"Who's Adriana?" Mom asked.
"Magic council person," I answered.
"Oh."
"They've been marginally helpful."
"She just wants in Doc's pants," Nikolai muttered, jealousy coloring his voice.
Doc sighed.
"Everyone wants in Doc's pants," I said, momentarily forgetting my parents didn't need to know that. "He's hot."
Dad made a strangled sound and Mom put her hand on his shoulder. Sam laughed.
Ash unfolded from the ground and left, probably to retrieve my phone. If it was Victoria something might be wrong. If it was Adriana, she could wait.
The demon came back a minute later and handed me the phone.
"Sofia, don't tell her about any of this," Doc cautioned. "We have no idea how they're interpreting any of their so-called rules."
"We can disappear into Siberia," Nikolai said.
"I don't like the cold as much as you do," Doc grumbled.
"Doesn't bother you, don't know why you don't like it," the Russian countered.
"I do get cold, just not as easily as you do."
"Do not get cold easily." Nikolai huffed.
I laughed tiredly while I stared at the number on my phone and debated calling back.
"So, vampires are affected by weather?" Dad asked. It was probably the best way he could have broached the subject.
"I don't think so," Doc answered. "At least not easily."
"But..."
"I'm not..."
"Yes, you are," Dad barked.
"I was going to say, I'm not a full vampire. You've seen me in the sunlight. That's real, too." Doc didn't look at Dad while he spoke, just continued to stare off into space as he quickly repeated the story of how his mother had been attacked right before he was born.
I remembered Sam didn't know any of this and glanced at her. She had paled considerably, and it was clear she hadn't guessed that possibility at all. She glanced toward the door, but a shiver wracked her body and she huddled closer to the fire instead of bolting.
"Guys, shut up for a minute. I'm going to call Adriana back."
Everyone fell silent.
Adriana picked up quickly. "Sofia. We were just checking on all of you."
"We're fine, why?"
"We still haven't managed to track down Alex or Melinda Anderson. Have you seen them at all?"
"No."
"Okay. Have you considered our offer any further?"
"To help you guys? We're thinking about it, but I'd also like to get through school, too."
"Of course. Please keep us updated on your plans. We really want to talk to Ash, and we need to talk to Roy."
He tensed. "What about," he spoke up enough that the phone would catch his words.
Adriana sucked in a breath, clearly not expecting Doc to respond right away. "Uh, just some of the things Alex said while we had him."
"I'm sure Alex is a completely trustworthy source of information," his voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Well, yes, we have taken that into consideration."
"Why don't you focus on finding Melinda and Alex and actually containing them this time. Maybe then we can talk. It's the middle of a blizzard here, and no one is going anywhere for a while, regardless. We'd like to get through the rest of the holidays without another disaster or confrontation."
"Sure, Roy. It's probably not that urgent, anyway. Sofia, thanks for calling me back. We'll leave you alone for a while."
"Thanks, Adriana. If we do come across Alex, we'll let you know."
"Be careful, Sofia. I'm sure they're not happy with any of you."
"Well, we're not happy with them, either. I'm certain they realize that." I clenched my hand on the phone.
"Happy Holidays." She hung up.
"Okay, I'm texting Victoria and then everyone is turning their phones off!" I almost threw the thing, but I didn't want to have to buy another one, so I sent Victoria a quick text letting her know we were all right and that I was turning my phone off for a while.
Ash took the phone from me and left the room for a moment.
"Okay, quiet, peace? Raging blizzard? Can we just have dinner and not deal with the real world for a while?" I snuggled into Doc who tightened his arms around me.
"Sure, honey," Dad said after a moment.
"Sam, are you okay?" Doc finally asked her.
"Starting to warm up."
I groaned. "Maybe we should cleanup."
Doc sighed. "Yeah."
Nikolai grumbled in protest when I moved off of Doc's lap but accepted my hand when I pulled him to his feet.
"You two first."
Doc nodded, tiredly got to his feet, and headed for the master bathroom. After a quick glance at my parents that I think only Mom noticed, Nikolai headed off for one of the other bathrooms. She smirked as she watched the mage head down the hallway. Mom really had accepted my pack dynamic pretty easily.
Allan climbed to his feet and followed Doc into the master bedroom. I took his spot next to Ed on the floor and gently ran my hand along his shoulder, thick fur warming my hands. He didn't move, though his side rose and fell evenly.
Sam stared at me, eyes wide.
I ignored her.
"You knew all that?"
I turned my attention to the other mage. "Yes. And if you tell anyone, I'll personally end you."
She blanched.
Fortunately, my parents still didn't protest my violent intentions.
"Do you want me to get you home before the blizzard gets to bad?" Ash offered.
"Yeah, maybe that would be best," Sam said. "I think I'm warm now."
"You taking the Camaro?"
Ash winked at me. "Traction spell."
I giggled before sobering. "Sam, I'm sorry you got caught up in all this."
She shrugged. "None of this was your fault, Sofia. The people who caused it are, uh, missing. Right?"
I nodded.
"Hopefully we'll never see them again."
"Yeah."
I glanced at Ash and he nodded. I wasn't sure what he would do, but whatever it was, he would reinforce to Sam that she could never speak of any of this.
They went out into the storm, leaving me alone with the sleeping werewolf and my parents.
"So, I think I'm safe now." I forced a smile.
Dad rubbed his hands together and hunched his shoulders before nodding.
"You okay?"
"Never killed anyone before, but yes,
