Blood Ties (Book 3 of The Blood Bond Series)

39. Just Another Holiday

Eli sat down on the sofa next to Cassie. They were just glad to be there and watching Delia's kids open presents and their family members exclaim over their own gifts. They weren't vampires that went around giving each other gift cards, because they all had enough money to be comfortable. They put thought into what they gifted the loved ones in their inner circle.

And hell, even Delia and Michael had invested wisely over the years and were fortunate to have it pay off recently since one of Eli's kids was into stocks, bonds, and whatever other nonsense happened in New York City that made the American people buy buy buy and sell sell sell.

Even Delia had no idea what they were invested in, and couldn't have cared unless the money stopped flowing. She was happy doing work for a number of prestigious ad agencies in Hollywood and "Silicone Valley" as she called it. It scratched an itch she didn't know had been nagging her until she really got to learn the business. She worked from home, which was good since she didn't look like she was in her 50s. She didn't even look like she was in her 40s.

That was the problem with living the immortal life of a vampire. You looked to be much younger than your actual years, so they had to be careful. If anyone knew of vampires existing, no one knew what would happen then. It wasn't something many of that community wanted to think about. They were too leery, so they blended in well with humans as a precaution.

"What did Tina get?" Cassie asked her mate as she curled herself into him. Tina was Delia and Michael's firstborn, and was ten years old going on 24.

"Makeup for little girls," Eli informed her quietly. "She refuses to play with dolls or stuffed animals anymore and spends most of her time with makeup or doing her nails. That's just from what Michael has said, so I don't know how true it is. He has a tendency to over or underexaggerate these days. He's been busy with following Quinn around and then dealing with the family. You heard that the Sangre Negro are expanding to the West Coast finally, haven't you?"

Cassie hadn't heard, though she now knew who they were. "Hadn't the foggiest. I thought they kept to the Midwest and East Coast."

Eli sighed. "They expanded last summer. Crept in like a fucking ninja—or better yet, a thief in the night. We shouldn't have a problem since we're mostly in North Dakota these days, and Michael and Delia are safe obviously. I'll have to speak to them and make sure that Adam and any of our other kin is not messed with."

"Oh, honey," Cassie gasped, as if she just realized something. "Didn't I tell you? I already spoke with Michael's mother about all or family since Adam was spending time near New York City last year. She and I email regularly now. You have nothing to worry about. She is determined to keep our family out of any of their drama so long as we don't stick our noses in, which we would never do, of course."

He muttered under his breath to himself. "Typical interfering little—"

"What's that you're about to say?" Her eyes narrowed on him. "Think carefully, because a female vampire is just as strong as a male. It's one of the things the anatomy of an immortal got right, for once."

"Never mind," he muttered before watching Tina open up another present. It was lipstick, and she was ecstatic with glee over all the pink and red shades.

Over in the corner, Adam and Quinn were watching Delia's son, Damien, opening up a Lego set he'd been wanting.

Most of the presents had been opened earlier in the day at the Jensen's home, but there were still plenty from the extended family, which included the Paynes, who were all honorary aunts and uncles to the Jensens' kids. At Christmas, those kids really reaped the benefits of having wealthy friends and family, though they never wanted any other time of year either.