By their narrowed eyes, the news wasn't amazing, and anxiety destroyed my good mood. What now?
Doc came back in, jaw clenched.
"Do I even want to know?" I sighed.
"We knew that Melinda Anderson wasn't captured. Well, apparently she broke Alex and one other mage out of wherever Adriana and her people were holding them."
"Well, that's amazing." I sagged in the chair and stared at the ceiling. "One morning. Just one morning where things can be awesome, and nothing goes wrong right after."
No one laughed, and I could sense general agreement from all of them.
"So, what do we do?"
They all looked to Doc who shrugged. "I guess be ready. It would be dumb to assume that they're not coming after us."
"My parents are coming." I groaned.
"Hopefully, they'll need time to regroup." The flat tone Doc used told me he believed that about as much as I did.
"I could tell my parents not to come, I guess."
"It will be okay, Sofia." Nikolai patted my shoulder. "When do they arrive?"
"This weekend." Crap, I still needed to go Christmas shopping, too. "Assuming the roads clear."
"It won't snow for at least another week," Ash said. "Maybe more."
"Good and bad," Nikolai mused.
"We should warn them that the Andersons aren't as handled as we had hoped, but that things will probably be okay," Doc said.
"I'll text them." Easing out of the chair, I grinned at the light soreness in my muscles from this morning.
Wandering through our new cabin, I again marveled at what we had accomplished.
I had left my phone in the room I had claimed as my own. The light flashed at me and I checked my texts. Victoria wanted to know when I was coming down to shop and Mom checking in saying they thought roads would be clear by the time they needed to leave.
I sent a quick text back to Victoria.
Sofia: Do you mind if Mom joins us?
Victoria replied right away.
Victoria: No! Sounds great.
Sofia: Cool. I'll check with her and get back to you.
Victoria: Sounds good. Sunday would be a good day for me. Or Monday.
I touched the screen and changed over to my mom's window. What to say?
Sofia: Hey, Mom. Want to go shopping with me and Victoria in Denver Sunday or Monday?
While I waited for her to reply, I curled up in the window seat and stared out my window. No cold leaked through the clear panes as I stared out at the snow covered pines that made up my view.
One of these days our little haven in the mountains truly would be secure. I had hoped we were already there, but we still had a little ways to go. Damn them, anyway.
My phone chimed.
Mom: That sounds wonderful, honey. If you don't mind me coming along.
Sofia: I don't mind. It will be fun.
Mom: Let's go Monday. Give us a day to settle in.
Sofia: Great. We rebuilt the cabin and in less good news, I guess we still have to deal with the Andersons. Should be safe on the property though.
Mom: We'll be careful, honey. Looking forward to seeing you.
Sofia: Love you.
Mom: Love you too.
I did a quick weather and road check on my phone. The roads were supposed to be snowy but drivable, and the next few days would be sunny and warm. By the time they arrived, the weather would be great. After informing Victoria of the plan, I put my phone down and went back to looking out the window.
Someone knocked quietly on my doorframe.
I patted the window seat in front of me and Ash came in and sat down.
He didn't speak, eyes roaming the view outside my window. His long platinum blond hair called to me. The silky strands flowed through my fingers when I touched them.
Ash breathed out quietly and I took that as a sign he liked the attention. We didn't speak, just hung out while I played with his hair.
"You really want me?"
Even with my demon enhanced hearing, he was difficult to hear.
"Yes, Ash. I do. We do." Leaning forward, I rested my forehead against his broad shoulders and tightened my arms around the demon. His silky hair tickled my face and heat from his body warmed me.
"Do you want us?"
"I do."
"Good."
His hand found mine and he held me against him.
We stayed like that until Ed found us. Ash straightened, though his hand remained over mine.
"We're picking out furniture. Do you two want to join us?" Ed bounced on his toes, eyes twinkling in excitement.
"Sure."
Ash squeezed my hand before releasing me. We stood and followed Ed into the living room.
∞ ∞ ∞
It took a few days to get some of the new furniture for the cabin. Though we didn't expect to really need them often, one of the first things we did was buy beds for each of the rooms. We also got couches and a huge kitchen table.
We still weren't sure how the visit with my parents would go, but we didn't necessarily think they needed to know we all shared.
"It'll be okay, Sofia." Doc put his arms around me where I sat hunched up on the couch.
I leaned into my vampire and snuggled against his chest. My skin tingled when he slipped his hand under my shirt and rubbed small circles on my back with his cool hands. Fortunately, most of the side effects of really vamping out while fighting the Andersons had worn off and he no longer had any sunlight sensitivity. We were all relieved about that. Grumpy daytime vampire had gotten a little old.
"Mmmm," I mumbled happily.
His hand stilled.
"They here?"
"Someone driving a diesel is. Probably your folks."
Nikolai joined us a moment later, drying his hair with a towel. My eyes roamed his lean muscles, jeans riding low and revealing just enough to make me drool.
"Put a shirt on," I said reluctantly. "Too distracting otherwise."
Nikolai paused drying his hair, winked, and headed toward his room.
Doc sighed. By the time I glanced up at him, I couldn't tell if it was for the loss of eye candy, or because my parents were almost
