healed her son of hemophilia.
In reality, Rasputin was as far from holy as Nicholas Iscariot was—and as Nicholas was the powerful son of the first vampire, Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus Christ, that was saying a lot. Unfortunately, the Russian royal family hadn’t seen—or hadn’t been able to see—the evil permeating from the man they trusted with their lives…and that put not only their crown but also their country in mortal danger.
The vampire Rasputin might still be alive today if it hadn’t been for Max, enraged and still grieving over the loss of his wife. He’d arrived on the scene in St. Petersburg very early in the morning on December 17, 1918, to find Rasputin still alive after several assassination attempts by Prince Felix and the Grand Duke of Russia.
Of course, the men who’d been trying to murder the vampire had no idea he was an undead—they just knew he was evil. Therefore, the poison they’d served him earlier that night had no effect on Rasputin. And the desperate bullets they’d put into his body later on in the evening (two in his back and one in the head) hadn’t done anything but cause the creature to become enraged and attack Felix with a truncheon.
Even drowning the man hadn’t seemed to work—until Max found them struggling to slide Rasputin’s bound body into the iced-over river. He took over, shooting a silver bullet into the vampire. That kept Rasputin paralyzed—as silver tended to do to an undead—making him appear dead. Only much later, after the man had been retrieved from the river and slipped into his coffin, had Max secretly returned and plunged a stake into the vampire’s heart.
Now the coffin, which was buried in secret, contained a corpse that wasn’t Rasputin’s and only the trace of foul-smelling vampire dust.
The worst thing about the fiasco related to the disposal of Rasputin was that somehow during the original assassination attempts, the protective amulet the vampire wore around his neck had gone missing.
It shouldn’t have been difficult to find, for the pendant was the size of a peach pit. It was made from copper and had a faint green glow emanating from it. The glow was only discernible in the dark, which should have made it relatively easy to locate once the sun went down…but no one had seen it for more than eight years.
But now, Max believed he was on the path of the amulet. He’d been living undercover for months now, developing a persona and building up his reputation simply so he would have a chance—one chance—to find out if he’d followed the trail correctly and had tracked down the mystical pendant. He believed it had been sold with a collection of mixed Russian jewelry and accessories at an auction in Amsterdam, and he was fairly certain Lord and Lady Glennington had purchased it.
Nevertheless, it would be months before he would actually find out whether all of his work and planning had been worthwhile—for he couldn’t simply show up at their home and search for it. There was, however, one positive in the situation: whoever had possession of the amulet wasn’t using it. Whether it was Glennington or not, the new owner either didn’t know of its powers or didn’t know how to utilize them—for which Max was infinitely grateful.
Because of the sensitivity of the situation (he didn’t want anyone—mortal or immortal—to know the amulet was missing), and his need to live as Dr. Elton Melke, only Wayren—the mystical woman who seemed to know everything anyway—was kept updated about where Max was and what he’d been doing for the last year.
It was better this way that he was alone, that he worked solo once again—safer for everyone, himself included…Hell, safer for himself mostly, in fact. But he missed her. By God, he missed her more than he’d ever thought possible.
Savina.
He pushed away the memory of hard brown eyes that masked the hurt and bewilderment he caused when he left. On Christmas Eve, no less, a little more than a year ago.
I have to leave. I need to do this alone.
It was mostly true. But a good portion of his decision had been self-preservation. A way to prove to himself that he was strong and unwavering in his vocation.
&nbs
p; Yet he couldn’t forget the way her wide, sensual mouth flattened in an effort to hold back arguments, accusations, pleading—no, no, no. Savina didn’t plead. She would never plead.
She’d flay his skin with her tongue, perhaps even cry furious tears as she tore into him with her fury. But she would never plead.
His lips quirked in spite of himself, then tightened.
It was better this way. Easier.
He could go about his business, his life’s work of bringing down as many of the damned—literally damned—undead he could, without worrying about anyone left at home. Anyone left behind, anyone attached to him, anyone who expected to know where he was or what he was doing, anyone who worried about him, who watched him with large, silent eyes, who was a target for the brutal vampires—
It was a weak argument. Oh, he knew it. Max was not blind to himself, and he knew precisely how weak and cowardly he was acting. Savina, much more so than Felicia, truly understood the violence and danger of his life. She’d been part of it for nearly as long as he had. She was so much stronger.
It was Max himself who was the weak one.
When I get my hands on the amulet and it’s safely put away…
But there would still be threats. Always there would be threats. Until the end of his life, there would be undead to kill, vampires hunting him, loved ones to protect, sacrifices to make. Every day.
It was better that he lived such a life alone.
When Nicholas Iscariot is dusted to ash, maybe then.
Yes. Maybe then, when the most powerful vampire on the earth was permanently dusted…maybe then, Max would be able to have a normal life. To love again. To see his daughter, who was now a young woman of twenty-one.
But until then, he was devoted only to the stake. To annihilating evil. His life was a sacrifice, a gift, a vocation.
Alphas for the Holidays Page 40