A Hunter Under The Mistletoe: All Is Bright / Heat of a Helios

Rafe barely gave her a backward glance. “Then it’s good you know the owner. I’ve got plenty.”

Rafe flipped through the file he maintained on Evangeline. He managed the materials himself, unwilling to go through the security team on the details of her or her background.

Orphaned at seven.

Bumped to several foster homes before declaring as an emancipated minor at sixteen.

Worked multiple jobs after that, including a flower shop in Henderson, a crummy little casino barely making it down on Fremont, and wedding bouquets for a nearby chapel.

“Doesn’t let any grass grow under her feet,” he muttered, an image of her doing just that filling his mind’s eye. She wasn’t going to give up on her supposed man on fire and he damn well knew a few hours of spa time wasn’t going to change that.

Rafe continued scanning the file, his careful notes an accompaniment to the various pieces of intel he’d gathered over the past year. Her background had been surprisingly easy to uncover, even with his ability to get details on most anyone he wanted. There was easy and then there was easy, and Evangeline fell into the latter category.

And what he’d learned during that investigation had stopped him cold.

Her father had been a Hunter, focused in and around Las Vegas for the legion of Chaos-seekers who hunted Rafe and his people, the Helios. Their age-old enemies, the Hunters believed eradicating the Helios would unleash their master—Chaos—on the world.

As with most things with the ancients, life was never that easy, and modern times brought modern challenges. There was plenty of chaos in the twenty-first century world, and Rafe doubted some epic battle with a band of zealots would change that much.

None of it changed the fact he and his people were hunted. Plotted against. And constantly under threat.

Was it possible Evangeline was one of them?

The bio had been straightforward and bleak—Hank Kennedy had drifted in and out of jail throughout his late twenties and early thirties before turning his skills and his loyalty toward the Las Vegas area’s corps of Hunters. A suspicious fight in the desert late one night hadn’t ended well for Hank or a fellow addict and he’d left his wife and child alone and destitute.

Nothing about the intel had sat well and Rafe had kept a purposeful distance from Evangeline over the past year, in favor of watching and monitoring her. Other than their bimonthly meetings to discuss the property, he avoided contact with her.

And had been more than surprised to see she kept to herself, worked like she had no life outside the casino and generally flew under the radar.

Until last night.

Damn, why had he waited when he knew his Rejuvenation was upon him?

Rafe’s head snapped up at the hard slam of his door. Gabe crossed the plush carpet soundlessly, even as his large frame quivered in agitated, restless motion. “You burned in front of her?”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t screw with me. Last night. Evangeline Kennedy saw you? Midtransformation?”

He never lied to his brother, but the anger and frustration laser-focused on him was barely an adequate mirror for his own shame and embarrassment. Hell, he hadn’t lost control like that since he was fourteen and coming into his power.

“Yes.”

“Mind telling me why you were hanging around, full well knowing you were running hot?”

“I had a meeting that ran late.”

His brother slashed a hand through the air. “No excuse.”

“It is when you’re courting three foreign whales with several whale friends back home.”

Gabe snorted, clearly unconvinced, even with Rafe’s argument about squiring several high rollers around the property. “It’s careless and unnecessary. Since when are you the only one who can court high-end guests and build relationships?”

“I needed to check them out. See for myself. We know Hunter activity increases near the solstice, and something about the one guy’s backstory didn’t check out.”

“So you went in alone?”

“I’m never alone in here and the high-roller room has more attention than most.”

“The private villas don’t.” Gabe dug his phone out. “It’s careless.”

“It’s necessary.”

When Gabe said nothing, Rafe knew he’d hit a nerve. Rafe trusted his brother, more than anyone in the world, but he couldn’t stand by and ignore an opportunity to get the upper hand on a band of Hunters, especially so close to the solstice. The possibility of a rogue with money would be a danger beyond measure.

Besides, his damn Rejuvenation wasn’t supposed to happen then. It was nearly a month until the winter solstice and he’d been rejuvenating like clockwork since puberty.

Vernal equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, winter solstice. His body regenerated then, not nearly a freaking month early.

“Guy ultimately checked out?”

Rafe shook off the lingering discomfort of his early change and gave Gabe his full attention. “Yeah. Charlie texted me the moment he had confirmation the guy was legit. I glad-handed him a bit more, offered him an extra night in the villa and hauled ass out of there.”

“You didn’t haul fast enough.”

No, he hadn’t. He’d considered letting himself into the villa next door and waiting out the burn but they were full up, the Archangel’s reputation ensuring all the rooms were accounted for. He and Gabe had taken their father’s life’s work and upped the ante. The hotel rooms were spoken for nearly every night and they had a list of high rollers the rest of the Strip envied.

Who would have believed success was so damned inconvenient?

“We’ve gone this long without discovery. Your life—all our lives—are worth more than one more high roller wasting his fortune at our gaming tables.”

Rafe rarely apologized but his brother hit a nerve. A fair one at that. “Look. I get it and I’m sorry. I’ve been tired and the moment hit me hard. I thought I had more time.”

A small grin finally curved his brother’s lips. “Losing your control, big brother?”

A few choice expletives bubbled to the surface but Rafe opted against the grain. He’d managed to blow over his brother’s bad mood, he might as well use it to his advantage. “You talk to Pop lately?”

“He and mom are still lounging around the Côte d’Azur and last I heard he was raising hell with the management at Monte Carlo’s casinos.”

“They let him back in?”

“Some sort of royal decree. I suspect the prince is sorry he got suckered in by the charms of one Michael Stavros.”

“Once a gambling man…” Rafe left the words hanging there, an image of his father giving instruction on the latest security protocols falling on some severely irritated Monegasque ears.

“Old man’s not settling into retirement well.”

“Are you surprised?”