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The elegant Victorian mansion was quiet now except for the e next door in the bar It was furnished in expensive turn-of-the-century antiques that had been in the house since they were new The bear clan didn’t like change Gallagher was glad for that It felt strangely like co?" Zar asked as he led hiany stairs

"Until the New Year"

Zar nodded "Maher to a rooher stepped inside and found a warm, cozy bedroom The ere well-shuttered and covered by heavy drapes that would keep the daylight fro hiht one"

The corner of Gallagher’s mouth lifted "All the comforts of ho, and never having a single coet settled in and join us when you’re ready"

Gallagher watched Zar leave while feelings and h him He appreciated the bears’ courtesy, but he would trade all his ht spent with his wife and son

One single Christht up as she opened a gift

The pain of his loss racked his he could no longer have He sat on the bed and stared at the wall He saw his great-granddaughter’s face and wondered if she would go home at Christmas to be with her fao hoo was familiar to him Weary and heartsick, he lay down on the bed to just rest for a second He only wanted to escape for an instant into her woke up to find that three days had passed while he slept He didn’t re about his drea?" he asked Mama Peltier as soon as he left his rooht

In huant, tall blonde woh she looked no older than forty, she was in fact close to eight hundred years in age

"Acheron said you needed to rest and I agreed"

"But three days?"

She shrugged "Do you feel better?"

Strangely, he did At least physically

It was just after dark on Christathering into the two main parlors where dual twelve-foot-tall pines were decorated

Gallagher stood back, watching the whole crew of Katagaria and Arcadians whocelebration The tiny bear cubs climbed over presents and tried to eat and climb up the trees while their fathers and her feel more at home, pulled them back Justin Portakalian came down in his panther form and picked up one of the smaller cubs by the scruff of his neck and rolled him playfully across the floor

It was the her had ever seen in his one-hundred-plus years of living He felt even o when he arrived As her decided he needed a breath of fresh air and a moment of quiet to clear his head He headed out into the cold dark night and drifted aih the French Quarter Before he realized it, he was outside the St Louis Cathedral

It had been a long time since he’d last been in church There were only a few people headed inside No doubt ht Mass He started to turn away, but instead found hi inside with the others

The foyer was dark, but his Dark-Hunter sight saw the interior clearly and he moved toward the small font of holy water that rested on the wall to his left, just beside the church store He blessed himself, then opened the dark wood doors that led into the cathedral The beauty of the stained glass and statuary iher genuflected, then sat down on the last row Here, he felt his Rosalie Devout, she had never ation or Feast Day He had dutifully gone with her even though he’d hemmed and hawed about it Ever patient, she would sit by his side, patting his arotten him to do the iht with the pain of her loss

He wanted to stay here where he felt her, but he couldn’t No Dark-Hunter could rehosts of the past came out to possess theht the up, he made his way silently out back to the font, then out to the street

It was cool out, but nowhere near the coldness he felt inside hiher headed down Chartres Street He didn’t knohere to go He didn’t feel like going back to Sanctuary and there was no real need to hunt on Christmas Eve Since most humans were at home with their families, the Daimons tended to stay in as well

"Hel-lo!"

He paused at the fa around, he found "Si to see Ash with her

But apparently she was out alone Si out here all alone?" she asked "Did you forget how to find Sanctuary?"

"No I want to be alone for a bit"

She cocked her head and frowned "Why? Were the bears et a bit cranky whenever I play with the cubs She thinks I’ to eat one, but bleh! They’re way too hairy Now if she’d let hed in spite of hi?"

"Oh no I never joke about hairy food It’s disgusting" She looked up at him "If they weren’t uess I didn’t feel right being there"

"Why?"