A/N: I don't own Darquesse, Anton, William Raymond Sanguine, Dexter, Erskine, Tanith, Ghastly, Gracious or Donegan. Yay, Gracious showed up! WARNING: Chapter contains violence and gets a tad dark.

Two years passed and we were christening the hotel swimming pool at long last with a family swim. As I was getting water wings on my wee Tony, which we all called little Anton, it happened. With an ominous rumble then a tremendous cracking sound Billy-Ray Sanguine erupted from out of the cement beside the indoor pool, grabbing my baby away from me. His straight razor was on my baby's neck in an instant and the hitman snarled a warning at me. "One move, Darquesse, and I slit your kid's throat."

I watched helplessly as he pressed the blade tighter to Tony's neck. My shadows writhed angrily and I felt rage and terror, but I didn't dare to attack. There was a roar and I looked over to see Ghastly and dad struggling to hold Anton back as his Gist half raged, trying to reach us. "That goes for all of you!" Billy-Ray thundered and the Gist fell silent, looking as helpless and enraged as I felt.

My whole family was frozen in terror and fear, Dexter and Erskine looking enraged that they couldn't help and Tanith looking like she wanted her sword. There was a small snick of a sound and Billy-Ray grunted. I turned my horrified gaze to him, thinking he'd already killed my baby.

But he had a surprised look on his face, and his hand suddenly loosened, his straight-razor clattering to the cement. Billy-Ray's mouth went slack, and he tumbled backwards into the pool, thankfully letting Tony go in the process.

I looked at the now dead hitman as I grabbed my frightened baby to me and then across the pool where Gracious O'Callahan stood in the doorway, his ever-present gun in his hand. He turned to grin at Donegan Bane, standing beside him. "Told you me carrying a gun would come in handy."

I didn't even think twice, I shadow-walked to his side and hugged the monster hunter fiercely. "You saved my baby, thank you!"

"All in a days work, ma'am." Gracious replied, in a fake Southern drawl and tipped an imaginary Stetson to me.

"But you're monster hunters, and Tony-" I said weakly, realizing my baby was now an easy grab for either man.

"We were hunting a monster, all right, Darquesse. Anyone who'd kill a baby qualifies." Gracious said. Donegan didn't say much of anything, he was still watching Billy-Ray's corpse bob in the pool.

"Agreed." Anton said weakly from beside me. Dad and Ghastly were supporting him and he looked terribly weak. I was terrified for him, but Anton gave me a reassuring smile. "You fixed me, remember, Darquesse? It helps even when my Gist half is ready to fight." His voice was growing stronger and soon he could stand without support.

Anton turned and glanced behind him. "Now we have to clean the pool." He said with distaste. "But for now I want to offer you two anything you desire. You are non-paying guests of the Midnight Hotel as long as you like, in one of our very best rooms."

"Could we make it two weeks or two months?" Gracious asked, turning on the charm.

"Absolutely! You saved my son." I said gratefully and so he had. I saw the men to the executive suite of rooms myself and Gracious and Donegan looked amazed to see the luxury of the setting.

Donegan, having at last found his voice, thanked me. "This is too much, Darquesse. We wanted that particular monster for a long time. But if you insist." He shrugged and smiled his thanks and I left the men to go check on my family.

Anton had fully recovered and assured me the body was gone and the pool immaculate again. I thought our family would abandon the pool, but as he pointed out falling off a horse meant you simply had to climb back on. "Falling off a horse. I knew there was a reason you courted me. Head injury." I deadpanned and he grinned, pleased.

Sable was already in the water, Mom supporting her, and everyone cheered our return. We had food and drinks poolside, and as our newest guests joined us at our invitation they happily helped themselves. Donegan looked slightly apologetic. "I might be a marksman but he outdrew me-"

"I carry a smaller caliber. Just enough power to take him out and not make two corpses." Gracious put in, then the men fell into one of their usual bickering spats, Donegan pointing out that bravado didn't make up for stupidity and Gracious pointing out that overly fussy manners didn't make up for being as boring as watching paint dry.

I laughed, relieved to see them back to normal. Neither man mentioned or held against us missing either wedding or the births of my or Tanith's babies. They knew that hero of Ireland or not I'd been sensibly wary of letting professional monster hunters anywhere near me or Tony. Gracious looked at me, then reached for Tony. "May I?" He asked gently and I nodded.

Donegan watched the pair bond, then turned to me. "I must admit to being slightly untrue. Yes, we were hunting Mr. Sanguine, but for a good reason. Your son is not the first child he tried to collect. I've no idea what his scheme was, but we do have another guest. I take the entire responsibility for sneaking her in first then coming to find you." He looked contrite and I felt my heart soften as his guest joined us.

Around five or six years old, she was clearly a Gist as well. She came into the pool room, wearing a floor length white nightgown, and ran to Donegan, clinging to him. Her eyes were wide with terror as she took us all in and I knew I was looking at a child who'd been terribly abused. Abby, now ten, came over straight away to welcome her.

"Hi! Welcome to the Midnight Hotel. You'll love it here. I'm Abby, what's your name?" The girl opened her mouth to speak and I winced when I saw her teeth were missing.

"Teresa. He named me." She said, clinging to Donegan and as her hands clutched at him I felt sick. Her talons had been removed and it didn't look like a doctor had did it either. I felt my instant rage and my shadows started to build but Donegan shook his head.

"Her parents did this to her. Claimed she was a dangerous monster. They wanted to sell her to us. When we refused and went to the authorities they found another buyer. By the time we had Cleavers at their house Sanguine and Teresa were long gone."

I knew that Donegan had hoped to find a home for Teresa with us. I also knew she'd bonded to him too deeply to ever be separated from him. "You know, if you've had your fill of hunting monsters you could all find a good home here." I said and Donegan looked surprised, then shook his head.

"We couldn't possibly." He said, but when he looked at Teresa I saw him falter, so did Gracious.

"Hey, now. We retire for ten, eleven years. Write some more books. Help out around here. Time enough for Teresa to develop into an independent young lady." He said, and Teresa looked at Donegan hopefully.

"But first you are guests in your suite for as long as you like." Anton assured them. He looked at me, his eyes questioning and I nodded. I beckoned Teresa to me and she came forward bravely. I touched her mouth first, seeing the damaged areas and I winced in sympathy. I willed healing energy into her, willed new teeth to form. Then her talons were as easy to replace and I was happy I had the talent for healing dark beings at least.

Our friends became family rather quickly, and Teresa slowly let us all in. She played happily with all of the other children, and I was glad that she was recovering so well. From what Gracious had explained the poor child had known of no other people than her parents and no other home but a locked and windowless basement where she'd been kept chained up like an animal.

I loved her as fiercely as if she'd been born to me, and it was only at Anton's gentle insistence that I didn't track down the real monsters, her parents, and kill them. Our friends were far better men that I'd realized and they saw Tony as the two-year-old child he was who loved his building blocks, eating cookies, and having fun with his older siblings.

And both men were taken with Sable as well. But the young Gists held their attention, paticularly how gentle they were, and when Donegan read the book on Gists, he brightened. "I know this man, Darquesse." He said, coming into the kitchen and waving the book excitedly one afternoon as Teresa helped me bake cookies. "I've met him! Why didn't I think of it before? He simply must come here and meet Teresa and little Tony. He'll be quite taken with them." He laughed happily, scooping Teresa up.

"You see, darling? Daddy knows a man who can help you with any questions or feelings you might have." He said, and Teresa cuddled in tightly in reply.

Whoa, another Gist will be visiting the Midnight Hotel? And why do all the full Gists seem downright docile? Stay tuned to find out.