Page 32 of Christmas Embrace

“Shadow person,” Tristan surmised.

“The high priestess attracts attention. Sometimes entities,” Luca explained. “We anticipated this.”

“Yes,” Kade agreed. “But I can’t get that scene out of my mind. Trinity. The wolves.” Demons. “The way they were killed. I didn’t want to talk about this today, but I got a look at the bodies yesterday. They were totally gutted. Whatever did this isn’t natural. And there was something else.”

“What?” Tristan asked.

“In addition to fae and demon evidence, human DNA was found in the brain cavity of one of the victims,” Kade disclosed, plowing his fingers through his hair.

“What?” Luca asked, surprise evident in his voice.

“Human. As in humans involved in a mass killing of wolves. Trinity’s brains were scooped out. She was completely eviscerated.”

“I can see how a uh,” Tristan hesitated and looked into the yard, “a demon might be capable of doing that kind of damage. A human? Not so much.”

“Not usually, no. But human involvement is an issue.” Kade glanced at the time on his phone. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

“What is it now?” Luca asked.

“The wedding.” Sydney is going to kill us.

“Samantha is going to kick your ass.” Tristan grinned and slapped Luca on the shoulder.

“Goddammit. That planner told us not to leave that room,” Luca grumbled. “There’s nothing out here anyway.”

“Come on, big guy. Let’s get you to the church on time,” Tristan gestured toward the hallway. “Demon’s gonna hate. But demon’s gotta wait.”

“It’s not a church. It’s a garden.” Luca paused to address Tristan. “I don’t miss your colloquialisms, wolf.”

“Hey, just making a little levity, bro. I mean, we just smelled sulfur and saw a black shadowy whatever the fuck it was. Kade’s got human DNA in wolf brains.”

“In her cranial cavity,” Kade corrected.

“Sorry.” Tristan laughed. “Um, that would be a cranial cavity.”

As Tristan and Luca turned into the house, Kade paused and scanned the yard one last time. His jaw tightened as he caught sight of the black smoke drift through a streetlight toward the end of his driveway. Like a flash of darkness, the shadow blocked the light only momentarily.

Although tempted to investigate, he set his focus back on the task at hand. Wedding.

Kade forced a smile as the wedding planner strode toward him like a bat out of Hell.

“One minute.” She held up a dismissive finger and tapped furiously at her iPad.

“I’m sorry, what…” Kade began.

“One minute to get to the altar,” she huffed. “Our bride is situated and ready to walk. Guests are seated.”

“But we had to check on…” Kade let his words trail off, deciding not to needlessly alarm her. “Never mind.”

“Where’s the groom?” She pointed to Luca. “Ah, there you are. Thank you, Mr. Macquarie. Please follow me. The rest of you come as well.” She turned on a dime, her fake smile falling flat as she led them through the mansion, her heels tapping loudly upon the marble floor. “We don’t want to disappoint our bride. The high priestess is waiting.”

“No we don’t,” Tristan said, flashing Kade a cheeky smile. ‘She’s gonna kick his ass,’ he mouthed.

Kade laughed, concealing his concern over the demon energy lingering outside his door.

‘“We’re not going to mention to the ladies what just happened here with the doorbell,” Luca told them.

“Mum’s the word,” Tristan agreed.