Page 92 of Bad Moon Rising (Dark-Hunter 17)
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
A week later
Fang stood inside Trace's nursery while Vane changed the toddler's diaper. It was so strange to see him doing something like this after all the battles the two of them had fought. Vane's hands were every bit as bloody as Fang's and yet here he was . . .
A loving father.
Squealing with laughter, Trace reached for his dad as Vane picked him up and rubbed his back, smoothing down the yellow Sponge-Bob shirt. Trace wrapped his chubby arms around Vane's neck and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. Damn if the two of them didn't look just alike.
Except Vane didn't drool as much.
It made him wonder what it would have been like to have that kind of relationship with his own father and it brought home just what had been taken from Aimee. She was devastated over the loss of her birth family. And he couldn't blame her at all.
Nicolette, for all her faults, did love her children.
Vane set Trace down so that he could run to grab his toys. "I meant what I said. You two are welcome here for as long as you need to stay."
"Thanks." Fang watched as Trace grabbed an oversized LEGO and chewed on it. "And not just for this." He indicated Trace with a tilt of his chin. "I can't believe what you were willing to risk for me."
Vane shrugged like it was no big thing, but they both knew otherwise. It had been one hell of a thing Vane had done and Fang still didn't really understand why. "We're brothers, Fang. Nothing will ever change that."
"Yeah"-he indicated Trace with a jerk of his chin-"but I was never that cute."
Vane laughed. "True."
Most of all, Fang couldn't believe that Bride had allowed Vane to go and make such an offer to Savitar, knowing it could have been her life too. Their sacrifice erased any hurt left by his being trapped in the Nether Realm. For the first time since he'd left his bed in Peltier House, he felt close to his brother again. "You know I love you, right?"
Vane pulled him into a tight hug. "I don't ever want to lose you again. Next time you pull one of these vanishing acts, either in this world or the next, I swear I'll kick your ass."
Fang laughed as he shoved Vane away from him. "Man, quit hugging on me. You are a perv."
Vane punched him in the arm. "You're such an asshole."
Trace gasped. "Daddy said a bad word!"
Fang picked him up from the floor and laughed. "You tell him, pup. Keep your daddy straight."
But for the first time in years, he felt almost whole again.
Aimee was still hesitant around Bride and Fury's mate, Angelia. Tall and blond, Lia was an Arcadian wolf who'd belonged to Fury's birth pack. They had reconnected last fall when Lia had come to Sanctuary to hunt him down and kill him.
Now the only one Lia would kill was the one who looked askance at Fury.
Yeah, life was anything but predictable.
Lia was staying here with them while Fury was meeting with Sasha to get an update on what was happening at Sanctuary. Aimee couldn't stand the radio silence and Fury had volunteered to be her liaison with her brothers.
"Aimee? Could you set the table?"
As she went for the plates, a flash near the doorway caught her attention. Dev materialized in the kitchen beside her.
Aimee almost dropped the plates. No one from her family had spoken a single syllable to her since Maman had thrown her out.
Dev glanced sheepishly at Bride and Lia before he turned his attention back to her. "Can I have a word with you?"
Handing the pretty blue plates off to Lia, she led him into the living room where they could speak without the others overhearing them. "What's going on?"
He materialized her suitcase. "I wanted you to have your things. I don't agree with what Maman did, none of us do. We're trying to soften her up-"
"But she is Maman."
He nodded as he set the case down beside the couch. "She won't hear us for now. We keep hoping every day that she'll relent and send one of us after you, but it's just not happening. I really miss you and wanted to let you know that you can call on us anytime you need something."
His offer warmed her completely. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to take him up on it. Not without getting him into all kinds of trouble and risking his having to join them here at the Kattalakis home. "Maman would be furious."
He shrugged. "I'm a big boy. I can handle it."
Yeah, right. No one was that big. Maman didn't like anyone going against her wishes-as was proven by Aimee's current situation.
"So how goes it?" she asked, dying for an update.
"It's tense. There's a lot of riffraff coming in, thinking they can push it since they no longer have to fear Savitar's wrath. But Remi's having a blast since there's no eirini laws in place to restrain him. We've all been getting some of our more predatorial instincts out." It was then she realized just how bruised his knuckles were.
She shook her head, amused and yet worried about her brothers. "How many have you killed?"
"None, but there's always tomorrow."
She laughed in spite of herself. "You're so sick."
He smiled with pride-gods, how she'd missed that shit-eating grin of his.
"What about the rest of the family? Are they returning?"
That sobered him immediately. "They're still in Oregon. When the cubs are born, they'll return."
It was what she'd figured. "Then you'll be on the run again. Moving from place to place like we used to do."
"No." Those blue eyes of his cut completely through her. "This is our home. No one's going to chase us out."
Her heart stopped at what he was saying. To continue to run the club without Savitar's backing was suicide. "Is Maman sure?"
"Yeah. After all Dante runs a club that isn't a limani and they haven't had too many incidents."
"Yeah, but-"
"It was a decision we all made," he said, cutting her protest off. "Besides, we've added a few others to our company, including Constantine, who is here to defend us for as long as we need him."
"It's the least he could do."
He nodded in agreement. "The Dark-Hunters are also taking up posts at night to help us out and Kyrian and Talon, hell even Valerius, are making sure to come by and visit . . . just in case. And of course Nick is there so much, I'm about to start charging the little bastard rent."
She laughed at the last bit, though the news did surprise her. While some of them had been patrons over the decades, she hadn't realized the extent of their loyalty. "Really?"
"Yeah. Since the Dark-Hunters can't be around each other without draining their powers, they swap out each night. So all in all, it's not as bad as you think."
Aimee narrowed her gaze on him. "But?"
