Free Hunted Holiday: A Vampire Romance by Mandy M. Roth Page B

the guy they get charged with pulling—he ain’t tiny.”
    Mimi groaned. “Dani, do not mock Santa.”
    “Mimi,” she said softly, hating to be the bearer of the obvious. “You do realize you’re Fae and that in itself says the odds of you being Christian and celebrating a—”
    Mimi frowned. “I always wanted to celebrate, but my family didn’t see the point. Conrad thinks I’m silly. I like it. I like the idea of it, and honestly, there are some interesting overlaps with Christmas and Fae religious beliefs, which aren’t that far from what the druids believe.”
    Dani grunted. “I have never had a group of Fae show up at my door, caroling.”
    Mimi snorted. “Yet.”
    “True.”
    “It shouldn’t matter what religion I am,” said Mimi, holding her current decoration of choice much like a teddy bear. “I want to celebrate, so I am.”
    “You should have baby-stepped it and just went with a tree,” offered Dani.
    Mimi sighed, a defeated expression coming over her. “I knew I forgot something.”
    It took all of Dani’s strength not to laugh. “You mean to tell me you went through all this trouble, but you don’t have a tree?”
    “Yes,” said Mimi, looking dispirited. “I forgot the tree.”
    “When I was reporting in to Cornell, I noticed he had a bunch of them around his place. I can steal one of his.”  
    “Danielle Malloye, you will not be a grinch,” said Mimi, her eyes wide.
    “The guy is loaded and I’m pretty sure he had his minions do the heavy lifting. Doubt he’d notice one missing.”
    Mimi paused. “So, tell me about your last visit with Mr. Hot ‘n’ Hunky Boss Man.”
    Rolling her eyes, Dani bent and gathered some snow, packing it into a snowball. “Not much to tell. After that big bust down at Millennium Park, which he showed up at, by the way, he then demanded I return to his home with him, rather than the office. I did. He let everyone else involved go to the office.”
    “Don’t you think it’s weird that you live next door to one of Chicago’s most influential vampires?” asked Mimi.
    Dani shrugged. “I’ve no idea why he picked here to build. Oak Tree Ridge is hardly up-and-coming or a happening section of town.”
    Mimi grinned. “Gee. I wonder.”
    “What does that mean?”
    Mimi licked her lips. “I’m sure I have no idea.”
    Dani tried to hide her blush. “It was so weird. He burst in like a superhero during the battle and started ripping through the bad guys. When the rest had scattered to the winds, Cornell walked around me in circles, scowled, told me I should have waited for him to get there before even entering the area—like I was supposed to know it was going to be an ambush—and then he demanded to know about all the injuries I’d sustained.”
    Mimi snorted. “He offer to kiss any?”
    “Be serious.”  
    “I am,” Mimi said, pointing to Cornell’s house. “The man built his house practically on top of you. I don’t think it’s a reach to say he’d certainly kiss your sore spots. And your non-sore ones.”
    Cornell’s house sat just behind an iron fence he’d had erected within days of the construction on the main house coming to a close. He had two hellhounds that, while adorable, at least in Dani’s eyes, couldn’t be permitted to roam the neighborhood unattended. Humans tended to freak out if they did.
    As if hellhounds made eating humans an event. They preferred demons.
    Everyone knew that.
    Okay, not everyone, but certainly anyone who knew anything about hellhounds knew as much. It wasn’t like humans were new to supernaturals. Since the supernaturals’ giant coming-out party in the mid-seventies, humans had been getting schooled on the paranormal. Dani was too young to have been around during the Paranormal Awakening, as the media had termed supernaturals outing themselves. She’d read about what had happened back then.
    It hadn’t been pretty for either side.
    “Hey, Dani, look!” yelled Mimi, holding another