Smoke and Mistletoe (Best Wishes Book 3)

by A. J. Macey

  "When a daemon loses control of his or her humanity," I spouted, my head tilting in confusion. Logan's jaw clenched, his eyes downcast as he held my left hand, Landon holding onto my right.

  "Back..." Logan's voice broke but, clearing his throat quickly, he resumed his story. "Back when we were younger, we had an older brother. Lance had started as a normal kid, granted still kind of a dick since we were younger than him, but as we got older, he started to get colder, meaner."

  "Our parents talked about it, worried he had started hanging out with the wrong crowd," Landon explained quietly. "Turns out they were right." My stomach flipped, acid burning my throat at Logan's bowed head. I had never once seen my daemon twins so somber, let alone Logan who knelt before me like an angel asking for forgiveness.

  "He was trying to gain rank within the supe gang that he had fallen in with. There were a few of his new friends that we’d always gotten a weird vibe from, and it turned out they were the other gang members. It was this sort of ‘recruitment’ gang for something bigger, badder, so gaining power within it was important. Well, one I had noticed started paying a lot of attention to us whenever he was around," Logan took over the explanation. Landon stood and started to pace, his jaw grinding the longer his brother talked.

  "One day when we were nine, Lance took us to the building where they had their meetings. Their headquarters or whatever," Logan ground out, still refusing to look at me. "The guy who had started to watch us was the one in charge. In exchange for Lance to get the position of power that he’d been fighting for, he wanted Landon. "

  "Wait..." I whispered, my brain incredibly slow in processing what he was telling me. "Wanted Landon how?" I glanced at Landon, watching him prowl back and forth, his usual burned coal eyes completely blackened into that of his daemon.

  "My own brother served me up on a silver platter," Landon bit out, refusing to look at me as he paced. "To a man who had some not so good intentions for me."

  "But as soon as the guy unhooked Landon's belt, I lost it," Logan whispered, his husky voice rough. "The Rage was all-consuming, so I don’t remember much other than pure anger, and when I finally came to, the man and my brother Lance were dead.”

  I couldn’t breathe, and my mouth opened and closed several times as I tried to form a thought to say, but nothing came to me. Their own brother gave Landon up to be sexually assaulted. For power, no less. Nausea rolled through me, unable to imagine how a nine-year-old boy would feel being served up to be abused or what it was like to kill two people, including your own brother.

  “With the show of power I had done,” Logan continued, cutting off my quickly spiraling thoughts, “I somehow got thrust into the gang, the usual entrance requirements fulfilled by what I had done. As our hellfire manipulation grew over the years, we rose quickly through the ranks, and within a few years I was in charge.”

  “You were the head of a gang… at what, fourteen… fifteen years old? Are you still in it?” I murmured, my throat burning with the urge to cry. Please tell me no, I mentally pleaded, afraid of what the answer might be.

  “No, Lemon Drop, we’re not, but yes, Logan was the head, and I was his VP when we were fifteen. No one wanted to fuck with two daemons who were capable of what we are. It’s why we don’t use our hellfire.” Landon took a deep breath and continued, “Supes don’t care about age, they’re all about power. You could be a fifteen-year-old kid and be in charge of members ages eleven to twenty. If you had the power to back it, no one fucked with you. Dante and the guys got us out at the end of sophomore year, well ahead of time before we could have been considered for the next step, the adult gang that everyone seemed to phase into if they were worthy enough. It’s why he’s so angry, worried, about what we did.”

  Holy shit, they were a part of a gang for almost six years, I realized, quickly doing the math. What exactly had they been doing? I wondered, fear icing my veins. My twins had always been so thoughtful and playful in everything they did, so thinking about them being criminals was hard to wrap my head around.

  “We left on good terms, having handed over the organization to another well-respected supe. But when you were taken,” Logan hesitated, still refusing to look at me, “we knew they would have the resources we needed, and after I lost control when Cam explained what he had seen and experienced through his remote viewing and sensory scrying… I knew we couldn’t wait any longer despite knowing we’d owe them.”

  “Owe them what, exactly?” I whispered. “What did you do for them before?”

  “We don’t know what they’ll ask of us,” Landon stated, his pacing slowing as his eyes returned to normal. Now that the worst of the story was out there, he seemed calmer. “And we used to run a drug that was laced with magic, non-addictive but still illegal. Sometimes we broke into places we knew belonged to a rival gang. We never had to personally hurt anyone, well, we’ve punched a few people, but only when they threw the first punch.”

  “That’s the favor that Dante said? For having them find me, you’re now in debt to them?” I struggled to form coherent thoughts, anger warring with worry and my heart aching at finally knowing why they suffered from panic attacks. Among the swirl of emotions, relief was the strongest from knowing they hadn’t done as much as I was worried they had.

  “Yes, he’s worried about it because being the age we are, we’re close enough to be recruited. We won’t, obviously; we’re not the same people we were back then, but he’s been on our ass about telling you since we found you, but we didn’t want to ruin your holiday…” Logan whispered roughly. “I didn’t want to tell you, though.”

  “Why?” My brows drew down in confusion.

  “I didn’t want you to be upset with me, and I didn’t want to see pity in your eyes when you looked at us,” he murmured.

  “Look at me, Logan,” I commanded, dipping my head down so I could catch his watery gaze and clenched jaw. “Do you see any pity in my gaze? Am I irritated that you put yourselves at risk? Yes, but I can’t bring myself to be upset about it knowing that if you hadn’t, I would have died.” The end of my statement was barely audible as a lump in my throat choked me up, my eyes burning as memories flared in my mind.

  “Love, we don’t for one moment regret doing what we did,” Logan stated, his eyes finally on me, the smoldering coal of his red black irises keeping me from drowning in a wave of memories. “We love you, and we’re going to keep you safe.”

  “Come hell or high water,” Landon continued, kneeling next to his brother as he took my hand once more. “You’ll be happy and safe. All of us will make sure of it.” Their heartfelt words made me smile despite my eyes burning with unshed tears that continued to build. Taking a deep breath, I shoved the urge to cry away.

  “I am safe, and I am happy. Now, what are we going to do when they call in their favor?” I asked, a surge of confidence filling me. They wanted to keep me safe and happy, and I wanted to do the same for them, so the first step? Figure out how to handle this.

  “Uh, do what they ask?” Landon shrugged, glancing at Logan who didn’t have a better answer.

  “When they ask, we’ll figure it out as a group and go from there,” I explained, cutting them off when they opened their mouths to argue. “No, guys, we’re a team. All seven of us, and we’re going to work together. None of us will have to do hard shit alone again.”

  “How did we get someone so perfect?” Logan whispered, his hand cupping my cheek. His touch was gentle, barely grazing my bruised skin.

  “I’m not perfect.” I shrugged, looking between the two of them. “I just know what it’s like to be alone when you need help the most, and I’m not letting any of you go through that. You don’t look at me with pity, so why would I do that to you guys?” My voice cracked at the end, my bravado slowly faltering as the conversation went on, but that didn’t stop my statement from being any less true. They didn’t need or want pity, like me. We just needed our own inner strength and people who loved us the way they’re supposed to.


  For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, they smiled, their slightly happy expressions making my own lips curl. I held open my arms as they leaned forward, wrapping me in their embrace.

  A portion of me fused together, two of the pieces that had been broken by everything Noah destroyed mending as the twins held me. Two guys knowing exactly what it was like to be used and abused by someone who was supposed to love them, and while I hated that they had gone through what they did, a part of me couldn't stop but be thankful that they knew what it was like.

  Turning to look at them, I pressed a kiss to their chiseled jaws, their bonfire scent filling my nose. As I started to pull back, Logan followed, his kiss passionate and yet so filled with sorrow. His hands cupped my jaw tenderly, his lips moving against mine as Landon's hands moved to my back and hip, shifting to sit behind me on the bed instead of kneeling next to his brother.

  I knew I should have been concerned the guys were out in the living room or that my mom was in the kitchen, but all I wanted in that moment was this connection with my twins. To feel loved and cared for, and in the way they moved, filled with purpose, I knew they needed the same. So that's what we did, got lost in tender yet fiery kisses and roaming hands before they laid me back against my bedding.

  Landon's tongue brushing against the seam of my lips distracted me from watching Logan pull my lounge shorts down my thighs. A muffled moan worked its way through me when fingers circled my slick entrance, a wave goosebumps flaring as his heated breath rushed over my skin.

  "You're so beautiful, Lucie," Landon murmured between kisses. I opened my mouth to respond, but Logan chose that moment to suck on my clit, and my words were lost in a breathy gasp. The twins' chuckling filled the silence around us, but Logan's fingers didn't stop their pace, slipping deeper into me with each thrust. When he was plunging into me each time, he started back on my clit, bringing me quickly to the edge of release. Landon's heated skin cupped my breast, the way he rolled my nipples between his thumb and forefinger the tipping point, my body flooding as I came.

  "You guys almost done chit chatting? Otherwise there's not going to be any food left!" Dante called, his deep voice slightly obstructed by the closed door, but not enough to garble his statement. At the reminder that there were a bunch of people right outside the door, my cheeks burned, my lip tucking in between my teeth not because of embarrassment, but because something about messing around with the twins with the possibility of being caught made my stomach flip in excitement.

  "Yeah," I squeaked, my voice cracking, so I coughed slightly to clear the last bits of the lust affecting me. "Yeah, be out in just a second."

  "All right, I'll get started on another batch of food just to be sure we have enough."

  "You two are troublemakers," I whispered, sitting up, my lips curling involuntarily.

  "Yes, but you love it," Logan teased. I shrugged, not confirming or denying it, but I knew one thing for certain.

  We're all going to need a cold shower after that.

  5

  December 24th

  Monday Morning

  Camden

  It was early, the sun barely peeking out over the horizon as I started the coffee pot as quietly as I could so I wouldn’t wake the others. Hudson, I knew, was up already, his dimmed phone screen a small beacon in the middle of our cluster of pillows, blankets, and sleeping supes, but he never was a morning person, so I let him continue to fiddle with his phone instead of talking to him.

  Why I was up so early was something different than normal. I didn’t tend to have issues waking up at a decent hour with or without an alarm, at least depending on how late we stayed up the night before, and I never struggled too much with nightmares, but last night’s was a doozy. I wasn’t an expert or anything, but I was pretty sure what I saw from Lucie when she had been kidnapped by Noah had fucked with my psyche because last night had been filled off and on with flashes and snippets of Noah’s torture.

  Shuddering, I shoved all the thoughts away, focusing on getting a cup of coffee into me instead of analyzing why I was having nightmares. As I stirred in the creamer, I shuffled around the chipped tiled counter and into the small breakfast nook where the oblong oval table was and sank into the chair. Once the first hit of caffeine filtered into my system and I was able to focus on what was going on around me, I realized it was snowing.

  White coated outside, the grass covered in a blanket of fallen snow as the wind whipped around, snowflakes swirling as they fell in a steady rhythm to the ground. Hopefully, Charlie and her parents will be able to make it today, I thought, noting that it seemed to have snowed throughout the night.

  “Don’t worry,” Lucie murmured sleepily, sinking into the chair next to me, “they’ll make it. Lucas has to drive to the hospital even in bad weather, so he’s a pro.” I apparently had said my thought out loud in my sleepy state. Lucie’s glazed eyes and tired smile greeted me as she looked over. “Morning, Cam.”

  “Morning, Doll,” I murmured, leaning closer and giving her cheek a kiss. As I pulled back, I realized some of the dark marks on her face weren’t remnants of her healing bruises but intense dark circles. “Not sleep well?”

  “Night terrors,” she explained. “Same ol’, same ol’. Did you make a full pot?” She changed the subject and pointed to my cup before I could ask her about her dreams.

  “Yeah, I think I made it the way you like it, but I’m not sure. If not, we can make a new pot…” I trailed off when she looked at me in horror, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

  “And waste coffee? Are you crazy? I’ll drink it even if it tastes like tar because caffeine is the essential key to life,” she exclaimed dramatically, making me chuckle.

  “I wasn’t going to toss it. I meant put it in a pitcher or something,” I countered. “I wouldn’t throw away any precious coffee, especially since we need like seven pots for the lot of us.”

  “Yeah, I realized that when I went for coffee yesterday and found it empty. It was a travesty, I tell you.” She leaned forward as she got up. “A travesty,” she stage whispered, pecking me quickly on the lips before going to get coffee. Another laugh bubbled out of me, and I shook my head at her antics before taking another drink of my own cup of coffee.

  “Ugh, you two are so noisy,” Hudson grumbled, flopping into the chair on my other side, his head falling onto his arms as he huffed.

  “No, you’re just a grumpy gills today,” Lucie teased, her exhausted tone ending in a tiny giggle as she walked back around the counter and set one of the two mugs in front of Hudson. “Sorry, I’m feeling extra loopy this morning from lack of sleep.”

  “I’m okay with it.” I shrugged, glancing at Hudson who had barely angled his head to see what was set in front of him. “I think grumpy gills is a good nickname for you.”

  “Fuck off, nerd,” Hudson grumbled, taking a sip of his coffee. “Thank you, Princess.”

  “You’re welcome, crabby patty,” she teased, busting up into another fit of giggles. “Okay, stop making me laugh. I need to drink this,” she chastised us, gulping down several pulls from her mug despite it still steaming.

  “So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Hudson questioned, finally sitting all the way up.

  “I need to finalize the last few reports for that artifact display. Dean Renaud gave me an extension until the first of the year because of everything that happened. I’m almost done; I just have two more to finish up, so I’ll be working on that today and then hoping to hit up the library on Friday between the holidays,” I explained.

  “Oh, can I help?” Lucie asked. “My mom’s running to the store today before they close to make sure we’re all stocked up for the next two days. Only issue is she won’t let me help get groceries and baking supplies until I’m healed up and get the ‘okay’ from Dr. Ingress.”

  “I would love your help, Doll, but won’t your mom want you to relax?”

  “We can help, let you two study in peace and that way w
e can get stuff,” Dante offered, his voice rough from sleep as he walked to the table. His sweats were hanging low on his trim hips, his shirt riding up slightly as he stretched, showcasing a sliver of tanned, toned abs underneath. Lucie’s arousal filled my nose, her eyes glued to the section of skin on display. The sweet scent only served to amp up the need I felt pulsing through me from seeing Dante’s slight ‘V’ in his hip bones. I shook myself mentally, knowing now wasn’t the time to focus on the quickly growing attraction to one of my oldest friends. Nik and I had talked about it, but I hadn’t had a chance to discuss it with Lucie yet.

  “Thank you, Dante.” Abigail’s voice cut through the lusty haze that I had started to succumb to, the cheerful sound filling the space. “That would be wonderful. I planned on going within the hour to try and beat the last minute rush if you want to go ahead and get the rest of the gang up and moving.”

  “I got it.” Lucie chugged the last of her coffee as she stood. “Sit, drink some coffee,” she murmured to Dante, kissing him softly before moving into the living room.

  Wonder if his lips are as soft as hers? I shook myself for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning and focused on getting more coffee made.

  An hour and a half later, the guys and Abigail had left, leaving Lucie and me to study. Only it seemed Lucie was spacing off instead of reading, her head tilted slightly as her eyes glazed over. Content to let her chill, I continued to read on, but after another little while, I noticed her lush lips had curled down as she frowned at whatever she was lost in thought about.

  “Doll?” I murmured, dipping my head down to catch her eye. “Lucie?”

  “Hm?” She finally realized I was talking to her, her sapphire gaze flickering to mine as she shifted in her chair.

  “Are you okay? You’ve seemed kind of distracted. You don’t have to help me, you know, if you want to do something else—” I tried to explain, but Lucie shook her head quickly, cutting me off.