A Vampire Christmas: Drew's Christmas Stalking (Psy-Vamp Book 8) Read online

  A VAMPIRE

  CHRISTMAS

  A Psy-Vamp Story by

  Cassandra Lawson

  Copyright ©2018 Cassandra Lawson

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover designed by J.N. Sheats

  Proofreading by Kendra’s Editing and Book Services

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters and events are creations of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by federal law enforcement agencies and is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Also by Cassandra Lawson

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  About the Author

  Also by Cassandra Lawson

  Love Without Batteries Series

  Dirty at 30

  Naughty at 30

  Sultry at 30

  Moon Virus Series

  Raven’s Blood

  Embrace the Heat

  Seducing Death

  Shattered Restraint

  Impulsive Destiny

  Untamed Winter

  Psy-Vamp Series

  Vampires and Vixens

  Safe Hex With a Vampire

  Vampires Prefer Blondes

  The Vampire Will See You Now

  Wanton with a Vampire

  Vampire in Geek’s Clothing

  Wicked Crazy Vampire Love

  Reckless Release Series

  Rocking Standby

  Rock & Regrets

  Rocking Perfection

  Spells That Bind Series

  Sinfully Spellbound

  Shamelessly Spellbound

  Seductively Spellbound

  Undeniably Hellbound

  Inescapably Hellbound

  Reluctantly Hellbound

  Acknowledgments

  I want to thank everyone who loved the Draksel family enough to ask me to write another story. I truly appreciate your devotion to this series. I know many of you have been with me since the beginning, and I value each and every one of you.

  Chapter 1

  “Ho! Ho! Ho! Mother fucker,” Drew muttered as he watched the bastard stumble out of the bar.

  “Fucking brats!” the pissant mall Santa shouted at no one in particular.

  A woman with two young children pressed her back against the wall outside of the bar, placing a protective hand over the chest of each child. Why anyone would put a bar and a music studio for kids in the same strip mall, Drew would never know. Humans were stupid. The kids looked worried, but they wouldn’t be too traumatized since the guy no longer had his Santa suit on. That was the one thing he could give the drunken mall Santa credit for.

  In his search for the perfect Santa, Drew had already witnessed more than this one guy head into a bar. He’d even seen someone head into a strip club dressed as Santa. Drew had seen a lot of fucked up things in his life, but few compared to Santa getting a lap dance. It was the stuff of nightmares.

  Drunken Santa bent over to puke on the side of the building. Such a disappointment. Drew had been stalking the guy for three days. The intel he’d gotten from his cousin, Isaiah, had put this guy at the top of his list. Data was useful, but Drew preferred seeing people in action over reading their bio. People hid a lot of things from the world.

  The mall had hired drunken Santa to replace a guy Drew had only followed for a few hours. That particular mall Santa had broken his leg in three places just after kicking a stray dog. Despite what Drew’s family believed, he hadn’t pushed the asshole down a flight of stairs. Really, he hadn’t, but no matter how many times he insisted the dog had done it, no one believed him.

  Looking down, Drew smiled at Zoe, who was growling at his side. “I’m not letting you trip another mall Santa and pin the blame on me,” he told his new friend. How could he possibly leave the stray on the street when he respected her so much?

  She didn’t look happy, but Zoe stopped growling. Zoe weighed less than fifteen pounds, but she had a lot of attitude. Her scruffy black fur had been a matted mess when she’d come home with him. After a short visit with a groomer, it was still a mess but clean and free of knots.

  “I thought he might be the one,” Drew muttered.

  Santa had seemed jolly enough, and he hadn’t given off the creepy pervert vibe. He hadn’t held the children on his lap too long, and there’d been no questionable hugs. Still, something had seemed off. Drew would have written the guy off the second he triggered any of his internal warning bells, but Talia wouldn’t go for it. She’d already accused Drew of being paranoid.

  Talia was the reason he was out stalking Santas. She wanted a first Christmas picture with Santa for their little girl, and Drew would do anything for his wife and daughter. In this case, he was beginning to worry he might fail them.

  With a sigh of frustration, Drew turned and walked toward his car. This was the seventh mall Santa he’d considered, and not one was worthy of having his little girl sit on their lap. They were all drunks or perverts. Scratch that; some were drunks and perverts.

  He opened the passenger door to let Zoe in while he took Miri out of her baby wrap and settled her in the car seat in the back. She let out a little yawn but didn’t open her eyes. Man, he loved his little girl. Zoe scurried into the back to check on Miri before moving back up front.

  As he was starting up the car, a call from Isaiah came in, so he put it on speaker.

  “What have you got for me?” Drew asked.

  “Was I supposed to look for something?” Isaiah asked in response.

  “I need a mall Santa who’s not a pervert, drunk, or bully,” Drew stated.

  “And Talia said you had your man,” Isaiah reminded him. “She said you’re out looking for a problem where one doesn’t exist.”

  Drew snorted. “It exists. I just caught the drunken prick scaring kids on his way out of a bar.”

  Isaiah’s sigh echoed through the car. “Why is this so important?”

  “Talia wants a Santa picture,” Drew replied as he pulled the car away from the curb. “You know I’ll do anything to make my wife happy. She wants a nice Christmas for Miri, the whole package. What do I know about Christmas?”

  “The family has celebrated every year since Roman married Lydia,” Isaiah reminded him.

  “I only show up for the cookies,” Drew pointed out. “I eat some cookies, open a present, and then leave. It’s my thing. You know how it is when you didn’t celebrate Christmas growing up.”

  “I celebrated Christmas when I was a kid,” Isaiah told him. “Not every year, but we had a few Christmases when my dad was away. My mom loves Christmas, but my dad wouldn’t let her do anything when he was in town for the season.”

  “Your dad’s such a dick,” Drew muttered.

  Isaiah laughed. “He’s doing better.”

  Drew could picture Isaiah pushing his glasses up on his nose. He and his cousins all looked remarkably similar, with dark brown hair and icy blue eyes. Each was around six feet tall. Only a few members of his family tried to look like anything other than a Draksel clone. Isaiah wore glasses and often had longer hair, but Drew didn’t think it had anything to do with a desire to look different. Isaiah simply liked the look. He was the family computer genius and security expert.

  “Maybe you should get Talia to handle some Santa stalking to give you a break,” Isaiah suggested.

  “Nah,” Drew replied. “She’s got a full schedule of hunter training. Aside from her own workout schedule this week, she’s mentoring two young hunters. Talia needs me to handle all the Christmas crap. I got the tree, decorations, lights, and presents. All I need is a Santa picture with Miri.”

  “Can I make a suggestion?” Isaiah asked.

  “Sure,” Drew replied as he turned the corner.

  “Skip Santa this year,” Isaiah told him. “Miri is only a few months old. She couldn’t possibly care less if she gets a picture with Santa. Talia will be fine waiting until next year.”

  “I need to do this,” Drew insisted.

  Several beats of silence passed before Isaiah responded. “All right, let me check out some more leads.”

  “This is why you’re my favorite cousin,” Drew told him with a grin.

  “Because I can run free background checks for you?” Isaiah asked.

  “Nah,” Drew replied. “You’re my favorite because you don’t keep asking me to explain myself when you think my reasoning makes no sense.”

  Isaiah let out a bark of laughter. “I’ve made that mistake before and learned my lesson. The last thing I want is to fall down the rabbit hole of your logic again.”

  Drew chuckled. “Smart move. It’s a scary place.”

  “I’ll call
you when I have something.” Not waiting for a response, Isaiah ended the call.

  “No one ever says goodbye anymore,” Drew muttered to himself.

  Chapter 2

  After getting Miri settled into her crib, Talia returned to their bedroom. Drew grinned when she walked in because he could tell she was more than a little pissed. Talia was hot, and she looked even hotter when she was angry. His wife was tall with a kick-ass body. Her position as a hunter required her to work out often. Having given birth a few months earlier, she still had more curve to her belly and hips. Drew loved the extra curves because they reminded him that he’d knocked her up. When they’d first married, she’d been firm on the no babies rule, and it still amazed him that she’d finally changed her mind.

  “Are you thinking about how proud you are that you got me pregnant again?” she asked with her hands on her hips.

  “Nah,” he replied. “I was thinking about how awesome it is that I talked you into letting me get you pregnant. You have no idea how much you and Miri mean to me.”

  The anger drained out of her, and Drew felt a twinge of disappointment. After all the trouble he was having finding a decent Santa, he needed a fight and possibly some angry sex. Instead, it looked like Talia was going to try to psychoanalyze his past again.

  “Listen, Drew,” she began. “I appreciate all the effort you’re putting into trying to make this Christmas perfect, and I feel bad for putting so much pressure on you.”

  “Are you kidding?” he asked. “You haven’t asked for much from me this Christmas.”

  “Not true,” she argued. “Neither of us has all that much experience with the holiday, so it can’t be easy trying to plan one with very little help from me.”

  “I’ve celebrated a lot of Christmases,” he insisted. “Lyd makes us celebrate at her house every year. You’ve gone with me.”

  “Grabbing cookies and trying to escape unnoticed doesn’t count,” she insisted. “Don’t even try telling me people celebrate Christmas in a lot of different ways.”

  “It’s not easy arguing with you when you already know what I’m going to say,” he grumbled.

  “Then don’t argue,” she replied. “Just listen. Neither of us had traditional Christmases growing up. We didn’t do normal kid stuff, and Lydia’s overblown cookie celebrations are far from traditional.”

  “She does more than cookies,” Drew pointed out.

  Talia waved off his words. “Whatever. You still get my point.”

  “I get your point,” he agreed with a sigh. “It’s why I want to make this perfect for you and Miri. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for the two of you.”

  “I know you’d do anything for us,” she assured him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

  He pulled her closer and released a shuddering breath. “You smell incredible.”

  Talia laughed softly. “Are you trying to get me naked to avoid talking about Christmas?”

  “That’s not the only reason I’m trying to get you naked,” he replied before pushing her dark purple hair to the side so he could kiss her ear. “I always want you naked. It’s a crime that you wear clothing so often.”

  “What’s got you so worked up about Christmas?” she asked as she released him and took a couple of steps back. “Tell me what happened when you were a kid so I can help you.”

  In the early days of their marriage, he’d have insisted nothing had happened. A lot had changed over the years, and his ability to trust was one of the more significant changes. “When I was six, I got excited about all the Christmas lights. I even watched some of those stupid movies where family and friends all got together for the holiday season. I didn’t have any friends, and all my cousins were either older or lived far away. Even if they’d lived closer, they would have avoided my family because my mom was bat tits crazy.”

  “The term is batshit,” Talia corrected him with twitching lips.

  “I know,” he assured her. “I wanted to put the image of a bat with big knockers in your head.”

  “You’re not going to distract me,” she replied.

  Drew sighed. “Fine, I’ll tell you the tale of the night before Christmas Draksel style, but remember, I wanted to do something more entertaining with our time.”

  She sat on the edge of their bed and tapped the spot beside her. “Sit and tell me so I can try to understand why you’re taking our infant daughter out to stalk mall Santas during the day. Don’t even try telling me it’s all about me wanting a Santa picture. I mentioned that one time. After the first two you checked out, I said it didn’t seem worth the effort. We can skip the picture. Tell me why you're so obsessed.”

  “I stalk some of the Santas at night,” he reminded her.

  “Talk,” she said in a no-nonsense tone. Talia would not be distracted.

  “Back to six-year-old Drew and his fucked-up family. I kept asking for a tree and lights. At six, I’d already seen enough to know the world wasn’t all twinkling lights and jolly fat men, but that year, I wanted it to be. My mom promised me a special Christmas surprise. I was still naïve enough to think it would be some cool present.”

  Talia grabbed his hand and brought it up to her mouth. “What happened?”

  “My mom picked up some guy on his way to his car after Midnight Mass,” Drew explained. “He didn’t match her victim profile, and she considered that a gift for me. I spent the wee hours of Christmas morning in a warehouse while my mom worked on this guy. His screams drowned out the Christmas music she had playing in the background.”

  “Christmas music?” Talia looked shocked and sickened.

  “Yeah,” he replied. “She had lights up and a Christmas tree with a train going around it. It was the perfect serial killer’s Christmas. I even got to kill him. That’s exactly what every six-year-old boy asks Santa for, right?”

  “Well, fuck,” Talia muttered as she leaned against his side. “I wish your mom was still alive so I could kill her. I get that you loved her, so I shouldn’t say things like that.”

  Drew chuckled and slipped an arm around his wife. “You can say whatever you want. Yeah, I loved my mom, but I loved her because she was the only one who cared about me. I didn’t feel like I had anyone else. My relationship with my mom was complicated on the best of days,” he pointed out.

  Talia said nothing about his understatement regarding his mom. He’d ended her life with a knife, and he liked to think she’d appreciate that he’d been the one to kill her. His family had already decided to kill her before she got arrested for one of her kills. They couldn’t afford to have one of their kind in the hands of authorities who might run tests and figure out she wasn’t human.

  Drew hadn’t killed her based on the family’s decision. The night of her death, he’d discovered a frightened boy being groomed to become the perfect killer. His mom had mistaken him for Drew’s son, and she’d expected the three of them to go into hiding together. If she’d realized the truth—that Hunter was Drew’s illegitimate brother—his mom would have killed the boy. Hunter was fine now, living with his uncle, Alek. Thankfully, his mom hadn’t spent enough time around the kid to do any lasting harm. It was bad enough she’d messed up her only son.

  “After hearing this story, and with everything else I know about your mom, I can see why Christmas is a strange holiday for you,” she remarked.

  “I want Miri to have only happy memories,” he added.

  “And you want to wipe out the bad memories from your childhood,” she stated. “I will kick your ass if you argue with me.”

  Now, that was a challenge he couldn’t possibly resist.

  Chapter 3

  Drew chuckled and rolled to pin Talia to the bed with the weight of his body. He held her wrists above her head. She could turn the tables on him if she wanted to; his wife was a total badass vampire hunter. She was also a vampire, but they didn’t tell too many people about that last detail.

  “Are you really going to kick my ass if I tell you I don’t want some happy Christmas memories?” he asked, leaning in to nip her lower lip before pulling back to watch her reaction.

  Talia laughed and shook her head. “I should know better than to threaten you with an ass-kicking. You’d like that way too much.”