Chapter 24
Serenity
Christmas Day
I forced Angelo to wear matching plaid pajamas with me. In fact, everyone in the house had to wear them. I wanted us to be one happy family.
The living room glowed with soft lamplight, the Christmas tree twinkling in the corner. I’d lit the gas fireplace earlier, and now the flames danced behind the glass, casting warm shadows across the room. The scent of pine from the tree mingled with the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
Elena had outdone herself. The coffee table was laden with mugs of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, a pot of dark roast coffee, and platters of Christmas cookies—gingerbread men, sugar cookies decorated like snowflakes, and my Mexican Wedding Balls dusted with powdered sugar.
We all gathered around, settling into the oversized sofas and chairs.
Angelo sat beside me, Noelle sleeping peacefully in his arms, looking absolutely ridiculous in red-and-green-plaid flannel.
Gianna was curled up in the armchair, actually beaming in her matching pajamas.
Joy perched on the edge of the couch next to Enzo, her shadows calm for once.
Even Elena and Pascal had joined us, both in plaid.
“No pictures,” Dimitri said as he looked down at himself, tugging at the collar. “I feel like we’re in prison jumpsuits.”
Gianna threw a pillow at him. “Oh shut up. You look adorable.”
“I’m a vampire enforcer. I don’t do adorable.”
Angelo smirked. “And yet here you are. In plaid.”
A white ball floated into the living room and got bigger and bigger. Angelo went rigid beside me, his jaw tight, his eyes hard as flint. He knew. We both knew.
"Now he shows up," Angelo said, his voice low and dangerous. "After we almost lost her. After we fought alone."
My heart cracked at the bitterness in his tone, but I couldn't argue. I clutched Noelle closer, tears burning my eyes as my father's light filled the room.
Then my father, the Archangel Raphael, stood there. Like always, he had on a flannel shirt and jeans. His blond hair flared over his shoulders. He still looked like a handsome mountain man. As if nothing had happened. As if his granddaughter hadn't almost been sacrificed under the Cold Moon.
My heart lurched—joy and resentment tangled together so tightly I couldn't separate them. He was here. Finally here. But where had he been a week ago? Where had he been when I screamed for help that never came?
“Now you come. You’ve never seen her or come when she was in danger,” I said. I had a hard time not keeping the resentment out of my voice.
Noelle cooed when she saw him.
He smiled down at the baby. “What do you mean? I’ve visited little Noelle at night. You two were just asleep.”
I stared at him. He'd been here? In our home, in our daughter's nursery, and he'd never thought to wake us? Never thought we might want to see him, talk to him, introduce him properly to his granddaughter? The hurt sliced through me, sharp and unexpected.
Angelo scowled. “Then why didn’t you help us, especially your granddaughter?”
He chuckled. “Because she didn’t need any help. Serenity heals the body, but little Noelle heals the soul.”
I looked down at my daughter, processing his words. “Balthazar touched her and something happened. He changed toward her.”
“Ah, Balthazar.” Raphael’s expression grew thoughtful. “You can’t heal a demon—not even I can do that—but you can lessen the hate.”
I thought of Balthazar shielding me, his body a barrier between my daughter and death.
He'd done that. But I also remembered the cold edge in his voice, the casual cruelty that surfaced without warning.
Maybe my father was right—maybe the hate could fade.
But it would never disappear completely. I'd be a fool to forget that.
“He said he would protect her from other demons,” Angelo said. “Do you think that’s true?”
“Perhaps. Time will tell.” Raphael reached into his robes and produced a long box wrapped with a silver bow. “I have brought a gift for little Noelle.”
He handed it to me. I glanced up at Angelo as I carefully opened it. Inside, nestled on white silk, was a long white feather that seemed to glow with its own inner light.
Angelo cocked his eyebrow. “Yours?”
“Yes. The feather will help her discern good from evil and warn her of danger. It will guide her toward goodness—if she listens to it.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “If?”
“Free will.” Raphael’s expression grew serious.
“Humans never understand how much that plays into their fate. Angels don’t always grasp it either.
” He looked between Angelo and me, as if willing us to understand.
Was he foreseeing danger we couldn’t see—something he couldn’t tell us?
“But I wanted to tell both of you—trust in Noelle. She contains the power from both of you, and she’ll be incredibly powerful.
But she must learn how to use it. She must learn balance as she grows. ”
Angelo’s arm tightened around me. “What do you mean by balance?”
Raphael’s gaze settled on our sleeping daughter. “She contains the power of both light and darkness—good and evil, if you will. Angel and vampire. Healing and death.” He smiled gently. “But that is a story for another time. For now, she is simply a child who needs her parents’ love and guidance.”
Angel and vampire. Healing and death. I tightened my hold on Noelle, my heart aching.
She was just a baby. She should be worried about nothing more than warmth and milk and sleep.
But she'd been born into a world that would demand so much more from her.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. Whatever came, Angelo and I would be ready. We'd make sure she was too.
He glanced around at the rest of them, still in their matching plaid pajamas. “She’ll grow up in this loving family.” His gaze lingered on each person—Gianna, Dimitri, Elena, Pascal—before settling on Joy and Enzo.
He moved toward Joy. “You helped my granddaughter, didn’t you?”
She frowned, looking uncomfortable with the attention. “Yes, but so did everyone else.”
“But your shadows opened the door so the others could act.” Raphael’s smile was warm. “That matters.”
He reached out and touched Enzo’s shoulder. Light flared briefly beneath his palm. “I give you both a gift.”
Enzo blinked, looking down at himself as if expecting to see something different. “What kind of gift?”
A twinkle flickered in my father’s eyes—the kind that said he knew something we didn’t and was enjoying the mystery. “You’ll see. In time.”
Dimitri leaned forward from his spot on the couch. “So let me get this straight—shadow girl and the enforcer get mysterious angelic gifts, and the rest of us get...” He gestured down at his plaid pajamas. “Matching sleepwear. Cool. Totally fair distribution of divine favors.”
Gianna elbowed him. “Dimitri!”
“What? I’m just saying, if we’re handing out celestial blessings, I wouldn’t mind being first in line next time.” He smirked at Raphael. “No offense, Gramps.”
My father chuckled, clearly amused rather than offended. “Your gift, Dimitri, is that you’re still alive after calling me Gramps.”
Dimitri raised his mug of hot chocolate in salute. “Fair enough.”
Raphael looked back at Angelo and me, at Noelle sleeping peacefully in her father’s arms. “Have a Merry Christmas. I must go.”
For the rest of the day, we lounged around in our pajamas. No one was in a hurry to do anything but relax. It had been a long, hard couple of weeks.
That night, Angelo and I stood over Noelle’s bassinet, looking down at our peacefully sleeping daughter.
Angelo lifted my chin and brushed his lips over mine. “You know what our daughter needs?”
“What? She’s perfect.”
He kissed me long and hard. “A baby brother.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and returned his kiss. “Let’s wait until she’s at least six months.”
“Until then, we can practice.” He grinned, that wicked smile that still made my heart race.
“I love you.”
“And I you.” He lifted me into his arms and carried me toward the bed. “Let’s practice making little miracles.”
Did you enjoy Winter of Blood and Miracles? Nothing like a Christmas baby with magical powers!