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“WAKE UP, SAIGE!” AURORA said, shaking me hard enough to drag me out of my dream. “It’s Christmas!” she reminded me when I opened my eyes and glared at her.
“So?” I grumbled.
She was already fully dressed and tossed clothes onto my face. “Get up so we can open our presents and see what Santa brought us,” she ordered me.
The dream faded, leaving me with a deep sense of unease. It had felt so real that I could almost believe Drake really had ordered me to go to him. Shaking it off, I pulled my clothes on and followed the excited demon upstairs.
It was after ten in the morning, so Mom was awake. Kye was still in bed, since vamps didn’t operate as well during the day. He’d be sluggish and sleepy if he rose before nightfall.
“Merry Christmas, Lil Bish and Fantasy Queen,” mom said with a grin when we reached the kitchen. We often referred to each other as our gamer names.
“Merry Christmas, Big Momma,” Aurora and I said together, then giggled like a couple of kids. A huge breakfast was waiting for us. We sat down in the dining room to scoff it down.
“Aurora and I will clean up,” I offered when our plates were empty.
My bestie gave me a look of anguish at the delay. Mom and Kye had bought a real tree and it was standing in a bucket in the corner. The decorations were bright and pretty and a pile of gifts sat beneath it.
“You can open one gift,” mom said, taking pity on her adopted daughter.
“Yay!” Aurora squealed, then raced over to the living room. She dropped to her knees and picked up one of her presents. Tearing it open, she gasped in delight. “It’s that new zombie game we’ve been waiting to come out!” She held it up for me to see it and I grinned at her happiness. We hadn’t bothered to do anything for Christmas last year. Aurora had been too new to our world to truly appreciate the holiday. This year, we were going all out.
Mom refused to sit around while we cleaned up. She helped us rinse everything and stack them in the dishwasher. Once the kitchen was back in order, we made a fresh pot of coffee and got stuck into opening our gifts.
We had a bunch of new games to play, plus other items mom thought Aurora would like. My best friend was reduced to tears at how thoughtful my mother was. “I’m going to give you something I hope will make you really happy, Pearl,” she vowed.
“Can I have a hint?” mom asked, fighting down her own tears at seeing the demon so moved.
“How would you like a tattoo of Kye somewhere on your body?” Aurora asked.
Mom had a couple of tatts, but not a collection like I had. Her face lit up at that prospect. “I’d love one, kiddo,” she said enthusiastically. She’d seen how good Aurora was and knew the tattoo would be epic. “Tell me when you can fit me in and I’ll come to the studio to get it done,” she added. She’d met Mekhi and he’d marveled at how young she looked. She could pass for my slightly older sister.
“I’ll call Mekhi and let him know I’m back and we’ll fit you into my schedule,” Aurora said.
I made a mental note to go shopping and buy Aurora, mom and Kye some gifts, then we sat down to game. Mom had already installed the new zombie game, so we didn’t have to wait to play it.
Kye woke up after nightfall and ambled out to join us. His stomach rumbled and he gave us a sheepish look. “Can I borrow Pearl for a few minutes?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said with a knowing grin. “Aurora and I will start getting everything ready for dinner.”
“Don’t take too long,” Aurora said with a smirk. “We might eat everything and leave nothing for Pearl.”
Mom whispered something to Kye that made him hard. Aurora snickered beneath her breath. She waited for them to hurry down the hall to their bedroom before she opened her mouth. “Don’t!” I hissed, putting my hands over my ears. “I don’t want to know what she said!” I already knew it had something to do with eating him, but I didn’t want her to verify it.
A huge chicken was in the oven and would be done soon. I checked on the roasting vegetables, then began setting the table. Aurora took a large ham out of the fridge and expertly sliced it. “I’ve picked up a lot of skills during our missions out of town,” she said, wielding the knife with precision. “I could debone this thing blindfolded.”
I nodded in amused agreement. “I know how to swear in troll speak,” I boasted.
“Frug ylu,” she said and we both cracked up.
“Aurora!” mom barked. “Don’t make me wash your mouth out!”
“I forgot how good her hearing is,” my bestie said sheepishly. “Sorry, Pearl!”
Her ears perked up a short while later when she presumably heard mom and Kye getting naked together. I hurried to the living room and turned the TV up to smother their groans and moans. There were some things I didn’t need to hear. My parent having sex with her vampire fiancé was one of them.
“I’m going to call Mekhi and tell him we’re back,” Aurora said, since there wasn’t much left for us to do. She’d delayed the call to give him time to relax on his day off. The studio would be open tomorrow, since he was a workaholic. She ambled into the living room, leaving me to keep watch over the food.
“Was Mekhi happy to hear from you?” I asked when she returned a few minutes later.
“I’m surprised you didn’t hear him from in here,” she said with a grin. “He’s got a list of desperate clients waiting for me. He’s already texting them to see when they want to come in. He’ll let me know what my schedule is later tonight.”
It was great to see she was in such high demand. I was happy for her that she had a stable job and was earning good money. As for me, I was jobless and my savings were rapidly going to dwindle. I needed to come up with a plan, but I had no idea what I was going to do now that I was no longer a bounty hunter. The thought of getting a normal job waiting tables or something similar was too depressing to contemplate. I had enough money in my bank account to tide me over for a while, so I didn’t need to make a decision about my future straight away.
Kye looked well-fed and mom looked relaxed and satisfied when they emerged from their bedroom. I didn’t know where he’d bitten her, but the wound would have healed by now. She helped me dish out dinner, then we sat down to feast. Kye had the night off and joined us when we gamed. Mom had been teaching him how to play her collection of videogames and he was picking it up quickly.
Aurora returned to work the next day. She was going to be extremely busy for the foreseeable future. During the next few days, she spent her spare time filling a sketchpad with drawings from the fifth realm of the underworld.
It was the night before New Year’s Eve when my bestie shyly handed me a wrapped gift. “What’s this?” I asked. We’d bought mom, Kye and each other several presents during the sales after Christmas and had gotten some pretty good bargains.
“It’s a late Christmas present,” she said. “Open it!”
It was thin, light and about twelve inches long and eight inches wide. I tore the wrapper off and sucked in a breath when I saw the framed drawing. She’d sketched me in my troll form just as she’d told me she would. I was cradling the first rat that had groomed me against my cheek. While I was hideous, my expression was weirdly blissful. “It’s amazing,” I said, hugging it to my chest.
“Let me see,” mom said, holding her hand out. We were sitting in her living room. I handed the sketch to her and she examined it. “Wow, trolls are really ugly,” she said in amazement. “The drawing is incredible, but the tattoo you did of Kye for me yesterday is even better,” she said, glancing at her bicep. Kye was wearing his black trench coat, a black shirt, black jeans and steel-toed stomping boots. He was snarling just enough to show his fangs. He looked menacing, dangerous and mom loved it.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come to Mekhi’s New Year’s Eve party tomorrow night?” Aurora asked me.
“I’m sure,” I replied. “It’s for employees only and I don’t work for him.”
“He wouldn’t mind if I invited you along,” she said in exasperation.
“I wouldn’t feel like I belonged,” I explained. She nodded, but couldn’t quite hide her flicker of pity. Mom and Kye had plans for tomorrow night. I was the only one with nowhere to go and nothing to do. “I might visit Lenny at the Den,” I said with little enthusiasm. “He’ll be able to fill me in on the gossip we’ve missed out on while we were away.”
“Good idea,” she said in relief that I wasn’t going to sit at home like a complete loser. “Make sure you say hi to him for me.” I nodded in agreement, desperately holding my crushing depression at bay.
