"Nicolette," he said as soon as Mama Bear answered the phone. "Is Fang still alive?"
"Of course, cher. I am in the room with him and Aimee right now."
"Are you sure?" he asked, thinking only of his brother and his fear of leaving Kyrian and the women unprotected.
"Oui. I am touching him and he is alive and relatively well."
Vane sank to his knees in relief.
Fang was alive.
"Guard him," he said in a low, ragged tone. "Someone has called out Alastor."
The bear started cursing in French.
"Don't worry," she said at last. "No one will bring harm to your brother. If the demon shows up here, it will be the last mistake of his life."
Vane heard her order her daughter to fetch two of the nastier inhabitants of Sanctuary to guard Fang. "Merci, Nicolette."
He hung up the phone to see Amanda kneeling by her sister who was sitting up now, rubbing her head.
Tabitha wiped the blood from her nose as she cursed under her breath. "I really hate demons," she muttered sullenly.
Vane reached out with his powers and healed her and the wall.
Tabitha's eyes widened before she pushed herself to her feet.
"Are you okay, Tabby?" Amanda asked as she looked from her sister to her now-repaired wall.
Tabitha nodded.
Vane rose slowly. His gaze went to Bride, who sat on the couch watching him. "Did I hurt you, Amanda?" Vane asked without taking his eyes off his mate.
"It wasn't exactly comfortable," Amanda said. "You could have warned me before you yanked."
"I'm sorry. There wasn't time."
"What just happened?" Bride asked quietly. She sat on the couch as if she were in a daze. "What is going on here?"
Vane exchanged an uncomfortable look with Amanda and Kyrian. How was he going to explain this to her?
Kyrian picked up his daughter, who didn't seem the least bit concerned about the fact that a demon had just visited them. Then again, she had played dolls with one earlier. To Marissa such things were probably every-other-day occurrences. Kyrian went to Amanda and Tabitha. "I think we should go to the kitchen and put some ice on Tabby's hard head."
"Lay off me, Geritol, or you're going to need some ice for your groin," Tabitha said as she led the way toward the kitchen.
Vane waited until he was alone with Bride.
This had to be the most awkward moment of his entire life. He didn't even know where to begin. But at least she wasn't afraid of him at the moment.
That was something, anyway.
Bride sat there in stunned disbelief as she tried to make sense of of She didn't even know what to call it.
She wasn't sure what she had just seen. Everything had happened way too fast. The knock on the door, followed by a bleeding man who had just vanished into nothingness.
She felt bewildered, and in the back of her mind, she thought she might be on the Scare Tactics show. Candid Camera? Did they even do Candid Camera anymore? Maybe this was some other new reality show.
How to Make You Lose Your Mind in One Afternoon.