Harvest of Holidays Read Online Free Page A

were already getting to their feet.
    “Explain for the one human in the room without supersonic hearing,” Tally said.
    “Donna and the rest. They didn’t find the revenant, but they did find three bear carcasses. They had been torn into like Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
    Gargoyles. They were the only creatures big enough and strong enough to think of wild bears as mobile snacks. Tally went to the front closet and handed out everyone’s coats and jackets, then pulled her long working coat off the hanger and shrugged into it carefully.
    “What do you think you’re doing?” Carson demanded, pausing half-way through buttoning up his pea coat.
    “I’m coming with you.”
    “Like hell!”
    “I’ll stay out of the way. But if the clan has moved into our neighborhood, then you need every single person who can wield a blade out there.”
    “I’ll watch her,” Damian added.
    “You’re fucking pregnant!” Carson cried, the tendons in his neck standing out in sharp relief.
    “I’ll be careful,” Tally said softly. “But I’m coming with you. The Stonebrood Clan has been my one focus for six years now and in six years, we’ve taken down one of them. One. Now they’ve come to us. There will be a nest out there, Carson. If we find a nest, we stand a real chance of taking them all down in one hit. Don’t make me sit on the sidelines for this. Just…don’t.”
    Carson was silent, but she could see his chest rising and falling as he battled his instincts.
    Nick cleared his throat. “Not that I want to get in the middle of a husband and wife fight, but I have to point out that since Tally turned sixteen I haven’t once succeeded in coaxing her to change her mind.”
    Carson looked at him, and Tally had the oddest sensation that they were communing just like Nick and Damian often did. There was a look that passed between them, and she knew it was about her.
    Then Carson ruffled his long hair with one hand, scrubbing hard. “Okay,” he said heavily and pointed at Damian. “If she gets so much as a hangnail over this….”
    Damian grinned. “You’ll…what?”
    “I’ll figure out something,” Carson said darkly.
    Damian shook his head. “She’s safe with me.”
    * * * * *
    The river valley was a mile-wide strip of lush woodland that was, after two decades of careful preservation, returning to something like it would have been before the British tramped their way through the state, making everything another little England. The nature preserve ran along the river for nearly ten miles, stretching out to two miles across in some places, and narrowing down to nature trails in others.
    “We should think about walkie talkies if we’re going to keep hunting in packs like this,” Carson said, his breath billowing out in dense mist. Now that it was dark, the warmth had left the day.
    “This is the trail Donna spoke of,” Damian murmured more softly. “Although I question her estimate of five hundred yards.”
    Tally kept quiet. She was having trouble keeping up with everyone, although nothing in the world would make her say that aloud after arguing so hard to come along. There was a peculiar stitch in her side that seemed to press in on her lungs, making her breath come short. It didn’t help that there was fifteen pounds worth of weapons tucked away inside her coat, weighing her down even more. Her feet were throbbing.
    A darker shadow blotted out the starlight just ahead, moving into the center of the path. All four of them halted at the same time. Everyone’s instincts were on high alert.
    “It’s me. Donna,” came the call from the shadow. “This way. We think it might be cornered.”
    “Cornered against what?” Nick asked.
    “The river and the highway that crosses it, about half a mile north of here. We held position and waited for you. We need the numbers to close the net.”
    Nick stepped forward. “Show us the way,” he said curtly, his English accent very distinct. The older accent tended to