Christmas in Transylvania by Sandra Hill

about the evil in this world. You’re right, though. You can’t let her go back to him.”
    â€œIs Alex still up there?”
    â€œYeah. Someone should stay with Faith through the night, just to make sure she’s all right. If nothing else, she shouldn’t wake alone, in a strange place.”
    â€œI’ll stay with her,” Karl offered. “Alex needs to get some sleep herself.”
    â€œYou might want to get one of the women to take over for Alex. From what Alex says about Vikar, you’re already on my big brother’s shit list for bringing Faith here.” Sigurd grinned. They all knew about Vikar’s temper, which was bound to be edgier than usual with all the Christmas hoopla. “Man, how did you get involved in this mess?”
    Karl was getting tired of having to explain himself, and so his tone was a mite surly when he started to ask, “What else could I—­”
    Sigurd put his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, I’m not criticizing. I’m just saying.”
    â€œWe’ll see about who stays with Faith through the night,” Karl conceded, but he didn’t really mean it. I am for damn sure going to be the one sitting with Faith tonight. I brought her here. She’s my responsibility. “Are you going back to Baltimore tonight? That blizzard is going to be a bitch for driving.”
    â€œI need to be there for a morning consult, but I won’t be driving.’
    Karl realized then that Sigurd must have teletransported here. It was a talent that most vangels had, to be used only in rare emergencies. Too much, and they might call unwanted attention to themselves in all their various outside jobs.
    â€œThere’s one more thing, Karl.”
    Uh-­oh! He didn’t like the sound of Sigurd’s voice.
    â€œFaith thinks she might be pregnant.”
    Karl’s wildly beating heart suddenly went thunk. What next? Could this situation get any more complicated? “Oh, fuck!” he exclaimed. Vangels tried not to use sacrilegious swear words, but sometimes foul language escaped nonetheless. “Fuck!” was okay, “Jesus Christ!” was not. Well, maybe not okay, but not as bad.
    My brain is melting here with all this stress.
    Since when do I get stressed out by little things?
    A baby is not a little thing!
    â€œYou said might be pregnant,” Karl said hopefully.
    â€œYeah. If she is, it’s only about one month.”
    â€œCouldn’t you do a test or something?”
    â€œI didn’t happen to bring one of those little sticks with me,” Sigurd said sarcastically. “I’m not an obstetrician. And don’t even think of going out to some drugstore tonight. Like you said, driving’s already hazardous, and I doubt Mike would consider a pregnancy test enough of an emergency to teletransport.”
    Karl groaned at the mention of Mike. He had been hoping . . . he still was . . . that their archangel mentor wouldn’t have to find out about his bringing a human into their midst.
    That hope was shot dead in its tracks when Sigurd stood and stretched before picking up his bag, and said, “Speaking of Mike. Vikar got a message that there will be a meeting of the VIK here at the castle a week from now. Something about some new trouble brewing from Jasper.”
    The VIK was the ruling council of all the vangels, comprised of the seven Sigurdsson brothers. Vikar, Trond, Ivak, Mordr, Sigurd, Cnut, and Harek.
    â€œA new mission?” Karl guessed.
    â€œSounds like,” Sigurd agreed.
    That’s all they needed. The vangel holiday madness that Alex was no doubt planning on top of St. Michael the Archangel arriving on the scene, not to mention Faith up in Karl’s bedroom, and Karl possibly having to leave on some Lucie mission.
    Karl held Sigurd’s gaze for a long moment. The unanswered question was: Would Faith be gone by then?
    And where would she go?
    And