Free A Christmas Peril by Michelle Scott Page A

for the first time since I’d
met him. “You’re amazing. You’ll be the most beautiful woman in the
room.” He handed me the armful of white roses.
    I grinned, relieved, and reached for
the bouquet. Unfortunately, the motion loosened my bodice, and the
hidden stake slipped free, clattering to the ground. When I made a
grab for it, the second one came loose as well.
    Both men stared at me. This time, not
in a good way.
    “ You’re bringing weapons
to a Christmas party…why?” Andrew asked carefully. Then his eyes
narrowed as realization sunk in. “Whose party is this?”
    “ Hedda Widderstrom’s,”
Isaiah said. His deep voice could have made the windows rattle.
“And, Cassie, if she found out you brought weapons to her party,
she’d be furious.” He frowned. “I told you before. This is a
peaceful event.”
    Peaceful vampires? Now there was an
oxymoron. Then again, Isaiah had always shown more faith in the
vampires than I did. Although I’d be the first to admit that Hedda
kept her grieve on a tight leash, her rules hadn’t stopped her
vamps from hurting me in the past.
    Still, riling them up wasn’t a good
idea, either. If this was to be a peaceful party, I could at least
pretend to come unarmed. With a self-deprecating smile, I laid the
stakes on the table. The holy water, however, would stay right
where it was.
    “ The weapons are beside
the point,” Andrew said. “Cassie, I will not let you go.” He stood in front
of the door with his arms crossed. My friend wasn’t nearly as tall
or broad as my boyfriend, but his marathon workouts at the gym had
given him a lean, hard body. If he wanted to restrain me, I
couldn’t have stopped him.
    Andrew glared, daring Isaiah to
challenge him. “I can’t believe you would bring Cassie to a party
hosted by soul-sucking monsters!”
    Instead of getting angry, Isaiah
softened. He understood how Andrew had been struggling to survive
ever since the vampires had stolen his soul. “It’s a Christmas
party. Nothing more.”
    Andrew wasn’t mollified. “Since when
do vampires celebrate Christmas?”
    “ They don’t, but their
human blood partners do.”
    “ But we’re not
vampires or blood
partners, so why were we invited?” I asked. I would have rather
spent the night curled up with Isaiah on the couch, watching
superhero movies, eating popcorn, and making out like
teenagers.
    He shrugged. “Hedda considers you a
friend of the grieve, and she probably wants to show her
appreciation.”
    I respected Hedda, but I wasn’t sure I
wanted her appreciation. In the world of vampires, everything came
with a price. Including presents.
    “ I’ll take good care of
Cassie. And Hedda’s forbidden any of her vampires to touch her. If
they risk it, Hedda will make them wish they’d never
lived.”
    “ By then it could be too
late,” Andrew said. His brown eyes pleaded with me. “Please Cassie,
stay home.”
    I wanted to. I really did. But Hedda
was the head of the Widderstrom grieve. I didn’t dare offend her by
not coming. Besides, with Isaiah by my side, I’d be
safe.
    “ I won’t stay long,” I
promised Andrew.
    “ Besides, this is a
perfect time to observe the vampires,” Isaiah added. “We won’t get
another opportunity to watch them so closely. It may help us out in
the future.”
    Good point. Vampires were cagey
creatures who seldom opened up to humans. What went on in their
grieves was a mystery because they believed that humans had no
place in vampire politics. Besides, spying would give me something
to do rather than sit in a corner sipping ginger ale.
    Still, I wasn’t wasting an entire
night playing vampire anthropologist. “Do we have to stay long?” I
asked Isaiah.
    He arched an eyebrow. “Why? Do you
have something else planned?”
    I ran my hand along his arm, reveling
in the taut muscles underneath. “I could think of a few
things.”
    He offered one of his rare smiles.
“Can those things wait for an hour?”
    An hour. Okay, I could