Chapter 14
Cynara handed a small gold and red sparkly wrapped box to her brother Javier—who had on flannel pajama pants with little reindeer all over them. A gift from Nyx. “Merry Christmas, jackass,” she said, half-smiling. She was only a little annoyed with him for narcing her out last night.
“Jackass?”
“Yep. Why’d you narc me out to our brothers?”
“Pretty sure it’s part of the big brother code,” he said. “And I waited a while to tell them.”
“I’m older than you, by like a lot.” Not that anyone could tell, considering supernaturals aged differently than humans. She was in her eighties while he was barely over thirty, but they looked to be the same age. He’d dealt with his fair share of shit in Afghanistan though. Not to mention he’d been trapped in a shitty Hell realm and could take care of himself, but still, he was her baby brother.
“Doesn’t matter. There’s definitely a codebook and it’s one of the rules.”
Rolling her eyes, she laughed. “Whatever. I already texted my ex and told him that you guys were going to show up for the next fight to ambush him.” She didn’t wish her ex any ill will. If anything, she wished… Nope, not going there. She was a half-demon. She wasn’t getting her happily ever after or some ridiculous Christmas wish that came true. That wasn’t how the world worked. Not for her anyway.
He lifted an eyebrow.
“Did you forget that I have supernatural hearing?” she asked, insinuating that she’d overheard them at the bar last night. The truth was Fiona had told her because she actually hadn’t heard them talking. But she wasn’t going to let Javier know that.
“So he decided to bail on the fight,” Javier muttered. “He’s not good enough for you, after all.”
Cynara’s cheeks flushed red. “Ah, no. He said he would gladly take all of you on. At once. He said he hadn’t had a true challenge in a while. The whole thing is ridiculous considering we’re not together anymore.” She’d just been trying to give him a head’s up so he wouldn’t get demolished by her brothers. “I don’t know what Justus is trying to prove.”
Javier stilled with the present in his lap. “That’s impressive. So, tell me the truth. Why did you end things with him? It’s clear you’re still into him.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she muttered.
He lifted a shoulder and started opening the present. “I understand. It’s okay,” he said. “But you know I’m always here for you.”
“I do know that. But talking about my love life with my baby brother? I’m good.” She smiled as he shook his head and laughed.
And holy balls, he took his sweet time opening the present.
“Come on, slowpoke!” she finally snapped.
He simply grinned and moved even slower, barely pulling the tape up. Gah, brothers.
In the silence, she broke and decided to tell him a little more. She needed to talk to someone. Normally it would be Nyx, but Cynara had been worried she’d tell Bo everything. And Bo was probably the worst out of her brothers as far as protectiveness went. “Okay fine, Justus is from this royal bloodline. He’s all ancient. He used to be a Roman…captain or something. And I’m a half-demon, half-vamp who bartends. I know a relationship would never work out with us.”
Javier set the mostly unwrapped box on the countertop, his amber eyes flaring wild and dangerous. “He made you feel bad about your lineage?”
“No! The opposite. He…doesn’t even care.”
“Oh. So, what, you think you’re not good enough for him?” Javier stared at her as if she’d grown another head.
“I don’t know what I feel.” And that was the problem. They hadn’t even been together very long and Justus acted as if they were fated mates. But she knew that wasn’t true.
“Well, he’s lucky to have you. Hell, that’s if he’s even worthy. The guys and I will find that out later.”
“What are we talking about?” Ian said, stumbling into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. His hair was wild and he looked half awake. With the exception of Nyx and Bo, the rest of them had all decided to bunk in one of the huge dragon homes last night here in Montana and do Christmas morning as a family. Nyx, Bo and the baby should be here within the hour. “Hey, are we starting presents early?” Ian asked, when neither of them answered.
Cynara shook her head. “No. I just gave this to Javier first.”
“You gave him more presents than us?” Ian asked, frowning as he went for the coffee maker.
“Oh, sweet flying vampires, no! I forgot what babies you guys can be. You each get an equal amount of presents from me.”
“She’s lying,” Javier said, smirking. “Don’t feel bad. I’m just more lovable than you.”
Ian glared at him as he inhaled his freshly poured coffee. “It’s too early to spar with you but we’ll decide who the favorite brother is after coffee. And breakfast. Man, I’m fucking starving.”
“I wonder why,” Javier muttered, raising an eyebrow. “Ya’ll were up pretty late last night.”
“You guys heard us?” Ian grumbled.
“The house is insulated but it’s not soundproof.” Cynara’s voice was dry.
Ian just grumbled under his breath before he said, “So who is your favorite brother? Really?”
“There literally is no favorite,” Cynara said even as she laughed at them. For so long it had just been her and Bo, but when she’d discovered she had three more brothers, it had been the best present in the world. It had made her life a hell of a lot less lonely to have those ties keeping her grounded. Even if their father had been an actual demon king monster who they’d all killed together, she was so damn glad to have her existing family.
She didn’t need some aristocratic vampire in her life. Some male who wanted to take care of her. The concept was ridiculous. So she shelved that thought and listened to her brothers banter back and forth. This was definitely one of the best Christmases she had ever had.