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They joked back and forth about how his family would react to the descendent of a goddess, laughing and sounding so at ease. I envied them, but Onyx didn’t know what it was like in those big houses filled with judgmental people. If she did, she’d never have consented to come. Or maybe she would because our mate was nothing if not intrepid. She just might not be so cheery about it.
“How much farther?” she asked. “I didn’t realize your family was this far from school.”
Before we’d gotten together, I’d been aware that Asher went home to visit a lot more than I did, but it wasn’t because of distance. More that I didn’t want to go home and listen to lectures on how I did nor did not represent the family in an appropriate manner.
“It’s just another few minutes,” Asher replied. “Keep watching ahead and you’ll see.”
I heard her soft gasp when she did, right before we turned into the driveway. “This is…a hotel?”
“No, babe.” I reached up and stroked her hair. “This is Asher’s home sweet home.”
“How?” she muttered. “You grew up here?”
“I did.” He sent me a smile in the rearview. “Don’t let it intimidate you. It’s really just a big house.”
“I’m not intimidated,” she growled. “But unless you have like two hundred relatives, you must have really rattled around in there.”
“Oh, there’s staff,” I put in helpfully. “And lots of guests coming and going.”
Before we stopped, the front door opened and two women poured out onto the porch. They were dressed as I would expect. Casual elegance, perfect for the afternoon at home. And every piece cost a lot. It was part of the scene. For the Yule ball or any other similar events, whatever they wore would give up any pretense of casual, but was it bad that I felt comfortable with coming here?
So far anyway. Until I remembered that my family had made sure I was no longer officially part of this world. Or was I? Did mating Asher give me a way back in—and did I even want it? I would never want to live in a mansion and spend my days and nights entertaining other rich people. Life as I hoped to live it held so much more, didn’t it? If it didn’t, it should. But would Asher want to step right back into it when we finished school? His parents would think nothing of giving us a “starter” mini mansion.
Ugh! Why couldn’t we just go back and spend the holidays with our chosen family at the Midnight? I wanted to kick the back of the seat like a child and demand we turn the car around and go home. But I couldn’t do that, really, could I?
Of course not. I might not like the fancy life, but I did know how to behave, so instead, I stepped out and waited for my mates before approaching Asher’s mothers.
They enfolded him in a hug before stepping back to greet me in a much quieter way then turning their attention to the unknown quantity. “Mothers, meet Onyx.”
I held my breath having no idea how they would behave and hoping they would not hurt our mate. If they did, we’d leave now.
Chapter Four
Valentina
Even though it was the holidays and traditional human Christmas music blasted through the speakers with a phonk twist, it wasn’t the same without my cousin. She was with her mates, floating around in ball gowns and eating caviar or some shit. Ball gowns yes. Caviar…hell no.
And if she knew I pictured her floating around, frolicking in the red gown I’d helped her choose…
She was pissed because it showed some heavy cleavage, but I knew her mates wouldn’t mind one bit.
I even got a thank-you from Raven via text.
My mates and I had decorated this place, but the witches had added a bit of pizazz to the main area. There was an aura of snow around us, though the place was toasty with the number of moving bodies, not to mention shifter heat that could melt thick ice.
I’d whipped up some specialty drinks for the night—had a lot of fun doing it as well. Even the regular vodka had a bit of sparkle and a hint of peppermint. Onyx would’ve scoffed at how I turned the swamp water into more of an eggnog surprise, but she wasn’t here to tease me, and that was the only good thing about her absence.
Damn, I missed her and Raven. Christmas without your best friends kind of sucked ass.
“How in the hell do you do this?” Tess asked. She needed a job for Christmas money and, with Onyx gone for a couple of weeks, Josephine decided to throw her into the trenches, head-first. I felt bad for her, honestly. Being the new girl was tough—a thousand requests and hollers all directed right at you.
“One customer at a time. Handle their order then move to the next one. Don’t worry about anything else.”
Her eyes flitted to Jeremy as they had done several times that night. “Eyes on the drinks, bartender.”
She giggled as she got on her toes on the footstool behind the bar. The girl was tiny, and this coming from someone whose mates towered over her—me. But the guys liked her red hair despite Jeremy’s roars from the other side of the room. Just wait until my cousin got back. The three of us tending this bar together could empty the pockets of the supes all over the city.
I’d served up several more drinks when non-movement caught my eye. There were always things that went on in the shadows of the Midnight that we all sort of…lived with. I didn’t even know what those things were and was better off not knowing, according to Onyx.
