“No!” Bygul, Muezza and Tivali exclaimed all at once.

  “What do you mean no? I thought that was the plan.”

  “Not anymore. She just committed to running the B&B,” Bygul said.

  “What?” Soraya exclaimed. “How could you let this happen?”

  “We didn’t know. It happened so fast,” Tivali said.

  “I don’t know about you guys,” Muezza said sourly, “but I have zero confidence this match is going to work out. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s doomed.”

  Three

  TALON PACED BACK and forth furiously. “This is crazy. How can one woman and a little girl disappear and no one have seen a thing? It’s Christmas, for fang’s sake!”

  “We’ve looked everywhere,” Blade said. “They’re just not in Zero anymore.”

  “Talon, son, you need to stay calm,” Lassiter said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise.”

  “Before they’ve been hurt or worse?”

  Lassiter stepped into Talon’s path, caught a hand behind his neck and pulled him close, pressing their foreheads together. “If someone hurts either one of them, we will reign the wrath of Hell upon them, I promise you that.”

  Talon closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath, then nodded. “I should be with her right now, Dad. I should have claimed her the minute I knew she was my mate.”

  “She’s human and you gave her time. Time to adjust, to accept. You did nothing wrong, my son.”

  “I have a theory,” Dinara said. “It doesn’t really make sense, but⁠—”

  Talon’s heart leapt in hope as he turned to his sister. “What is it?”

  “Her parents are known realm-walkers. Perhaps the daughter is too.”

  “I’ve never seen any evidence that she’s a traveler,” Talon said slowly. “I’m also unaware of any realm crossings here in Zero.”

  “We should ask the witches,” Lassiter said. “After all, we know they had a steady stream of visitors from the Hell realm a while back.”

  “Yes, but not all demons have to open a portal,” Talon said. “Some just use the flames to travel.”

  “True,” Dinara said, “but if even one of them can’t access the flames⁠—”

  “They might have accidentally left open a portal,” Talon said.

  “Exactly,” Dinara said.

  The following week was the most frustrating of Talon’s life and that was saying a lot, considering how old he was.

  There were simply no clues to follow.

  The witches assured them they’d double-checked every time a demon portaled in and out, to make sure the portals were closed. Not a single one had been left open.

  They also weren’t aware of any crossings to other realms and no one knew how to contact Starlight’s parents to find out if she’d taken Jasmine to see them.

  Then, much to everyone’s surprise, a hell-cat sauntered into the vampire coven house as if she belonged there.

  “What are you doing in here, little beastie?” Talon asked.

  “Mrawr.” She circled his legs, rubbing against him and leaving fur behind, he was sure.

  He leaned over and rubbed her back and sides firmly, grinning as her purr rumbled through the room.

  A moment later, she sauntered back out again.

  “Man, you gotta tell me what you did to deserve that,” Blade said. “None of those hell-cats will let me near them, let alone pet them. It’s like a trap, you know. They’re so damn cute and you go up to them, crooning and speaking in baby-talk and just as you’re reaching out to pet them, you’ve got seven-foot claws and fangs of death brushing against your jugular.”

  Talon let out a snort of laughter. “That’s always been my experience too, so I have no idea why she let me pet her this time.”

  “I bet it’s because you’re the heir to the throne. Lucky bastard,” Blade muttered. “Well, lucky to pet the cats, not lucky to inherit the throne.”

  “Yeah, no shit.”

  “Jeez, Talon,” Joryn said as he walked into the room. “I know you’re upset about Starlight and Jasmine, but if that’s toilet paper on your shoe, I’m taking away your Vamp Card.”

  Talon and Blade both looked down and sure enough, there was something stuck to the bottom of Talon’s shoe. “You moron,” he muttered as he lifted his foot and grabbed whatever it is. “This is way too big to be toilet paper. It’s—” He let out a growl as he read the letter.

  “What is it, Talon?”

  “Satan. That bastard.”

  “What about him?”

  “Here.”

  Talon shoved the paper into Blade’s chest and stormed off. “You tell my father his brother’s dead.”

  “Now, Talon, let’s take a moment.” Joryn dove in front of him and held his arms wide. “Let’s not invade Hell without a plan, okay?”

  “What’s going on?” Lassiter walked in.

  “Here.” Blade handed him the note and Lassiter read it out loud.

  Dear Satan,

  Merry Christmas!

  I hope you and Mrs. Claus have a very happy holiday.

  This year I only have two wishes.

  My first wish is for my mom. She works a lot and is always saying that she needs a vacation.

  I heard all about these special hotels called bed and breakfasts, so maybe you could give my mom a relaxing Christmas at a bed and breakfast.

  Breakfast in bed! She loves that.

  Also, for me, I would really, really, really, really, really love a kitten. I promise to take care of her and love her and make her so very happy.

  Please and thank you.

  Sincerely,

  Jasmine, Age 9

  Zero, Kansas

  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

  Starlight was happily familiarizing herself with the running of the B&B when a rush of flames in the corner made her yelp.

  She leapt to her feet, trying to remember where the fire extinguisher was—did they even have fire extinguishers in Hell?—when the flames died away and a man stood there.

  She stared at him a moment, trying to remember why he was so familiar and then it hit her. “You’re Tempest and Merry’s dad.”

  He was staring at her just as closely. “Interesting that you would remember that.”

  “What?”

  He shook his head. “Never mind. It’s just that most people know of me as Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, Lord of the Nine Realms of Hell, and The Beast. Not you, though.” He chuckled. “You just refer to me as my daughters’ dad.”

  She shrugged. “Sorry, but Merry showed me a picture of you once. I’m really good with faces.”

  “Hmm. That could explain it.” He stared at her for a long moment, a perplexed look on his face. “Still, this is a very interesting development.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “As if my life wasn’t complicated enough.” He sighed. “Well, there’s nothing to be done about it now. The fat’s in the fire, as they say.”

  “Um, okay.”

  “Anyway. None of that has anything to do with why I’m here, which is because I understand that you just took an oath as the new manager of my B&B.”

  “Your B&B? Well, I guess that makes sense, but I didn’t take an oath. I just said yes when⁠—”

  “When Lekhleth asked you to take over managing the B&B.”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Did your parents teach you nothing as they dragged you from realm to realm?”

  Starlight winced. “I’m not even going to ask how you know that, but suffice it to say I’m out of practice. This is the first realm I’ve visited in ten years, so I didn’t mean to take an oath. Honestly, though, I’m not sorry I did. I love this B&B and so does Jasmine. We feel like we belong here.”

  “Interesting. You came with Jasmine?”

  “You’ve met my daughter?”

  “You’re Jasmine’s mom? The one who loves breakfast in bed?”

  “Seriously? Did she show that letter to everyone but me?”

  “How old is your daughter?” he demanded.

  “She’s nine. Why?”

  “Right, of course. That’s what the letter said. I have to sit down.” With that abrupt statement, Lucifer made his way to the couch, where he collapsed, seemingly in shock.

  “Is it a problem? That I have a child, I mean?” She hadn’t even considered that they might not want a child staying at the B&B long-term. Then again, it’s not like anyone official offered her the job. She just accepted because it seemed the perfect fit for them.

  “No, no, no. Of course not, no. We’ve just never had a child living here before.” He glanced around, an annoyed look on his face. “And the B&B didn’t see fit to inform me of the situation either. No matter, though, so long as she was made to feel welcome.”

  “Oh, she definitely was.”

  “Excellent. And have you decided on a school?”

  Yeah, that was definitely a problem. “I haven’t quite figured that out yet.” It was the one hitch that was causing her angst. After all, she’d been a child with no school, her education only achieved through what she learned from her parents as they traveled through the realms. She didn’t want that for her daughter. “But she’s got another week of holiday left, so I have a bit of time to figure things out.”

  “Hm. Well, there are a number of schools for demons she can choose from. One’s fairly close, in fact.”

  “Oh, I don’t think⁠—“

  “A demon school?” Jasmine came rushing into the room, one cat perched on her shoulder, another cat in her arms and three others chasing behind her. “That would be so cool! Can I attend the demon school, Mom? Can I?”

  “Uh—”

  “Oh, this is just fabulous,” Lucifer said, staring at Jasmine, mouth agape. “I knew Talon was an idiot.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He has met Jasmine, hasn’t he?”

  Starlight nodded. “Of course, he has.”

  “Like I said. What an idiot.”

  Starlight narrowed her eyes at Lucifer, wondering if he was implying what she thought he was. And did that mean Lucifer actually knew what had happened ten years ago? And if so, how was that possible? She’d never been to the Hell Realm before this week.

  “I guess I’m not getting an answer right now, Mistletoe,” Jasmine said mournfully as she walked slowly out of the room, dragging her feet and throwing sad faces over her shoulder at Starlight.

  Normally Starlight would find her daughter’s antics hilarious, but right now she was feeling a bit stressed by the way Lucifer was staring at her daughter like he’d seen a ghost. “I don’t understand what’s happening right now and I don’t like it.”

  “Eh, it’s nothing.” He waved a hand dismissively. “You know, I thought raising Tempest and Merry was difficult, but those twins—what were their names again?”

  “I don’t know any twins.”

  “No, I don’t suppose you do. Or you don’t remember them anyway. I doubt they remember you either. The spell they cast that day was quite powerful. Well. Cast is a strong word. It implies intent and that really wasn’t the case. After all, they were barely in their teens at the time—such a volatile time for humans. You know, half-demon hybrids were definitely a challenge to raise, but full-blooded witches, especially ones as powerful as those two, well, I wouldn’t have wanted to be their father, or mother, for that matter.”

  “I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Like I said, that spell was powerful.”

  “What spell?”

  He just grinned at her. “Anyway, I’m rather surprised your mate hasn’t shown up yet.”

  “Probably because I’m human and don’t have a mate.”

  He let out a huge sigh. “You know, that spell is starting to piss me off.”

  “Satan!” The shout was accompanied by a rush of flames in the center of the room.

  “Ah, speak of the—well, not devil, but close enough.” Satan smirked.

  The flames died down to reveal Talon looking absolutely furious. “How dare you?”

  Starlight stared, wondering what had him so riled up.

  “You have no right to just come into Zero and steal my—Starlight?” Talon broke off when caught sight of her, then lunged forward and hauled her into his arms, hugging her tight. “I was so worried about you. You just disappeared. No one knew where you were or how to find you.”

  Starlight was horrified to realize she hadn’t thought once about informing anyone back home where they’d gone. “I’m sorry, Talon. I didn’t realize anyone would notice.”

  “Of course I noticed! Now, where’s Jasmine?”

  “Here I am, Talon.” Jasmine ran back into the room, still hauling those same two kittens around—or maybe they were different ones, it was so hard to tell—one in her arms and the other on her shoulder, with three more—no, make that five, following behind.

  “Excellent.” He quickly scooped Jasmine into his arms, cats and all, threw an arm around Starlight, and in a rush of flames, hauled them out of Hell.

  At least, that’s what Starlight assumed he was trying to do, but the flames didn’t seem to work on her or on Jasmine.

  Starlight stumbled and barely managed to catch Jasmine in her arms when Talon disappeared.

  With yowls of discontent, the two cats leapt free when Jasmine latched her arms and legs around Starlight, clutching her close, as they stared at the spot where Talon had been standing. “Where’d he go, Mama?”

  “I have no idea, baby.”

  “I gotta check on my kitties.”

  “All right.” Starlight set her down and Jasmine rushed over to the cats, where she settled on the floor, crooning to them and petting them until the whole room echoed with the rumbling purrs of half a dozen hell-cats.

  At that moment, Talon reappeared in a rush of flames, along with Lassiter, Blade, Dinara and three other vampires Starlight recognized from the diner, but didn’t know their names.

  Everyone but Talon made an instant beeline for the buffet in the connected dining room, something Starlight could completely relate to, as the food in this place was divine. Still, she couldn’t help but stare, fascinated as always, by the fact that vampires could actually consume food.

  “Welcome, everyone!” Lucifer, who was still lounging on the couch, exclaimed, dragging her attention back to him. “It’s been a long time since you vampires deigned to visit your home realm.”

  “What have you done, Lucifer?” Talon growled. “Why is my—Starlight and her child trapped in Hell?”

  “Trapped?” Starlight spoke faintly, horrified. Had a simple ‘yes’ just destroyed her daughter’s future? Was Starlight as terrible a parent as hers had been, always putting adventure over the wellbeing of her daughter?

  “Oh, don’t be so melodramatic,” Lucifer said. “They’re not trapped, as least not permanently. You see, Starlight accepted the job as manager of the B&B.”

  “The B&B,” Talon repeated slowly. “Are you referring to Hell’s Bed & Breakfast?” He glanced around. “This Bed & Breakfast?”

  “I am, yes.”

  Talon whirled to face Starlight. “You took an Oath of Service?”

  “I, well. Is that what it’s called? I mean, I agreed to manage it.”

  “And did the B&B accept your oath? Has it given you things? Has it made any of your wishes come true?”

  “All the time!” Jasmine exclaimed.”It made me a playroom and a library for Mom. It also gives me hot chocolate and cookies whenever I want them.”

  “Oh, great,” Starlight muttered. No wonder her daughter was bouncing off the walls all the time. “She’s right, but it’s been doing that ever since we arrived and I only accepted the position yesterday.”

  “Unbelievable.” Talon glared at Lucifer. “How did you manipulate the B&B into adopting them so quickly?”

  Lucifer snorted. “Look, I know you think I’m all powerful, but even I can’t make Hell’s B&B do what it doesn’t want to. If I could, don’t you think I would have gotten it to adopt Merry instead?”

  “I don’t know. Would you have? Merry’s now in the earth realm, taken in by her mate’s wolf pack and I guarantee she’s a lot happier than she was running this B&B. You can’t tell me you didn’t mean for that to happen.”

  “Again, you assign me more power than I really have, especially if you think I can control the actions of either one of your cousins.” Satan shrugged.

  “Wait,” Starlight said, brain misfiring as she attempted to make sense of the relationships. “You and Merry are cousins? So, that means⁠—”

  Talon sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. Starlight, this is my Uncle Lucy. Lucy, my Starlight and her daughter, Jasmine.”

  Starlight shivered at the introduction, secretly thrilled that Talon kept claiming her as his own.

  “How’d you hear that nickname?” Lucy asked. “Which, by the way, I kind of like. Don’t tell Sam. For that matter, how’d you know about Merry and the wolf pack?”

  “Merry and I have always gotten along,” Talon said. “She texts me regular updates, plus she posted a picture of you standing over her mate and labeled it Sam Meets Uncle Lucy. What the hell did you do to him?”

  “She took a picture of me?” Lucy roared. “And posted it on social media? What is wrong with that woman?”

  “Eh, it’s not like she posted it on Facebook or anything. She just pinned it to the Shenanigans board. You should be thrilled. It’s gotten somewhere around 7 million likes and 2 million comments.”

  “That’s even worse!”

  Talon grinned. “Is it?”

  “I have no idea what’s going on right now,” Starlight said, setting her hands on her hips, “but you two are starting to freak me out.”

  “Eh, just ignore those two, Starlight,” Lassiter called from the dining room. “Come join us for some breakfast. Jasmine, you hungry?”

  “Sure!” Jasmine bounced up from where she was playing with the kittens by the fireplace and ran into the dining room to join the vampires, who immediately started building her a plate, each vampire trying to find her the “best of the best” for breakfast.

 

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