Page 30 of A Raging Merry Christmas
“It’s okay, I saved us all,” I said as the flames remained high. “Those elves were spying on us. We saw them move and realisedthey were bad. We found them and burned them all. They won’t steal anyone’s spirit again. But that was a close call, Uncle Ace.”
Our fathers mouth’s opened and shut. All of them looked disbelieving. The Legacies pulled ourselves up. We’d saved everyone.
“Elf on the fucking shelf! No!” Mom screamed suddenly. “I’m gonna kill you fuckers. I said moving elves would freak somebody out! They more than freaked the fuck out! The little bastards have set a bonfire going and could seriously have hurt someone.”
“Mom?” I asked, confused. She turned to me and gave me one of her ‘Mom’ looks. Uh oh. I was in trouble.
“This isn’t on you, Dante,” Mom replied, and I relaxed. “Although burning them and breaking into the shed is. Those were genuine elves, but your fathers thought moving ones would be cool. Clearly not.”
“Oh no,” Asher said. “We just killed Santa’s real helpers!”
I stared, stunned, at my mother as all the little kids started crying. Our dads all winced.
“We murdered the elves!” Nashoba shrieked, and his bottom lip began trembling.
“You can all explain and deal with this!” Mom snarled and stormed back inside with the other moms.
Shit, I’d killed Santa’s helpers. Without warning, I burst into tears and wondered if I was going to get any presents this year!
Chapter Six –
Fun to be had all round…
The day before Christmas Eve.
Axel and Ace - Ace’s POV
“This is gonna be a slaughter,” I muttered.
The Hellions were sitting nicely for now, but for how long? We were in the dining room, which Phoe said we could use with half the Hellions with us. The other lot were in the kitchen with Rock, Gunner, and Apache. I’d begged Artemis to join us, but she’d laughed in my face and disappeared like fuckin’ Harry Houdini. Bitch!
“Nah, they’re gonna love this,” Axel boomed and beamed at his many adopted grandkids.
Yeah, they might. I wasn’t going to, though. Not when I saw my group, not only had Eddie, but Dante too. What had I done to deserve this shit?
Axel sent me a dirty glare and then tapped the table. The kids all shut up their bickering and looked up. Eddie already had an expression on her face that made me want to lock her up.
“You all got several ornaments to decorate. Get stuck in and holler if you need help,” he boomed and stepped back. There was a scrabble for items, and within ten seconds, my six-year-old daughter was crying from where her twin brother Nashoba had elbowed her.
Before I could comfort her, Nokomis’s temper kicked in, and she smashed Nashoba’s head into the table. She dried her tears on his favourite Thor tee-shirt and dumped glue on his head. Yup, shit storm coming up. Axel boomed with laughter as I scooped Nashoba up and headed for the door.
“Wash his hair,” I said, handing Nashoba to the prospect. Cody sighed but took my son and marched away. Nashoba was muttering threats as he disappeared.
When I turned back, Nokomis was smiling innocently and helping four-year-old Halona stick glitter to a cut-out Christmas tree. Halona was already covered in glitter, and I grinned as I realised her father was going to have a real mess on his hands. And Dad hated that shit.
I quickly stopped Fish’s daughter, Julianna, from gluing her twin brother’s lips together. Dammit, why did the girls always get one up on the boys? I scooped Hawk up with a dark glare at Julianna, who gazed at me wide-eyed. The next thing, tears trickled down Julianna’s cheeks, and I sighed.
“Decorate the ornaments,” I warned.
Julianna’s bottom lip trembled, and guilt flooded me.
“Carry on, kid,” I muttered in a nicer tone.
She dipped her chin.
Eddie nodded with approval, and I realised I just got played. Especially when Julianna sent Hawk a triumphant stare. Shaking my head, I dumped Hawk in Christian’s arms.
“Julianna glued his lips together. You better get Phoe for that one,” I said, and Christian snorted.