Chapter 10 Diablo

D ecember 23 rd —

I stood on the porch, sipping coffee as I watched my kids throwing snowballs at one another in the front yard. The war had begun when Rev threw one at Olivia. She retaliated and tossed one at her brother but hit Thunder instead. Laughter followed, and so did the big balls packed with white snow. My yard soon became littered with them.

Yesterday, Thunder arrived with Rya. They planned to stay for a week, and I couldn’t hide my joy that I finally had all my children together under one roof again.

This was what the holidays meant to me. Thunder, Rev, Olivia, and my Gina. Our family. That also included Rya now since Thunder wouldn’t leave her side. After all they’d been through, I didn’t blame them for holding on a little tight.

Hell, I still did that with Rev and Olivia on occasion. Learning to love and let your children out into the world, free to succeed, fail, fail in love, and live on their own terms, was the scariest part of fatherhood. I had to let these precious souls out of my umbrella and safety where the world could harm them. At times, I hated it.

It was impossible to count how many times I’d felt that way with Thunder since he was a boy. Losing him for years had nearly gutted me, but I wouldn’t focus on the past. The present and its joy were all that mattered.

“Dad?” Thunder called.

Dad. I still loved to hear him say it. I would always be Dio to Thunder, my Little Man, but looking at the man he’d become, I couldn’t be prouder to see the life warrior before me. And his Rya? She was a life warrior, too. Glancing at Rev, I knew he’d experienced similar soul-crushing trauma, but you’d never know it to look at him. They were all strong, resilient, and beautiful souls.

Choking up a bit, I blinked back tears before they could sting my eyes. “Yeah?”

“Heads up!”

I ducked a second before the snowball hit the front window with a muted thud. “Oh, it’s on now,” I declared, setting my mug down as I chuckled. I rushed down the stairs, scooped up snow, and packed it into a tight ball. Before I could throw it, a snowball hit me in the center of my chest. Two more followed. Damn. My kids didn’t mess around.

“We’re not going easy on you,” Rev declared.

“Old man,” Thunder snickered.

My Reaper snickered and rose to the challenge. “Better get ready!” I shouted, laughing as they scattered.

All three scurried to make snowballs as I formed a big pile, waiting for everyone to finish. A snowball fight ensued that somehow morphed into a war with all three of my kids on one side and me on the other.

More laughter bubbled from my chest as we hurled snowballs, pelting one another until we had to take a break. More snow began to blow around, and the fat flakes disappeared as icy rain began to fall. Little needles pricked my skin when the frozen precipitation landed on my face.

“Inside, kids. Time to get warm.”

Gina opened the front door and shivered. “Hot cocoa is ready.” She smiled as I walked up the porch steps with Thunder. “You all look too cold. Come in and warm up by the fire.”

Rev raced inside, followed by Olivia.

“We’ll be right in, Babe,” I announced as she nodded, blowing me a kiss before closing the door.

“You okay, Dad?” Thunder asked, stomping snow from his boots.

“Yeah.” I rubbed my chest over my heart, feeling anxious. It was more the Reaper than me. Something was off. “Well, I don’t know.”

“What is it?”

“A feeling. I need to call Grim.”

Thunder understood. His keen senses picked up on these things as I did. Blood usually became the catalyst for me, especially with my work as a tattoo artist. For Thunder, his years of suffering and loss developed a sensitivity and awareness most people could never fathom.

The point was that I knew he felt it too. My Reaper confirmed it, but he didn’t need to; I already felt that Thunder became anxious about the same moment that I did.

“Then let’s call him.”

“D.J. IS FINALLY ASLEEP ,” Mimi murmured as she joined me on the couch.

I slid my arm around her and hugged her against my side. “He always fights it like he doesn’t want to miss out,” I joked.

“Yeva used to do that, too,” she reminded me.

He did. “Yeah. He still plays until he’s too tired to keep his eyes open any longer.”

“It’s hard to be four,” she laughed. “God, I’m tired.”

“Take a nap, Sunshine. I’ve got you.”

“There’s so much to do,” she replied, stifling a yawn.

“What? Dishes? Laundry? It’s not goin’ anywhere, Babe. Rest.”

“Okay.”

And that fast, she relaxed, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep. Adorable.

I held her for a long while, not paying attention to the time. The silent house felt calm and peaceful, so when I felt my Reaper grow agitated, I knew it had nothing to do with my family. That was confirmed a few minutes later when I saw Chaos run up the steps to my front door and knock.

I tried to move quietly enough that I didn’t wake Mimi, but she stirred as I shifted underneath her, rising to my feet.

Chaos knocked again.

“Is everything okay?” She rubbed sleep from her eyes.

“No, I don’t think it is.” I felt urgency claw at my chest and flung open the door, finding a frazzled brother who looked nearly panicked. “What’s happening?”

“Is there any chance Zara is here?”

Fuck. “No, brother. What can I do?”

“Help me knock on doors. I want to check in with every club member who lives on these two streets. She couldn’t have gone far.”

It didn’t seem possible that Zara would have gone far with the cold and icy ground. “You got it. Where have you gone so far?”

“You’re the first stop.”

“Then you stay on this side of the street, and I’ll check the other.”

“Good plan.”

He rushed down my stairs as I turned to Mimi.

“Go. I’ve got the kids. I’ll start calling all the ladies.”

“Love you, Sunshine.” I kissed her cheek and ran outside, knocking on every door I could.

No one had seen little Zara, and it got worse when Jigsaw joined us. His face was twisted with the same fear that threatened to overtake Chaos.

“Miles is missing. We can’t find him.”

Fuck! Where had those two little ones gone? At five and three, they were too young to go anywhere alone. How did they leave home without anyone noticing?

Almost every club member met in the middle of the street as we stood in the cold, using our Reapers and their sharp senses to try to find the kids. The cold wind and icy rainfall weren’t helping, and we didn’t have a clue where they could have gone.

After searching the neighborhood for over two hours, we still hadn’t found them. I felt the desperation from Jigsaw and Chaos. We needed to find Miles and Zara before it got dark.

Chaos paced as his boots crunched snow. Jigsaw remained tense, breathing hard. I couldn’t imagine being in that position. I’d be losing my shit.

A door slammed, and I looked up, seeing Noah rushing toward us. We had stopped close to Papa’s place, and he ticked his chin at his boy. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure, but I think we need to talk to Jakey.”

Mammoth stiffened. “Jakey? Why?”

“He saw you dressed up like Santa and kissing his mom.”

Mammoth blinked. “He’s upset?”

Noah bit his lip. “I think so, yeah. He wants to get on the naughty list.”

Every man froze, as the implication of that sentence could mean a hundred different things. Jakey would never harm another soul, so that wasn’t a thought that anyone jumped to, but we all wondered how this affected Miles and Zara.

Papa gripped Noah’s shoulder. “What else do you know?”

“Well, Jakey has been talking about stealing a reindeer to get on Santa’s naughty list. He thought that would keep Santa from coming back and stealing his mom from Mammoth.”

“Shit,” Mammoth cursed, kicking at a pile of snow. “I gotta talk to him. Now.”

No one said a word as we followed Mammoth home, entering the house in a big group. We stuffed the living room with all the bodies, and the tension went up as soon as Mammoth called for Jakey.

Jakey walked into the living room, jolting when he saw all the bikers staring at him with anxious expressions. Most of us had our Reapers close to the surface and must have appeared wild and deadly to such a young boy.

Mammoth sat on the couch and patted the cushion. “Come sit. I need to ask you something. It’s serious, son. Need an honest answer. Okay?”

“Okay, Dad.”

“Do you know where Miles and Zara went?”

He blinked. “No. Should I?”

Mammoth shook his head. “It’s okay if you don’t.”

Jakey nodded. “I do have a drawing. It’s about Christmas. Should I show you?”

“Yes. Please go get it.”

Jakey rushed from the room and returned a minute later, handing Mammoth the artwork Jakey had spoken about. “I hope this helps.”

Mammoth stared at the drawing, and his shoulders eased a bit. “Operation Stop Santa?” he questioned with curiosity.

“There’s another drawing in your stocking.” Jakey looked at the ground. “Santa kissed my mama.”

Mammoth inhaled and exhaled twice before he answered. “I think you should know that it wasn’t the real Santa. That was me, Jakey. I was playing pretend with your mama.”

Jakey’s head jerked up. “You were?”

“Yeah, son. You know how there are mall Santas that help the real one? I was doing the same thing.”

Jakey looked relieved but then stiffened. “I’m sorry I was naughty.”

Mammoth hugged him. “It’s okay. You wanted to protect me and your family. Nothing wrong with that.” He cleared his throat. “Did Miles know about this?”

Jakey nodded. “He kept asking about reindeer. I think he heard my plan to steal one.”

A few audible reactions from the other Reapers filled the room.

“This drawing of a nativity,” Mammoth began as he pointed at it, “where is it?”

“It’s the live animals, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. The one by the old church.”

“Did you say you were going there, Jakey?” Chaos asked.

Jakey nodded. “I think Miles heard us because I told Noah I wanted to capture one of the reindeer and bring it home to hide it. They have a sleigh with Santa and Rudolph along with all the other reindeer.”

Jigsaw headed toward the door. “We’re going to there. Now.”

Chaos didn’t hesitate to follow.

Everyone else filed out after them except for me and Mammoth. He hugged Jakey again and sat back, ruffling his hair. “Next time, come to me. There’s nothing we can’t handle together. Okay?”

Jakey nodded. “Okay, Dad.”

A half-hour later, we all stood in front of the live nativity, and beside it, Santa yelled a jolly ho-ho-ho, leading all his reindeer in front of an enormous sleigh.

Jigsaw found Miles holding Zara’s hand. They watched baby Jesus in the manger, oblivious that everyone had been looking for them.

Chaos scooped up his daughter and held her against him, too choked up to say much. After losing Cindi, I knew how hard that hit him.

Jigsaw picked up his son, holding him in the crook of his arm. Miles yawned and rested his head on his dad’s shoulder.

Above us, shooting across the sky, a bright star twinkled.

Christmas had been saved. Even better? Santa was back on the nice list and so were all the kids.