Original story by me inspired by a prompt I found online. Enjoy! 🙂

I honestly couldn’t say when it started. I think Volf was the first to walk into my bar. There was only myself and a buddy in the room when he asked for a drink. I do recall my human friend pissing his pants at the sight of a werewolf asking for a gin and tonic. I just chuckled. After that night, more and more night-stalkers wandered in. I developed a reputation in the community for my laid-back attitude toward non-humans. What they didn’t seem to realize is that I just didn’t care what they were. I had seen the worst of life in the war and when humanity is drunk off their asses. Monsters and demons aren’t so scary after those kind of reality checks. 

Besides, they are all a bunch of soft-hearted romantics once you get to know them. And busy know-it-alls with their damnable noses in everything to boot. But their caring attitudes is the real reason I even landed my wife. 

She was completely out of my league being the owner of Halo-For-Days fashion empire and a descendant of Archangel Gabriel. I knew there wasn’t even a chance in hell that I could ever catch her eye. I was just a lowly human that ran a bar for thugs and veterans. There was no way on God’s green earth that I was good enough for an angel. But my boys wouldn’t take no for an answer. They had all schemed one night to get the woman of my dreams. No matter what they say, I still think it was just a ploy to get free booze out of me.

So, Carl, the demi-demon, cornered her one night outside my bar on her way home under the pretense of being the “big bad wolf.” I could have killed the man at the time. Being oblivious to their plans, I had no idea why the normally gentle giant was snarling right outside my door. God almighty, he was making such a racket. The poor brownies were quacking in their boots thinking the snarling was legitimate. It was clearer than day that he was just huffing and puffing, but it still sounded like the gates of hell were being ripped open.

I remember her beautiful face when I came out, cussing his name to his mother and back as I threw an empty bottle at his head. Or at least, where I thought his head should have been. The green glass shattered on the wall above his head. I stared at my friend curled up on the ground in front of the angel. I honestly couldn’t tell you who was more surprised. Me, who was stunned by the vision the demon completely black and blue from getting smacked around by a designer’s purse curled up on the ground, or my-wife-to-be sporting a beautifully shocked face, as I laughed my ass off at my friend’s misery. Eventually, I moved to pick his sorry self of the ground. Once he limped inside, I recall flashing my pearly whites as I offered her a drink to ease the torment my buddy caused her.

Her stunned expression was completely endearing, but I was spared from the butterflies that attempted to escape my mouth when she took me up on the offer. She came in with her designer dress and fit right in. I officially fell in love with her when she made a snarky remark about getting a doctor for Carl because he HAD to be mentally impaired if a demon thought he stood a chance against an angel.  Throughout the night, she teased the guys, laughed with the harpies, and bested the leprechauns at drinking. After that night, I figured I would never see her again, but the next night she rolled in only to become a regular. Then she surprised the living hell out of me a few weeks later when she proposed me. The boys were whooping for joy as she dropped that ring in my tip jar with the naughtiest smirk ever to grace an angel’s face. Carl had to strut around the bar for a month after our ceremony, stupidly proud of himself for setting us up. I thank the heavens that Audre only thought he was cute.

Every once in a while in the ten years of our marriage, she’ll tease me saying the only reason she married me was because I had to be an impressive human to keep vampires and warlocks in line after jello-shots. 

But I digress, like I said before, the monsters that visit my bar aren’t all that bad. Even the humans learned to like them after finding out they shared something in common. The love of sports. No matter what your pedigree is, there is just something cathartic about watching a MMA fight after a hell of a week. On this particular night, an Orc was battling against the reigning champion, “The Troll Crusher.” (who is an actually troll if you didn’t get the hint from the oh so subtle name) The boys were all wandering in from the cool October night, eagerly talking about bets and odds. I was wiping the bar down as usual when my back pocket started to buzz. Frowning, I pulled out my phone to see my wife’s beautiful picture on it. 

“Ooh!” cawed Traymore, the resident fire dragon, “wifey missing you already?” The room chuckled as I flipped the ass off. 

“Hello, love of my life! What’s up?” I grinned. Carl whistled at me and I threw his beer at him. 

“They took them,” came a strangled choke from the other end. Her voice was so strained it didn’t sound like my laughing angel. “I wasn’t here to stop them. Oh, Kai, what are we going to do? What if we can’t find them? What if they kill them? Kai…”

I grabbed the sink in front of me. “Audre, calm down, baby. Who took who? What’s going on?”

“The girls. The girls were kidnapped.” She sobbed. My world shattered. I couldn’t hear anything but my wife’s story of how one of her competitors got angry at the successful of her current line was at the last show in France and how he swore vengeance with a passion. I fell to my knees as she described what her parents’ flat looked like when she went to pick up my girls to spend time with them this weekend. I felt hands pull me up as she sobbed about the state of my perfect angels’ room, the bruises on her parents’ faces, and the fear she could taste in the air. My back was hit when I forgot how to breathe after she told me the cops had no idea who took them and refused to go after the all powerful Jacques who had threaten this because they didn’t have “proof”. My vision went dark as tears poured down my face while my beautiful and strong wife broke over the phone. I was proud that my voice stayed steady as I calmed my wife down. I told her to stay inside, do as the police said, and that I was coming home. She hung up on a hiccup. 

I tried to standed up. However, my knees had a different idea. I fell forward and expect to hit my nasty floor. Instead, I landed on someone’s shoulder. It registered that it was Sean’s, the resident kelpie, body that caught me. I stared unseeing for a moment before I pushed off. 

“Kai, what happen bro?” 

I looked into the black pits that Zack called eyes. Then I looked around the room. My friends…no, my brothers and sisters looked back at me with such gentle concern. The match forgotten. The drinks were all but thrown to the floor. Every race in this pathetic world surrounded me with strength. In that strength, I found my voice.

“Some assholes took my babies.”

The room went dead. Everyone, from the brownies on the table to the harpies in my rafters stared at me.

“Audre thinks it was Jacques Heathervien, her rival. The cops won’t do anything. I need to go home to be with her.” 

A hand hit my back. I looked up at Froyo, my Sasquatch friend. He smiled down at me.

“Go home, my friend. I’ll lock up for ya.” Murmurs went around the bar in that sounded like they all agreed with him. I softly punched him in the arm.

“Don’t go drinking all my vodka, you jerk. You still owe me for the last time.” He chuckled at my poor attempt at humor.

“Go, we’ll handle it all.”

“We?” I asked, not really caring but noticing his odd choice of words. 

“Just go home. Audre needs you right now.”

I nodded and stumbled to my car. The drive home was a blur. Cops surround our little suburban home. I stumbled into the door only to hold my sobbing wife to my chest. I carried her to the loveseat and answered every question the officers asked. I stoically looked at the Orc before me as he explained for the upteenth time why he couldn’t go after the damnable shapeshifter that took my reasons for breathing away. I know I was intimidating him. He had heard about my establishment and who I serve. He KNEW I was not going to take this bullshit for much longer. 

But my priority was my wife and her comfort. So I sat there, wanting to deck the lights out of the officer in front of me, rubbing her back. After a few wasted hours, they finally left. Audre was sleeping on the couch with her head in my lap. I ran my fingers threw her curly blonde hair as I nursed my glass of whiskey. The ceiling was dancing with shadows. My mind turned with images of nightmare my little ones were going through. The glass creaked as my hand tightened. A soft moan escaped my love’s mouth which forced me to relax. A heavy sigh came out of me. 

Then a light flashed through our bay windows. I squinted at the intrusion. Tinkling laughter of the highest quality seeped into my soul causing me to shout. Audre blinked up at me, but froze when she heard it too. We shot off the couch and into the yard.

“Careful, my man,” Carl laughed, “you’ll have to replace the sheetrock there behind the poor door after that stunt.” 

I ignored him as I swung my baby girl into the air with a cry of joy. My babies were home and safe. Audre had Elizabeth in a death grip as the two cried. I cuddled my little princess as I stared at the five men who stood in the yard. Words were beyond me as Anastasia clung to my neck giggling as my stubble tickled her nose. All I could do was nodded to each of them.

Carl, Traymore, Zack, Volf and Froyo nodded back to me in understanding. They headed to the truck that was parked on the street. I saw one of the regulars in the driver’s seat wave at me. I knew she was a succubus, but she didn’t cause trouble so I let her drink at my place. I nodded my thanks to her as well. 

I watched my friends drive away with the warmth of gratefulness. I herded my precious girls inside and thanked every diety I ever heard about for friends of the night.

The next morning, I was watching the news as my girls gave each other manicures while I made breakfast. I wasn’t really paying attention until the asshole’s name came up. The anchor-woman was calmly explaining that the famed Jacques Heathervien was found dead in his condo in Paris. She was describing the desecration to his body and home as if it was a simple horror movie scene. My lips curled upwards as pictures with horribly blurred blood stains flicked on and off the screen. Whatever had killed him had done a messy job and made sure he was in the most pain of his life.

I reached for my phone as she continued to explain that Mr. Heathervien had criminal evidence that linked him to some terrorist groups in the LA area in his residence. As the lovely anchor continued to make my day better and better with detailed descriptions of known terrorist leaders and other member’s heads being strung up like christmas lights in downtown with nasty little warnings not to touch innocent babes, I read all the notifications from Twitter.

Amazing fight last night. Pity the outcome was predictable. ~Carl~

Nothing like a coward’s blood and piss to make a night memorable. ~Zack~

Ya’ll lost that bet. Time to pay the piper. He only lasted five minutes. ~Traymore~

Tell the angels that no monster will ever be as scary as their big brothers from daddy’s work. ~Volf~

Kai, you are never alone. Remember that. ~Froyo~

The posts on my feed choked me up. There were hundreds after that. All equally cryptic to the casual reader, but clear as day to me. Roses waifed up to my nose as Audre curled up under my arm. 

“The girls are cleaning up. I just don’t understand, Kai. How did the boys-” she fell off as she watched the news. We were silent for some time. Then she read her notifications.

“Why do I feel like they are NOT talking about the fight that was streaming last night?”

I shrugged and laughed at a particularly good jap at wimpy fashion kings and their lack of night-stalker status.

“They do know they could go to jail for this if they are caught.”

I grunted. Texting the boys, I told them first round was on me.

“They really do love us, don’t they.” She whispered. I smiled down at her.

“Yeah, too bad they’re still asshole and fuckers.”