He’d never made it.

Hurried and not thinking, he’d left his office building at a dead run and had been trying to get into his car when he’d found himself surrounded by cops.

Gallagher, who had never backed down from a fight, had held his hands up. For Rosalie’s sake, he’d been willing to surrender to them.

They had shot him dead in the street like a rabid animal.

Unable to deal with the memory, Gallagher was just about to turn around and leave when something odd caught his eye …

He saw a strange-looking elf dressed in a red Santa shirt with a very short red skirt, and red-and-white thigh-high stockings that vanished into a pair of scuffed-up black combat boots. She sang to a group of kids with a voice that would rival a heavenly choir for its melodic beauty. The woman was tall and in a freakish way extremely attractive, with eerie, reddish-brown eyes that must have been some kind of contact lenses, pointed ears, and hair that was jet black and streaked with red.

But what floored him most was the man with her.

Acheron Parthenopaeus. The glorified leader of the Dark-Hunters sat on the floor, surrounded by children while he played a black guitar and sang chorus to the woman’s lead.

Gallagher was stunned by the sight. In all the years he’d known Ash, he had never seen the man relaxed. Normally, Acheron had a presence about him that was decidedly lethal and cool. One that warned people to keep their distance if they wanted to live.

But that wasn’t the Ash he saw now. The man on the floor looked more like a kid himself. Approachable and kind. Ash’s deep voice mingled with the elf’s as they sang Jackie Deshan’s “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.”

“Now there’s a sight you don’t see every day, huh? Two punked-out Goths throwing a Christmas party for sick children.”

Gallagher turned to find a middle-aged African-American doctor beside him. She looked tired, but amused, as she watched Ash and his elfin helper with the children.

“You’ve no idea,” he said to her.

The doctor smiled. “I have to admit it took me some getting used to when I started working here a few years ago. I thought they were joking when they first told me about the Goth Guardian Angel and his children’s fund.”

Gallagher arched a brow at the nickname. “So he comes here a lot?”

“Every few months or so. He always brings gifts for the children and staff, and then plays with the kids for awhile.”

Gallagher couldn’t have been more stunned had she told him Ash routinely burned the hospital to the ground. “Really?”