Curse of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  I look at Lucas, not sure if I should laugh, cry, or dismiss this as something that’ll never happen.

  “What?” I say again.

  “Since they were created, demons have always been trying to overthrow Lucifer. Certain rules were set in place to prevent that from happening, and only someone with divinity in their veins can sit on the throne of Hell.”

  I lean back, staring at Julian. All I wanted was to come home, shower, and snuggle under the heated blanket with my husband.

  Not find out every demon wants me to be his bride.

  “What about Lucifer?” I ask after a moment of stunned silence.

  “I’m sure he’s aware of the demons’ plans.”

  Lucas puts his arm around me. “You think he’ll kill Callie to keep his throne.”

  “Perhaps.” Julian shakes his head. “But only if it goes that far. For now, I’ve been stopping the demons who seek out the Nephilim. It’s worked for the time being,” he says grimly. “Though the more demons seek you out, the more likely it will be the other angels start looking into it, too.”

  “And then they’ll definitely want me dead.”

  “Yes.”

  I dig my nails into my palms. Fuck, I need wine. I bring my hand to my head and squeeze my eyes closed for a few seconds. Scarlet jumps up on the couch, snuggling up with Julian.

  “A hellhound and an angel,” I mumble, shaking my head. My eyes go to the tear in Julian’s shirt. “Wait…how did you get stabbed?”

  “I went to question Bael and was ambushed.”

  “The blade,” Lucas starts. “It can hurt angels?”

  “It can kill angels if pierced through the heart. Lucky for me, Bael has bad aim.”

  Lucas turns, looking at the dagger on the fireplace. “And now we have a weapon that can kill angels.”

  A chill goes down my spine, and I remember Tabatha warning me months ago that Lucas would do whatever he could to protect me, even if it meant crossing lines that couldn’t be uncrossed.

  “Have you spoken to my dad recently?” I ask, desperately needing to think about something else right now.

  “I have,” Julian answers but doesn’t elaborate.

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “How’s he doing? What does he do all day? Does he ever, uh, ask about me?”

  “He’s the leader of God’s army against the forces of evil,” Julian replies calmly, as if he’s telling me there are thirty-one days in October. “And yes, he’s concerned you will be discovered.”

  I play with the silver bracelet around my wrist, the one my father gave to my mother years ago. “Do you think he’d be able to come for a visit?” I ask, almost wincing at my own words. It feels so lame to be asking Daddy for a visit after being told he’s the fucking leader of God’s army.

  “Perhaps. But it’s imperative now we don’t raise any more suspicions.”

  “Is Callie in danger?” Lucas asks.

  “No more than she usually is.”

  “What about Bael?” Lucas motions to the tear in Julian’s shirt. “He seemed to get the best of you.”

  “I don’t understand that phrase.” Julian’s brows furrow.

  “He stabbed you,” Lucas says. “Obviously, there was a battle that you lost.”

  “It would appear so, but when Bael came after me with that dagger—” Julian eyes it—“I knew what it was and knew if we got it in our possession, it would work in our favor. Michael has been wanting a dagger with the ability to…to…” He trails off.

  “To kill angels,” Lucas finishes.

  “Yes. In case it came to that.”

  I tense. “You mean, if it came down to me or another angel.”

  “Yes,” Julian says.

  I spin my weddings rings around my finger, stomach getting queasier and queasier by the minute. Lucas, bless him, can sense my discomfort and holds me a little tighter.

  “It’s late. The sun will be up soon and you…” he starts, looking at Julian. “You should rest? Do angels rest?”

  “Normally, no, though I should lie still for an hour or so to speed up the poison leaving my system.”

  “Do you, uh, need anything?” I ask.

  “A new shirt. This one is torn.”

  “You can have one of Lucas’s,” I say and get the side-eye from Lucas. “Oh, please,” I mutter. “You have more clothes than I do.”

  “Fine. I’ll get something.” Lucas kisses the top of my head and gets up to go to our room and get Julian something to wear.

  Silence falls over the room, and Freya trots in, rubbing against me and then curiously sniffing Julian. We’re related in a cosmic way, and as strange as it is to say I feel a connection, I do.

  “Has your former brother left you alone since we interrogated him?”

  “For now. Though I have a feeling he’ll come crawling back to cause drama sooner or later. Especially since I ran into Nancy Martin and her pretentious friends while wedding dress shopping. She knows I married a vampire.”

  “Which is bad because she doesn’t like vampires?”

  “Yes, and it goes against everything William Martin’s political party stands for.” I roll my eyes. “They can’t really renounce me publicly, though, so as far as the press is concerned, I’m still a Martin, through and through.” I shrug. “Honestly…I don’t care. Well, I do. I’m still hurt by everything, no matter how hard I’ve tried to put it behind me. But between turning down demonic wedding proposals and hunting a homicidal necromancer, anything they throw at me will take a backseat.”

  “Homicidal necromancer?”

  “Ruth, the witch who has it out for me. She’s turned to voodoo and necromancy since her powers were bound by the Grand Coven.”

  “And she went after Lucas?”

  “Yes. It’s…it’s a long story.”

  Julian sits up. “Tell me.” His eyes meet mine, and that weird sense of divinity vibrates through me. It’s like sensing his angel-powers makes me realize how strong mine are. I’ve had nothing to compare them to, and what made me feel so different is humming right along in the same cosmic rhythm as Julian’s powers.

  “To make a long story short, she cursed him with the reverse of a necromancy spell, which slowly kills someone from the inside out. She started bringing Lucas back to life, knowing he wouldn’t survive it.” I swallow the lump in my throat and feel even more nauseous than before. “He got stabbed by some crazy anti-vampire protester, who I don’t think had anything to do with Ruth, actually.” I shake my head and let out a breath. “He just stood there and took a knife to the stomach to prove a point. Vampires aren’t all bad. Just like people aren’t all good.”

  I pause and look at Julian, almost afraid he’ll correct me and say that vampires are bad and I’m silly for denying it. Because there’s no way I can deny that Lucas has done some terrible things and doesn’t regret it. And I know he’d still do terrible things if it weren’t for me.

  Which opens a whole other can of worms, because part of me would be okay with him doing terrible things to certain people.

  “How did you lift the curse?” Julian asks.

  “Evander—you met him at the wedding—got ahold of another warlock who specializes in curses. We used a variation of a Solomon summoning circle to contain the curse and then transferred it to another undead body.” My heart speeds up just a bit. Please don’t ask for more details. I don’t want to lie to Julian, but I definitely don’t want to tell him that Lucifer ultimately gave me the missing piece to the puzzle.

  And that I’m still thankful for his help.

  “I had to resort to necromancy myself,” I admit. “I brought a dead squirrel back to life and transferred the curse that way. It got a little dicey, but it worked.”

  “Michael told me your mother, Callista, was quite the remarkable witch. I’m not surprised you are, too.”

  “Really? Has he said anything else about her?” I lean forward, desperate to know more about my mom.

&nbs
p; “He said you look a lot like her. She had green eyes, too.”

  I’m hit with emotion again and smile, somehow comforted by the fact I share a physical attribute with my mom. It makes her seem more real.

  “I don’t know much,” Julian tells me apologetically. “Michael doesn’t talk about her. He’s still hurt by her death.”

  “It was my fault,” I say, suddenly realizing it. “She died so she could give birth to me.”

  “From what I know, it was what she wanted. Mothers will do anything for their children, including give up their own lives.” Julian reaches forward and pats my hand. “She wanted you to live, and she would be proud of you today.”

  More tears roll down my face. I really do need to get some sleep. I’m oddly—and annoyingly—emotional right now. Certain Lucas is hanging back so Julian and I can talk, I get up, ready for Lucas to bring the new shirt so we can go to bed together.

  “I’m exhausted,” I tell him. “And you should rest.”

  “Yes, we both need time to heal.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want anything? I can at least turn the TV on.”

  Julian’s eyes go to the black screen. “I’ve never watched TV.”

  “Let me give you a crash course, then.” I grab the remote and quickly explain how to look through Netflix. “I’ll, uh, see you in the morning, then?” I ask, not sure if he’s going to poof out of here or not.

  “Yes, I will still be here.”

  “Good.” I smile. “I have more questions.” I yawn again. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, Callie.”

  I pat my leg, and Scarlet follows me upstairs, passing by Lucas who was waiting to give Julian the shirt so he wouldn’t interrupt us. I brush my teeth, strip out of my clothes, throw them in the hall to take down to the laundry in the morning, pull on an oversized t-shirt, and then collapse into bed. Lucas joins me only a minute later.

  He doesn’t say anything, just pulls me close to him and spoons his body around mine.

  “That was a lot to take in,” he says and holds me tight.

  “Yeah, it was. I was really hoping Ruth and Bael weren’t teaming up.” My eyes fall shut. I’m so fucking tired, but my mind is racing. “Why can’t one bad guy attack at a time? It’s easier to follow that way.”

  Lucas softly chuckles. “Life isn’t always easy to follow on its own, my love.”

  I let out a sigh. “I know. I just…I don’t even know.” I close my eyes and splay my fingers over Lucas’s chest. “One bad guy at a time is easier to handle, that’s all.”

  “It usually is. Don’t worry, Callie. You’re not alone in this.”

  I open my eyes and tip my head up to look at him. “I’m so lucky I have you.”

  “Yeah,” he agrees. “You are.”

  I laugh. “Way to be modest.”

  “Well, we both know it’s true.” He smiles and brings me onto his chest. My breasts crush against him, and he sweeps his hands down my back.

  “Are you hungry?” I ask, feeling warmth flood through me. I can’t imagine going through this without Lucas. He’s my rock.

  “I can wait until tomorrow.”

  Desire surges through me, despite being exhausted. “Maybe I don’t want to wait until tomorrow.”

  Lucas raises his eyebrows. “Well, in that case…” He moves on top of me, kissing me passionately. He moves his hand between my legs, wasting no time. I turn my head to the side, welcoming him to kiss my neck as he fingers me. It doesn’t take long before I come, and as the orgasm is still rippling through me, Lucas plunges his big cock inside of me, thrusting in deep.

  I cover my hand with my mouth, not wanting to be too loud since Julian is downstairs. Bending my legs, I bring my other hand to Lucas’s back and drag my nails across his skin.

  He sinks his fangs into my neck right before I come for the second time, and I can’t help but cry out in pleasure as I feel the blood leave my veins.

  Lucas moans in pleasure, sucking hard at my neck, speeding up his movements. He comes only seconds later, drinking more of my blood at the same time.

  He gently licks the wound on my neck, and my heart pounds against his non-beating chest. He takes his mouth off me and puts his fingers over the bite wounds.

  “I’m…I’m going to have to make healing balm,” I pant, knowing I have a similar bite on the other side of my neck. I open my eyes only to close them again. Exhaustion hits me, and now that I had good sex, all I want to do is sleep. But I need to get up and use the bathroom and get a drink because I’m suddenly dying of thirst.

  Lucas pulls out, and I get up, but as soon as my feet hit the floor, I falter. I’m close enough to the bed to sit back down, and little red dots float before my eyes.

  “Are you all right?” Lucas’s hand lands on my shoulder.

  “Yeah. I got dizzy.”

  “Again.” He moves my hair to the side. “You should lie down.”

  “I’ll be fine. Just stood up too fast.”

  “Again,” he repeats and gets up, extending his hand. “This is the second time you’ve gotten dizzy after I drank from you.”

  “I’m just tired.”

  “And you stood up too fast.”

  “Yeah.” I wave my hand in the air, trying to dismiss it. People get dizzy from losing too much blood, but it’s never bothered me before. “I’m fine. I need a drink, and then I’ll come to bed.”

  He pulls me to my feet, makes sure I’m steady, and then walks with me to the hall. I go into the bathroom, use the toilet and clean myself up, and then get a drink from the bathroom sink.

  “Sleep in tomorrow,” Lucas tells me when I get back in bed. We snuggle up together, and the exhaustion crashes down on me again. “It’s almost dawn now, and you’ve been on edge. It takes a lot out of you.”

  “Yeah,” I agree. “Sleeping in does sound nice.” I run my fingers through Lucas’s thick hair. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Callie. Now sleep, my love.”

  My phone ringing at nine-thirty a.m. wakes me up. I slit my eyes open, hoping Lucas will reach over and silence the call. He’s not in bed with me, so I reach my arm out of the blanket and grab my phone. I don’t recognize the number and usually I don’t answer if I don’t know who’s calling, but with everything going on right now, this could be important.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Callie. It’s Ruby.”

  “Oh, hey.”

  “Evander filled us in on everything, and I’m just now leaving the hospital.”

  “How are Carly and Maria doing?”

  “Much better now that they’ve been given a health potion. They’ll be discharged later this afternoon. The Grand Coven wants to question them.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  “I think so. Once Evander alerted them about Ruth, they acted pretty fast. They were the ones who ruled her ‘not a danger’ and let her go with bound powers. But we all know binding natural powers won’t stop someone who understands magic.”

  “Talk about egg on the face.”

  “Exactly.”

  I pull the blankets over my shoulder and try to muster up the willpower to get out of bed instead of going back to sleep once I’m done talking to Ruby.

  “And that symbol…you said it was engraved above the door?”

  “Yeah,” I say and roll over. My eyelids are heavy. Nope. There’s no way I’m getting out of bed.

  “It’s a concealment sigil used in a voodoo ritual to hide from bad spirits. I’m guessing she tried her hand at voodoo before switching to necromancy and it didn’t work so well, which is probably why she’s so desperate to break you down until you give her the satanic hookup.”

  “Desperate people are sloppy.”

  “And dangerous,” Ruby counters. “Don’t do anything on your own.”

  “I won’t be on my own. I’ll have Lucas.”

  “Callie,” Ruby says slowly and lets out a breath. “I was talking to Evander, and he shares my concerns.”

/>   “About Lucas?” I sit up, immediately offended.

  “Yes. He’s technically dead. Necromancers can control the dead. Once Ruth realizes her curse didn’t work and he’s still alive, well, undead, she’s going to be pissed. And what’s worse than making you watch Lucas die? Making Lucas kill you.”

  Chapter 32

  “Fuck it.” I kick the blankets off and sit up. I’ve been lying in bed for the last half-hour, trying to go back to sleep but unable to keep Ruby’s words from echoing in my head.

  Because she’s right.

  Necromancers can control the dead. Lucas is dead. He died and came back thanks to dark magic, so he wouldn’t be as easy to control as a reanimated corpse, but if Ruth was able to get the juice to curse him in the first place…

  “It’s not going to happen,” I tell my familiars, who are still lounging in bed with me. “He’d kill himself before he killed me.” It’s true, and I know it, and suddenly I’m even more scared.

  I thought I lost him once. I can’t even imagine watching him plunge a stake through his heart in order to save me. Shoving that thought out of my head, I get dressed, wash my face, and brush my teeth. Then I go downstairs and find Lucas and Julian sitting together in the living room, watching TV. Scarlet is curled up in Julian’s lap, and he’s absentmindedly stroking her fur as he stares at the television screen in front of him.

  A vampire, an angel, and a hellhound, sitting on the couch…I can’t. Like literally can’t. I come to a stop, stifling a laugh.

  “You’re up.” Lucas looks away from the TV, smiling when our eyes meet. Fuck, I love him so much. “I thought you’d sleep in longer.”

  “Ruby called,” I start and go into the living room. I sit on the couch between him and Julian. Scarlet gets up and wobbles over, tail wagging so hard she can hardly walk. “The Grand Coven is going to look into things.”

  “Is that good?” Lucas asks, resting his hand on my thigh.

  “I suppose. They’ve been slow to act for the last few years, but they’re the ones who let Ruth go. She was found innocent of practicing dark magic, and this proves otherwise. They’ll have put a plan in motion in order to avoid looking negligent.”