Hanging On By A Thread (Clearnight Haven Book 2), page 1
Hanging On by a Thread
Clearnight Haven 2
Fabian Valentine knew that when his best friend, king of the paranormals, Raven Stone, sent him to Clearnight Haven that he would have a big mess to clean up to get this coven back on track, but he never would have guessed what was really going on. Fabian, along with his four brothers, arrive in Clearnight ready to take on the task but are at a complete loss when they start uncovering the true depth of evil that has gripped this town.
Atticus Lovering has always been quiet and shy. Being the smallest vampire in his coven and having an abusive mother had him feeling inadequate most of his life. But when Atty decides to take a chance on love, it turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life and he finds himself trapped in the clutches of human traffickers.
Now it is up to Fabian to track down Atticus and others who have fallen victim. But Fabian's urgency to save Atticus soon takes on a whole new meaning when he discovers the cute little vampire is more important to him than he realized.
Hanging On by a Thread
Clearnight Haven 2
Copyright © 2017 Maggie Walsh
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Cover by: Maggie Walsh
Edited by: Avril Stepowski
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
CHAPTER 1
“Wow. Raven wasn’t kidding when he said no expense was spared when this place was built. Is that actual gold running through the marble on these floors?” Silas asked as he stood in the large foyer with his brothers, as they each turned in circles taking in their surroundings.
“I believe it is,” Saber grumbled in distaste.
“Aw, what’s the matter, big guy? Opulence not your thing?” Silas asked with a laugh.
“Not when so many in this coven have suffered for years, while that pig lived like this,” Saber growled.
“Well, I do believe that is why Raven sent us here, my brother. To straighten everything out now that Dean and Gallo are both gone, having met their makers,” Kalen added as he walked further into the room.
“Yeah, well, I want to know what Fabian did to piss Raven off so much that we were all sent to this little podunk town,” Saber grumbled.
“You didn’t have to come, Saber. All of you could have stayed in Venice, you know,” Fabian answered, amusement in his voice, as he slowly glided across the room, hands clasped behind his back, a small smirk on his face. He knew his brothers would never have stayed in Venice without him. As much as they all carried on and got on each other’s nerves, they were all as close as brothers could be. If one of them made a move, all of them did. And with him being the oldest, Fabian was usually the one they were all following. Besides his best friend Raven, his brothers were the only ones on this planet that he truly trusted and knew would always have his back. He would kill for any one of them, and he would die for them as well.
“Not me. I’m excited about coming to America. I think this town is quaint. And this place looks like a palace. No wonder Raven’s panties were in a bunch. What the hell was Malcolm Dean thinking when he built this monstrosity? Do you know how many people could live comfortably here? Damn, from what Raven said about this coven, we could probably have all the coven members live here and still have plenty of room,” Jasper replied with excitement.
“Of course, you would be thrilled to come here, Jasper. You’re still like a puppy. You look at everything in wonder, and like it’s a new adventure,” Saber bitched.
The excitement left Jasper’s eyes and was replaced with shame. Fabian caught the look before Jasper turned away to hide it. “Must you piss on everyone's parade, Saber? So what if the little guy is excited? He has every right to think this is a new adventure in his life, because technically it is,” Silas admonished as he moved to Jasper’s side and threw an arm over his shoulders. “Don’t listen to him, squirt. He’s just jaded. And an asshole.”
Jasper gave Silas a shy smile, but Fabian could see it didn’t reach his eyes. “You can go home whenever you want, Saber, but please don’t make our little brother feel ashamed for liking this move,” Fabian chastised.
Saber moved closer to Jasper and playfully punched him in the arm. “I didn’t mean to upset you, squirt. If you’re psyched to be here, then that’s great. Don’t let me bring you down.”
“Besides, you know Fabian was Raven’s only choice for this. With Fabian being his best friend and him also being able to fit in here in America without raising an eyebrow,” Kalen added.
“That, and it is Fabian’s time to finally lead his own coven,” Jasper said.
Fabian walked away from his brothers as they kept up their banter and moved further into the house. Shaking his head at all the expensive things surrounding him as he went. What the hell had Dean been thinking, building this place and furnishing it with all expensive as hell things? He had technically stolen the money from the Stone family, saying it was for coven costs, but Raven had found out that this coven was piss-poor and struggling because all the funds had in fact gone to this monstrosity he now stood in. Every cent going to make Malcolm Dean look as if he were a rich businessman and very powerful. The vampire’s over inflated ego and sense of being deserving of everything fueling his greed.
When Raven asked him to come here to take over this coven, his friend had not lied to him or hidden any of the problems he would face here. It was one of the things he liked most about Raven. His friend was always upfront and honest. He hadn’t pressured Fabian to come here when he asked if he would be interested, and made it perfectly clear that it was okay if Fabian declined. But when he heard what Dean had done here, and then what his uncle, Mario Gallo, had been trying to do, Fabian knew this is where he belonged.
He and his brothers were raised to treat others with respect and non-judgment. They were always told that they were fortunate to be raised without want of anything and that there were so many others in the world that had far less than they had, and that he and his brothers should always be humble, and do what they could to not only protect their kind, but any creature who needed help.
That is how Fabian and his brothers lived their lives. They traveled around as peace-keepers to the king and the royal family. They spent their time going from coven to coven throughout Europe making sure everyone was taken care of, and listening to their complaints and concerns, then taking that information back to the king so that he could step in and make things better.
The king didn’t only have he and his brothers doing this, but others as well, and ones who traveled around to all the different shifter packs for the same purpose. The Stone Family had been entrusted with keeping the supernatural world safe and prosperous, as well as happy, and their family took the honor very seriously. One of the reasons that all supernatural beings were thrilled that Raven had completed his Coterie before his five hundredth birthday and was now the king. If Mario Gallo’s plan to overthrow the king and claim the throne for himself had come to pass, they and all paranormals, as well as humans, would be living a very dark life right now.
“Fabian, are you okay?” Jasper asked in his quiet way.
Fabian smiled thinking how adorable his baby brother was. Sure, Jasper was four hundred and eighty-three years old, but Jasper was still his baby brother, and always would be. Fabian was seventeen years older than Jasper, but had spent most of Jasper’s life as his guardian. Their parents had been killed when Jasper was just fifteen and Fabian and his other brothers had made sure to always take care of Jasper
Fabian knew it wasn’t always easy for Jasper. Being the youngest brother of their family had to be hard at times, but Jasper knew he was loved by all of them. It was hard for them sometimes to accept that Jasper was a grown man and had his own needs. It was one of the reasons he wanted his baby brother to come to America with him. One, so he could keep an eye on him and keep him safe, but also so that maybe Jasper would find someone to love and who would love him in return. After his last relationship with that asshole, Vincent from Milan, and how terrible he had treated Jasper, it had been difficult for Jasper to trust a lover again and move on, even though what was between he and Vincent was over twenty years ago.
Fabian wanted all his brothers to find their mates, or someone who could make them happy. They each deserved it. Not everyone found their true mate, but if any of them could find someone to love, it would be a wonderful thing.
“Earth to Fabian. Are you even listening?” Jasper asked.
Fabian blinked his eyes and focused, finding Jasper waving a hand in front of his face. “What?”
Jasper chuckled. “Where were you? You seemed so lost in thought.”
“I guess I was. I was just thinking about how gaudy this place is and how much I hate everything in it.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. It is a little insapore, isn’t it?” Jasper answered as he wrinkled his nose, while looking around.
Fabian chuckled. “Yes, it is definitely tasteless.”
“Well, Raven did say we could do whatever we wanted with the place. He said it was our home now. We can always trash everything and start new.”
“Great idea. I want a home that is comfortable and inviting, not this cold mausoleum. I say one of the first things we do is start searching the internet for new furniture and stuff,” Fabian replied.
“Thank you, gods. Because I gotta tell you, I like the house, although it’s a tad big. But all this stuff is just...it’s...God, it’s ugly. I still don’t understand what was going through his mind when he chose everything here. And then making the coven suffer for this crap. It makes me so angry,” Jasper said in a huff.
Again, even Jasper’s anger was cute as hell, but don’t let him hear you say that. “How about we sell all this crap to the highest bidder, on eBay or something, then take the money and put it back into the coven where it was supposed to be in the first place? While we are doing that, we can hunt around the internet for things that we would like. And put it all on my credit card, okay?”
Jasper squealed and raced to Fabian, throwing his arms around Fabian’s waist and hugging him tight. “Yay! That is such a great idea. Raven definitely knew what he was doing when he appointed you as coven leader here.”
Fabian laughed at his brother’s exuberance and returned the hug. “And here I thought you were excited because I gave you permission to go crazy shopping for whatever we want and to put it on my tab.”
Jasper pulled his head back and looked up at him, his eyes full of mischief. “Well, there is always that too, of course. A gay man's dream come true. Given permission to shop to his heart’s content, and then to hear the words, here’s my credit card, spare no expense, and buy whatever you want. I could come right now.” Jasper laughed.
“Not this gay man,” Silas, said as he joined them.
“Not this one either,” Saber grumbled.
“I’m with them,” Kalen agreed.
“Yeah, well, it is to this gay man. Where should I start? Down here, or up in the rooms? Oh, do we even know whose room is whose yet?” Jasper asked, releasing Fabian.
“I say we go up and pick out our rooms, then get some dinner as we discuss what needs to be done not only here but with the whole coven,” Fabian offered.
“Works for me. I’m starving,” Silas added.
“And what about the club? And the newspaper?” Kalen asked as they all headed back to the foyer to head up stairs.
“We run the club. It’s ours to do with what we want. Raven just recently had it redone, so we’ll have to see if we keep it the way it is or redecorate. As for the paper, Raven’s human mate, Joel, said that a guy named Darcy was running the local paper until they could find a replacement,” Fabian replied as they all climbed the steps to the second floor.
~*~*~*~*~
Two weeks had flown by so fast with all the crap they needed to take care of around the house and the coven. Fabian had left the house part up to Jasper so that he and the others could focus on the people of the coven and their needs.
Jasper had been doing a great job too. The first thing he did on their first morning waking up was to check the internet for new bedroom sets for all of them. After he got each of their approvals for what they wanted, Jasper put the order through to Italy and paid extra for the company to get everything delivered as fast as they could. Jasper insisted they needed to have their own inner sanctuary’s taken care of first because a rested person had a clearer mind and worked better. Fabian couldn’t agree more.
“So, squirt, when are those beds arriving?” Kalen asked as he sat at the kitchen table.
Jasper stood at the counter making a cappuccino. “Seeing as all you big asses wanted massive beds, I found a place here in the states that could take care of our order fast. And with what designs you each picked, they should finally be arriving today.” Jasper, turned, sipping his cappuccino, and walked to the table and joined them.
“Hey, where's mine?” Kalen huffed.
“Still in the machine waiting for you,” Jasper answered and Fabian chuckled behind his newspaper.
“I thought you were supposed to be our assistant or some shit?” Kalen grumbled as he pushed away from the table and went to the counter.
“Yeah, your assistant, not your maid or your slave,” Jasper countered.
Fabian kept his smile to himself as his gaze roamed over the headlines. One, in particular, caught his attention. “Another Young Man Missing from Clearnight Haven. Police Speculating It May Be a Serial Killer.”
Fabian read over the story and was shocked to see that ten people from the neighboring towns and four from Clearnight Haven itself had gone missing over the past six months. The article said that the local police had no leads and the FBI had been called in months ago, but still nothing. The FBI was looking to send in a profiler. As Fabian read further, he saw that two of the victims, both male, had last been seen at The Raven Club, including the one who had gone missing last night. He didn’t like the sound of this and knew he needed to get on top of it and see what they could do. Having the local police nosing around was bad enough, but the feds would get too close to what really lived here in Clearnight Haven.
Fabian lowered the paper, folded it, and placed it on the table as he reached for his coffee, then took a sip. “Are the others up yet?” he asked.
“I heard Saber’s shower going when I passed his room, but I don’t know about Silas,” Kalen replied.
“Silas is up and out already. He said he wanted to get to the club as soon as it got dark. Something about some cute guy,” Jasper said.
Fabian looked at his watch, then back to his brothers. Just then Saber walked in and headed to the coffee pot. “I wish Silas were here too for this, but we’ll just have to fill him in later. I just saw in the paper that four people have gone missing from around here in the past six months. Fourteen if you add the ten from neighboring towns.
“Shit, so the Federal boys must have been called in by now, right?” Saber said as he joined them at the table.
“Yes. The paper says they are sending in a profiler.”
“Shit. We need to keep our people away from this guy,” Kalen said.
“Why?” Jasper asked.
“Because he will eventually focus in on our coven. Everyone in the coven only comes out at night, so the FBI will be looking at them first. If they start pulling our people in for questioning, they may want them in during daylight hours, or hold them for questioning too long and they wouldn’t be able to get to safety before sunrise,” Fabian answered.
