Addict (Hunter #2)(73)

The table went quiet. I hated the way they stared at me. So much flipping sympathy. I couldn’t stand it. I smiled. It was totally fake. I wanted the attention off me. I brazenly used my four-year-old cousin to deflect attention. “So Court, what did Santa bring you this year?”

Christmas had been about four weeks before. I’d enjoyed an Italian Christmas with Marcus. Christmas dinner had been nine courses.

Courtney’s brown eyes were huge, and there was no mistaking her terror. “I don’t wike Santa Cwaus. I don’t wike his wong bweawd.” She shook her head vigorously.

“It’s all right, cupcake.” Zack patted his daughter on the back. “Santa is never coming again. Remember Uncle Daniel killed Santa Claus.”

My mouth dropped open. “You killed Santa? Dude, that’s rude.”

Donovan shook his head. “Turns out he was a demon. The old folklore on the guy was right. He was some bad shit. He liked to catch kids in his beard and pull them in and…”

He let me figure out the last part for myself.

“That was when Dan decided to seriously start looking for a sheriff,” Quinn offered. “If you’d been around, you could have sent Saint Nick to his eternal damnation. Dan had to do it. The boys sulked for a month.”

“Then fake Santa brought us new bikes,” Rhys piped up with his eternal smile.

“Fake Santa was better.” Lee finished off his cake. “But, hey, the Easter Bunny is still out there somewhere. Kelsey can kill that.”

“Good to know.” I wasn’t looking forward to that job. “Do I want to know what the Easter Bunny does to small children?”

Donovan shook his head firmly. “No, you do not. Ever seen Monty Python? ’Cause someone on that show has met the little f*cker, let me tell you.”

Courtney gave me a rundown of all the things that scared her. It was an impressive list. Ice cream trucks, trains, hairless cats, clowns, the color orange, string beans…the list went on. After a while she got tired of talking to adults and wandered off to play with Evan.

I was listening intently to stories about my father when there was a knock at the door. Lisa got up to answer it. I glanced at my uncle, who sniffed the air and then completely ignored whoever it was. It seemed a good hint that whoever was at the door wasn’t a threat.

“Are you really going to kill the Easter Bunny?” Liv leaned forward. She had a hand on my arm and I could tell she was happily plastered. I was going to have so much fun with her tomorrow. Of course, there was still tonight. I wondered where Casey was.

“Yeah.” I was much more cheerful. No one was looking at me like the lovelorn idiot. “And probably the tooth faery, too. Tell me something, Livvie. Do you think Casey is somewhere strumming his sad guitar, making up songs about how much he loves you?”

She flushed. It made me giggle.

“I was helping out.” She frowned. I knew my BFF. She was thinking about him. She was thinking about the egghead, wannabe-skater-turned-pacifist vampire.

“Seriously?” I didn’t have to say anything more. We had a shorthand, Liv and I.

She rolled her eyes like I was talking crazy. “No.”

That no sounded an awful lot like a maybe to me.

“Dev,” Lisa said, walking into the dining room. “Two of your bouncers are here. They said there’s some trouble in the club.”

The faery pushed back his chair with a sigh. “A club owner’s work is never done.” He leaned over and kissed his wife. “I’ll be back.” The king started to push back his chair, and Dev sent him a questioning look. “Stay here, Dan. I can handle the club.”

I was watching Lisa. I didn’t like the tight look in her eyes. Her jaw was rigid. She didn’t look like a woman who’d greeted some welcome guests. Then there was the fact that she followed Dev out of the dining room rather than sitting back down. Something didn’t feel right, and I’ve learned to follow my instincts.

I didn’t have all the resources I needed on my own, but then I had a whole family around me. I turned to my uncle. “Do you smell anything odd?”

Zack breathed the air deeply. The king stared at Zack while the queen immediately stood and started counting children. The minute I asked the question, she went into protection mode. I kind of took it as a compliment. The queen knew when it was time to circle the wagons. Lee was still at the table, but Rhys had wandered off. Evangeline had toddled back into the dining room, but I couldn’t see Courtney.

Zack didn’t look terribly concerned. “It’s Ray and Walter. They’re bouncers. Huh. That’s weird. Are they wearing perfume? I smell something sweet.”

Something was wrong. Trent had mentioned a sweet smell on Alan. It couldn’t be a coincidence. I figured the scent came out in the sweat. I stood calmly, pushing my chair back. Donovan stood as well.

I shook my head his way, an indication for him to stay put. “I’ll handle it. You take care of the people in here.”

“What’s going on?” Zack stood up beside me. “My wife is out there.”

My uncle is a badass, but he’s not an alpha.

“Follow me.” I made my voice deep and commanding. There was no doubt in my tone. I walked and he followed. The king nodded to me. Zoey clutched Evangeline as I strode toward the door. Rhys walked in and was surprised to find himself quickly in his mother’s hold. Lee stood.