Chapter 47
Sebastian
I tested the black velvet booth seat with my fingers, and a disbelieving smile quirked my lips. How many other grunt journalists could come here on a casual Thursday? What had happened to my life?
Well, that was easy. She’d happened. The vision in a blue dress now sliding into the huge circular booth beside Bryce opposite me, her auburn hair up in an elegant twist, her neck displayed proudly.
And I never wanted to go back. But I could take or leave the five-star restaurants. The Glasshouse was on top of both the social food chain and the beautiful Tolstoy Building.
Hunter had suggested that we come here to celebrate his and Dagger’s birthday, taking everyone by surprise, especially Dagger.
We were all eager to try out the Glasshouse though.
Even Bryce was new to this place. We’d all thrown on smart-casual clothes and filed into his stretch, excited at what the restaurant’s menu would offer.
Bryce had arranged a last-minute security team, but as we’d climbed the steep star-patterned stairs to reach the VIP Stargazer’s lounge, Hunter had asked if they could give us privacy.
“I have some serious things I want to hash out,” he’d murmured to Bryce, just barely in my earshot. When Bryce had shot him a worried look, he’d added, “Politely.”
So the three hired suits had been told to stay at the bottom of the stairs, among the patrons of the main dining area, preventing anyone but staff from reaching us in our mahogany- and brass-lined table.
The high back largely blocked out the rest of the restaurant below the balcony area, making the view above even more striking.
I had lots of leg room too. The booth could’ve easily coped with eight or nine paranormal-sized butts, even grizzly ones. Hunter and Dagger took the middle, sitting the closest I’d ever seen them without growling at each other.
With a domed glass ceiling above us, and the sky blanketed in sparkles, I gave the waitress my drink order with my face skyward, searching for any shooting stars to wish upon. Because the last time I’d managed to catch one, I’d wished to meet my mate, never thinking it’d come true.
But the lady smiling across from me had proven that cynicism wrong.
When our drinks came back in a flash and the appetizer was ordered, Hunter cleared his throat, crystal tumbler in hand.
“So, uh, I’m grateful we could all be here tonight.
I really have enjoyed the way you’ve all turned my loft into a happy home.
” He glanced down at the tablecloth, a severe wrinkle between his brows.
“I know I haven’t always acted, uh… sporting about our new family, but I’ve finally admitted to myself that all my complaints boiled down to my own issues. ”
“I think that’s true for most people,” Bryce interjected softly.
Hunter’s chuckle was more a short exhale. “Yeah, well, I wanted to do something special tonight… for our birthday.” He looked up at Dagger, neck stiff and eyes creased.
Dagger studied him, looking a bit wary, and cut the tension by putting his vodka to his lips.
“Dagger, we’re always going to drive each other nuts, just on the principle of being brothers,” Hunter continued, pulling a hesitant smile out of his twin.
“But even though I’m never going to stop calling you on your bullshit”—his grin grew to match Dagger’s, sly and full of deep familiarity—“I don’t tell you enough that I admire a lot about you. ”
“Hunt…” Dagger’s voice sank low, tattered around the edges. “You don’t have to…”
“You’re New Nebraska’s number one cop in my eyes,” Hunter carried on over his protests.
“You never compromise your morals. You fight like a true jaguar for the underdog, and when you’re on a scent you never quit.
And not just in cases. You put the same dedication and passion into everything you care about in life. ”
“Here, here,” Bryce cheered, playfully rapping a drum roll on the table.
“To Dagger,” Hunter toasted.
“To Dagger,” Bryce, Serenity, and I echoed, lifting off the booth seats to clink his glass.
Dagger lifted his own glass, his lips pursed and face solemn.
“And to you, Hunt,” he croaked, then cleared his throat.
“Thanks. I appreciate that, sincerely.” The cocky tilt started to pull again at one corner of his mouth as he straightened his sports coat and said, “And I promise I won’t stop calling you on your—”
His eyes flew wide, and his crystal tumbler slipped in his grasp. Hunter’s arm shot out, but Dagger caught the glass with the tips of his fingers, staring in open-mouthed wonder at his twin. Then, to my utter shock, I caught the sheen of tears shimmering in the detective’s eyes.
“Did… did I really just hear…?” he stammered.
Hunter met his eye and swallowed hard as he looped an arm around Dagger’s shoulders. “Happy birthday.”
Dagger’s free hand raised to touch his temple, and he went still, as if listening to something the rest of us couldn’t hear. “You’re serious?” he asked Hunter once he’d raised his head again.
“Well, I mean, my jaguar needs his brother, too. And the mangy thing wasn’t gonna shut up until I grew some balls and kept my promise to say some things I should have said a long time ago.”
“Your jaguars are talking again?” Serenity cried, pressing praying hands up against her giddy grin.
Hunter nodded, then winced, scrunching one eye. “They’re very happy about it. I forgot how damn loud they get when they’re together.”
Dagger laughed. “You’re just not used to it anymore.
” He slapped Hunter’s back. “Don’t worry, you two will mesh again soon.
But damn, they really are going at it, aren’t they?
How long’s it been? Since we were what… twenty-three?
” His smile slipped, and he stared through the windows.
The faint reflection of his face took on a deep melancholy.
“Mom and Dad, they’d…” He looked around the table, choked up, tilting another mouthful of vodka. “They’d be happy, wouldn’t they, Hunt?”
Leaning back into the upholstery, wiping his eyes with a napkin, Hunter replied, “Yeah, but they wouldn’t have let me separate our animals so long in the first place.”
Dagger made a gruff sound of agreement. “Yeah, we never got their smarts.”
“They did always sniff out a disaster. Well… usually.”
“Yeah,” Dagger huffed through a hard frown. “Missed the most important one.”
“They saw the writing on the wall about what was happening in the US,” Hunter said, for my and Serenity’s benefit, “when this place was just plain old Nebraska.”
“And not many did.” Dagger shrugged. “Of course, there was anti-paranormalism building here, just the same as most countries round the world, but a lot of people couldn’t see it being taken to such extremes in the grand old United States, the place called—what did they used to call it?
The shining house on the prairie or something like that? ”
“The shining city upon a hill,” Hunter said softly. “You remember what Dad used to say about that?”
“Yeah.” A melancholy smile cracked Dagger’s his lips as he circled the bottom of his glass over the tablecloth.
“He said, ‘When they find out about us paranormals, it’ll be shining all right. They’ll shine it with our pelts, give them enough time.
’” He blew a hard puff and necked the last of his drink, clunking its ice-cube slush down.
“Our parents were right about that… but they weren’t right about everything, and dumb kid that I was, I encouraged them to follow their retirement dreams early. ”
“What were those?” Serenity’s smile melted, and she picked up Bryce’s hand, bringing it into her lap, crinkles branching from her eyes.
The server brought a plate of Rockefeller oysters, but no one moved to touch it. Bryce murmured that we needed more time to order, and the woman exited with a formal nod as Dagger answered Serenity.
“They wanted to live out their last years in a jaguar’s paradise, in the biggest jungle, the rainforest, in jaguar form.
Away from people, away from hatred, restrictions, prejudice, all that nasty shit they saw on the horizon.
Probably sounds crazy to a human—going off to live in a jungle for a better future? ”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t at all. Living free with no rules, bounding through the jungle, swimming in warm rivers, going wherever you want, doing whatever you want. With a companion you love. It’s not so different from human dreams, in a lot of ways.”
His expression brightened a fraction as he tipped her a smile.
“How did I know you’d understand, Cowgirl?
” He reached for her, and she curled her fingers around his.
He went on, staring into her eyes, “Hunt didn’t like the plan, said there wasn’t time for all the right arrangements, that they needed more research on the location.
He said he could keep us all safe here, no matter what.
And… I should have believed him. Looking back, I had half a gut feeling he was right.
But our parents thought arrangements would be impossible if things blew up like they thought they would, so…
I helped them get out of the US, got them passports and all the paperwork behind Hunt’s back.
” He looked over at his brother, shaking his head. “Hunt, I’m so—”
“No.” Hunter held up his palm, with tears flowing freely down his cheeks. “I’ve blamed you for way too long. Don’t start blaming yourself.”
“Start?” Dagger’s scoff had no bite, only despair. “Hunt, I’ve blamed myself every day.”
Hunter grasped Dagger’s forearm, and Serenity quietly withdrew her hand from Dagger’s, letting them have their moment. “You helped our parents try and fulfill their wish. Right or wrong, they wanted what they wanted. It wasn’t my right to interfere with that, or to hate you for helping them.”
Dagger’s thick, broad shoulders sagged. “It means a hell of a lot to hear you say that. Seriously. But if not for me, they’d be here.”
“Whatever happened in the jungle, neither of you could have possibly predicted or stopped it,” I said, compelled to speak up by the heartbreak in both the twins’ eyes. My nose was starting to clog, needing a good blow, which was rare for a vamp, even a half one.
Dagger’s red-rimmed eyes flicked to me. “According to the local police and what I could find out from news reports, they never made it to the jungle. Thugs in Rio de Janeiro pulled a gun on them down some dark street. Dad shifted, took care of business. Then an armed mob realized they were paranormals, outnumbered them.” He gulped, shaking out the words.
“Murdered them. Their bodies were never found. And that was that.”
“Hey, look at me.” Hunter pointed his top two index fingers at his eyes. “You didn’t kill them. It wasn’t your fault. I should never have told you otherwise. I was wrong.”
Dagger exhaled hard. “The whole fucked up situation was wrong. It still is.”
“But we didn’t have to lose each other over it.” Hunter’s shining eyes bored into his brother’s. “That was all me, and I hope you can forgive me.”
Dagger turned bodily in his seat and opened his arms as best he could while his tattooed hand tried in vain to stop the streams flowing down his cheeks.
“I do, brother.” They embraced hard, patting each other’s backs.
“I’m sorry too. For going behind your back and for antagonizing you at every turn since, when I should have been trying to make things up to you. Can you forgive me?”
Hunter noogied Dagger’s hair. “That I can, and that I do.” They sat, Hunter’s arm still round his brother’s shoulders. “Let’s forgive each other once and for all and look to the future.”
Bryce thumped the tabletop twice, then grabbed an oyster, holding it up in place of his emptied glass. “A toast, to your birthdays, and to a future of love and understanding, between everyone at this table, now and forever. Cheers, everyone.”
Everyone grabbed an oyster, and an emphatic “Cheers!” came in reply from around the table as we all tipped back our first delicious morsel.
Pinch me so I know I’m not dreaming, Serenity’s voice sighed in my head. Wasn’t that a great surprise? God, I’m so happy.
I’m thrilled for them, I agreed. And with that tension out of the house, we can really start being the family I think we all want. You know?
Serenity winked. I know exactly.
Beside her, Bryce’s reserved, cool manner had cracked too.
He was fidgeting with his butter knife, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.
Apart from the twins themselves, I got the feeling he was the only other person in the lounge who knew exactly how much effort was being exerted by both of them to shake off all the baggage that had separated them.
“Hey, scooch over, Seb,” Dagger said, shaking his glass at me. “I need a piss and a top off.”
Bryce rolled his eyes. “Dagger, the waitress can—”
“No, no,” Dagger intoned as he shuffled along the booth, nudging me out to let his hulking frame pass. “I’m not used to feeling the love like that. I need some air so I can get my mojo ba …”
Staring into the night, he trailed off just as I sat down again.
His eyes flared yellow in the window reflection, and he whipped around to face us all, hand fishing a switchblade out of his pocket. He spiked its vicious blade from the handle and cocked back his arm.
I jumped a good half inch off my seat as I blurted, “Dagger, what the fuck!?!”
“Hunt,” he growled, “duck.”