Night Play (Dark-Hunter 5)

Kyrian narrowed his eyes at his sister-in-law before he looked at his wife.

"You know, I always thought I had faced evil incarnate. And then I met your sister.

She makes a total mockery of all known malevolent forces."

"Would you two stop?" Amanda said to them. "We have company, and speaking of evil incarnate. Why don't you go face it in the nursery and change your daughter's diaper?"

"Anything to get her out of Tabitha's clutches before she corrupts her. It's even worth facing the toxic waste."

Tabitha snorted at that. "Go on, little Marissa, and make sure you do something really nasty to Daddy when he changes you, okay?"

The baby laughed as Tabitha handed her over to her father.

Kyrian started for the stairs, then stopped as he caught sight of the wolf sitting quietly behind Bride.

"Is that who I think it is?" Amanda asked him.

Kyrian cocked his head. "Yeah, I think so."

Bride's heart stopped. "You know his owner?"

Kyrian looked a bit uneasy with her question. "He doesn't really have an owner per se. How did you end up with him?"

"He turned up at my house and I took him in."

Kyrian and Amanda exchanged a puzzled look. "He let you?"

"Well, yeah."

Tabitha opened her mouth as if she understood what they were thinking.

"Oh, dear Lord, don't tell me he's one of your cockamamie friends."

"They're better than yours," Kyrian snapped. "At least mine aren't insane."

"Yeah, right. They're just" Tabitha snapped her mouth shut, then passed a fake smile to Bride. "You want to show him your hand? I'm sure he's going to know all about your mysterious serial killer."

Bride hesitated. "He knows serial killers?"

"He knows lots of truly unsavory people."

"And Tabitha leads off that list."

"Kyrian!" Amanda snapped.

Tabitha crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged nonchalantly. "It's okay, Mandy. Let him pick. At least I'm not the one with the receding hairline."

His face suddenly ashen, Kyrian ran his hand along his hairline.

"You're not going bald," Amanda snapped, then she turned to her sister.

"Would you stop picking on my husband?"

"Geritol started it."

Bride wasn't sure what to think of them now. This had to be the weirdest house she'd ever been inside. "Maybe I should have called the police."

"Nah," Tabitha said in a blasi tone. "No doubt your serial killer would kill them, too. Show him your hand."

Slightly hesitant, Bride moved forward to do so. "Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Kyrian nodded.

She swallowed in fear. "Am I going to die?"

"No," he said, locking gazes with her. "It's not a death symbol."

Bride let out a relieved breath. "What is it, then?"

He cringed a bit before he responded. "That I really can't tell you. But I can promise you this, whoever has a matching mark would sooner kill himself than see you hurt."

Bride closed her hand. "That's what Vane said."

Kyrian's gaze went to the wolf. "Well, you can trust him. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a diaper with my name on it."

"Is that all you're going to tell her?" Tabitha asked as he left them.

"It's all I can tell her," Kyrian said meaningfully, heading up the stairs.

Tabitha huffed. "Well, aren't you Mr. Information?"

"Tabby," Amanda said, taking her arm and pulling her toward the couches.

"Leave him alone." She smiled graciously at Bride. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

"No, thanks. I'm okay. At least as okay as I can be given the weirdness of this day."

Bride sat down on the couch in front of the windows while her wolf dashed up the stairs after Kyrian.

"Oh no." She got up to go after him.

"It's okay," Amanda said, stopping her as she rounded the coffin coffee table. "Let him go. Kyrian will bring him back down in a few minutes."

"Are you sure it's okay?"

Amanda nodded.

Kyrian had just finished changing Marissa's diaper when he felt a Were-Hunter presence outside his door. "Is that you, Vane?"

Vane pushed open the nursery door. "Thanks for not ratting me out down there."

Kyrian tossed the dirty diaper into the pail and picked Marissa up. She slapped a wet palm against his face before she squeezed his cheek playfully. "No problem. So what's up with the two of you?"

"I don't know. She's the human I was asking you how to date."

"I figured as much when I saw her. You should have told us it was Bride."

Vane sighed in frustration as he ignored that. "How do you tell a human what you are? How did Amanda react when she found out you were a Dark-Hunter?"

"She handled it with remarkable grace and dignity. Of course, it helps that her twin sister is certifiable. So, all things considered, I was the lesser of two evils."

Vane gave him a droll look.

"Does Bride have any loons in her family?" Kyrian asked him.

"Not that I know of."

"Then you're screwed."

"You have no idea," Vane said under his breath. "My pack knows I'm in New Orleans. They've already called out a tessera for me."

Kyrian felt for the wolf. He'd been in a similar situation and it was hard to be true to your preternatural nature while your heart was entangled with a human.

"You want to leave her here?"

Vane looked at the baby in Kyrian's arms and a part of him ached at the sight. He'd never really thought about having children before he'd found Bride. And in truth it was strange to see the former Dark-Hunter playing daddy.

What would it be like to hold his own child?

In the back of his mind, he could see a small daughter with red hair and pale skin like her mother.

"I can't endanger your family," Vane said quietly.

"I might be mortal now, but I'm still capable of fighting."

Vane shook his head. "No you're not. Neither is your wife. My people live their lives commanding magic and the forces of nature. You've never fought the Katagaria before and you have no idea what they're capable of."

Kyrian shifted his daughter in his arms as she started fussing. "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." And honestly, he was getting tired of not knowing. A year ago, Vane had known exactly who and what he was.

Exactly how to live his life and how to kill anyone who threatened it.

Ever since the night Anya had died, he'd been lost.

It wasn't until that evening in Bride's shop that he'd felt something other than despair.

Now he didn't know what he felt.

"Kyrian!"

Both men jumped at Amanda's call from downstairs. Kyrian clutched his daughter as they ran for the steps.

Vane was halfway down the curving stairs when he saw something that made his body run cold.

Jasyn Kallinos, one of the Katagaria hawks who was living temporarily at Sanctuary, was in the foyer in human form, bleeding. Amanda stood with her hand on the doorknob. From where she had invited him in.

Vane jumped over the banister and landed on the black-and-white marbled floor in a crouch just before Jasyn. Coming to his feet, he ignored Bride's gasp of alarm.

"What happened?" Vane asked.

"Those fucking wolves attacked us." His breathing ragged, Jasyn met Vane's gaze and the horror there singed him. "They killed Fang."