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a family event and there were kids in the crowd. Pru was impressed with the detail on the scales of the mermaid’s tail.
    The sculpture was certainly different from the other representations of snowmen, snowflakes, and Santa with his sleigh.
    Holiday Gift from the Waves was the title. Vin Roget was listed as the artist.
    “I’m not picking up anything,” Simon said. “What about you?”
    She was picking up plenty and it was all tied to Simon’s hand holding hers, his skin against hers, his fingers intertwined with hers. This wasn’t the first time he’d touched her since his return. He’d put his hand on the back of her neck the night before at the ice rink. And he’d done the same a few minutes ago when faced with the Gold Coast vamps.
    Those gestures had been about possession. But him holding her hand now was different. It reminded her of their time in London, dodging raindrops as they’d left Vicki and Al’s place, otherwise known as the Victoria and Albert Museum, in a downpour. Sharing tea at the Ritz. Sharing his bed in his hotel room for days on end.
    The attraction had been instant and irresistible. At least on her part. And as much as she’d hoped that things were different now, that powerful sexual bond between them had not dimmed at all.
    Pru returned her attention to the ice sculpture. There was something about it … a mermaid, tied to the lure of the water, to dangerous sirens luring sailors to harm, to lighthouses to protect the men from crashing onto the rocks.
    She looked out on the choppy waters of the lake. The city was living up to its windy title today.
    Then she saw it. “There.” Pru pointed to the lighthouse sitting offshore on a breakwall. “It could be there.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    The lighthouse, with its red roof and tower, was detached from the mainland, which would have made getting to it a challenge unless you were a vampire. Or a witch. Or a demon. Or a bunch of demons.
    They swarmed overhead the instant Simon and Pru arrived. She felt like she’d just stepped into Hitchcock’s classic The Birds . As they swooped closer, she saw they looked more like the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz . Shit. That image was in her Top Five list of personal terrors. Shit, shit, shit. She quickly did a demon protection spell that Zoe had told her about, but for some reason it wasn’t working on these demons.
    “They are Ancients!” Simon shouted above the piercing whirring the demons’ flight created.
    “Mordred sent us to retrieve his sword Excalibur. We are his followers,” they chanted in unison.
    “It’s not his. It never was!” Simon yelled at them, slashing those who came too close with his demon daggers. He had one in each hand.
    As the Ancients continued to descend, one swooped lower and knocked Pru down. The impact knocked the breath out of her, leaving her unable to speak. She scrambled over the uneven ground, trying to escape.
    Seeing her fall, Simon howled and went full vamp. His fangs were fully emerged and ready to rip the demon to shreds. But a slew of Ancients landed between him and Pru, flapping their razor-sharp wings and preventing him from getting to her.
    They dragged their claws across his chest, ripping away his clothing and slashing his skin. Still he battled on, coming closer to the rocky edge of the breakwall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. Excalibur. There amidst the frosty rocks, embedded in the ice with the hilt of the sword sticking out.
    Warding off the blows and claws, he leapt toward Excalibur. Gripping the hilt in his hands, he could feel the power generated by the legendary weapon. It traveled up his arm to his core, but as hard as Simon yanked on it, he couldn’t pull Excalibur free.
    “You have to believe,” Pru called out even as she struggled with the terror consuming her at the onslaught of demons surrounding her.
    “Believe, Demon Hunter,” they mocked him before tearing the Santa hat from Pru’s head. “Believe I am going to kill