Curse of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  “Yeah, it’s too early. I…I can’t even be very far along.” I sit up. “Where’s my phone? Or yours?”

  “Downstairs. Would you like me to get it?”

  “No, it’s okay. I’ll figure out how far along I am later.” I put my hand over my mouth, feeling sick again. How far along I am.

  I’m pregnant. Closing my eyes in a long blink, I slowly exhale. And when I open my eyes and look at Lucas.

  And then it suddenly hits me in a whole new way. Lucas and I are having a baby. It’s part of me and part of him, and for the stars to align in such a way for this to happen…it’s nothing short of a miracle.

  Lucas spoons his body around mine, and I relax against him, trying not to think about anything, but my mind is spinning a million miles an hour.

  “June,” Lucas whispers, moving my hair off my neck.

  “For a name?”

  “I suppose, but that’s when the baby will be born,” he says, and I roll over, twisting in his arms so I can look at him. “You’ll be pregnant for nine months. And that’s where my knowledge of pregnancy starts and ends. You like the name June?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think I’d put it on my list.” Lists. Lists of baby names. Things to buy. Things to do. Things not to do.

  And now I’m feeling overwhelmed again.

  “Breathe,” Lucas says, able to sense my discomfort. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Because if anyone can handle this, Callie, it’s you.” He kisses me, and desire washes over me. And then Scarlet barks, making Lucas fly out of bed, fangs drawn.

  “That’s her excited bark,” I huff, but he’s already down the stairs.

  “Callie?” Julian calls, voice echoing through the foyer. Letting out a breath, I wipe my eyes and get up. I grab the cup of water from the bathroom on my way downstairs and finish the rest of it.

  “Did you find out anything?” I ask, coming into the living room.

  “I did,” Julian says, turning away from the window. “If we—you’re upset,” he cuts off, brows furrowing. “Did something happen while I was away?”

  I look at Lucas, heart in my throat. He gives me a small nod. There’s no reason to keep this a secret. And in a matter of months, I won’t be able to.

  “I’m pregnant,” I say and feel like I’m going to pass out. Saying it out loud makes it more real, and I’m just as scared shitless now as I was when I saw those two pink lines. “I just found out.”

  Lucas hurries over and wraps his arm around me. It’s nice, but annoying, too. He’s already overprotective. How am I going to deal with this for nine months?

  Julian’s eyes narrow, and he looks at my stomach. “I thought there was something different about you. Your aura felt…stronger.” His eyes go from me to Lucas and back again.

  “Yes,” I say, answering his question. “Lucas is the father.”

  “He’s a vampire.”

  I motion to the couch because I need to sit down. “The curse,” I start. “It was bringing Lucas back to life. His heart was slowly beating. He breathed in his sleep. He was thirsty for water. And I guess, other parts of his body started working again, too.”

  A few seconds of silence tick by, and Julian holds out his hand to Lucas. “The customary thing to say is congratulations.”

  Lucas gives him a blank stare and then smiles, shaking Julian’s hand. It’s such a strange moment, and I’ve lived through some crazy fucking time. I lean back on the couch and run my hand over my face, forgetting I put makeup on and smear my eyeliner down my cheek.

  “What did you find out?” I ask Julian. “About how to track Ruth?”

  Julian’s eyes narrow again as he looks at me quizzically. He has absolute no poker face. “You’re concerned about that right now?”

  I cock an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Because you just found out you are carrying a child.”

  “That’s even more of a reason to put an end to that bitch. It’s one less thing to worry about, and then we can talk names and what color to paint the nursery and where the nursery will even be.” I plant my hands on the couch and push myself up. “So let’s go. Get this handled.”

  “Callie,” Julian says slowly. “You are the first nephilim to ever conceive a child. I…I have no idea what this means.”

  My blood turns cold, and something Michael said rings in my ears. My mother didn’t survive childbirth. Carrying a divine child nearly killed her, and she only hung on because she loved me and wanted me to be born.

  She was fully human. I’m not. And my baby won’t have as much divinity in its veins as I do. Surely, I’ll survive. Well, assuming the other angels don’t find me first.

  And now another lump is rising in my throat. I wasn’t supposed to be born. I’m an abomination in the eyes of other celestials…will they view my child the same way?

  I blink back tears and look at Julian, who gives me a reassuring nod.

  “I will stay and protect you both,” he says, as if he can read my thoughts. “It’s what your father would want, especially now. He would…would…I have no idea, actually.”

  I put my head in my hands and lean forward, waiting for the twist of nausea to go away.

  “What did you find out about tracking Ruth?” I ask, taking a deep breath and pushing off the couch. “Can we go get her now?”

  “Callie,” Lucas says gently. “I think you should take the rest of the day off.”

  “I can’t,” I say, voice thinning.

  “Yes, you can.” He takes my hands in his. “To say everything that happened in the last two days is overwhelming is an understatement.”

  I can’t disagree, and the last few hours has been a huge info overload. Someone in the VC wants to set Lucas up. Demons want me to overthrow Hell. And I’m pregnant.

  “You’re right,” I sigh.

  Lucas pulls me into an embrace, strong arms never faltering. “Take the rest of the day off. Rest and let’s process everything,” he says, and it hits me that he needs a break, too. I’m pregnant with his child.

  It’s the literal last thing he would ever think could happen. He’s been dead for over a thousand years and is going to be a dad in nine short months. Our lives will forever change, and deep down, I know we need to process this all together.

  I’d rather fight demons or homicidal necromancers. I know how to do that, at least. But be a responsible adult, let alone a mother…fucking terrifying.

  “Okay,” I say and tip my face up to look into Lucas’s beautiful blue eyes. He’ll do whatever he can to make me happy. To calm my nerves. Make me feel safe.

  And I want to do the same for him because I know he’s scared, too. There’s a good chance he’s going to have to watch me age and die. Losing me and then our child…I don’t think even Lucas could survive that.

  Chapter 36

  “Do you want anything else?” Lucas asks, setting a bowl of pasta salad on the coffee table. Staying true to taking the rest of the day off, I’m sitting in the living room watching TV. Julian is in here with me and has been rather intrigued by the home renovation show I have on.

  “Just you,” I tell Lucas and hold out my hand, reaching for him. I tug him to me as soon as our fingers interlace, and he settles on the couch with me. We snuggle up together, and I dig into my pasta, which I’m ridiculously excited to eat.

  “This is really good,” I say after I shovel a spoonful into my mouth. “Thank you for making it.”

  “Anything for you, my love.” Lucas kisses my forehead and adjusts the blanket over my lap. He’s been spoiling me even more than normal, and I know this is going to go on the entire pregnancy.

  And I’m starting to think I’m okay with that.

  “According to this,” Lucas starts, looking at a pregnancy tracker app he just downloaded on his phone, “you’re about five and half weeks along, and it’s rather early for you to start having symptoms already.”

  “It’s probably bec
ause she’s not fully human,” Julian says, turning away from the TV. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you feel more human than ever in the upcoming months. Your body has never dealt with that much humanity before.”

  “Great,” I huff. “Though it makes sense.” I take another bite of pasta and set the bowl down, trading it for Lucas’s phone. “The baby is about the size of an apple seed and already is making me feel like shit. It’s only going to get worse, isn’t it?”

  “A few sites have said morning sickness peaks around nine weeks,” Lucas tells me, and I’m hit with another wave of emotions. I know he’s overwhelmed and scared just like I am, but he’s already downloading apps and logging onto pregnancy websites, all while making me pasta salad from scratch because I mentioned that it sounded good.

  And I’ve been over here, wistfully thinking about the bottle of wine I have in the fridge and wondering if my black leggings will be able to stretch over my stomach in the later months of pregnancy.

  “But then you’ll start feeling better after that.”

  “How long after?” I ask and give him his phone back. I want more pasta.

  “About a month.”

  “Ugh,” I grumble. “A whole month?”

  “A month isn’t that long,” he says, setting his phone down.

  “For you,” I tell him, not really thinking about what I’m saying. A month isn’t a long time for a vampire. They live forever, and thirty days out of the sixteen hundred years Lucas has been undead is nothing.

  But for me, and for our child, a month is a decent chunk of time. The sour feeling in my stomach starts to come back, and I’m not sure if it’s from the unwelcome thought of Lucas having to watch his family grow old and die or if it’s morning sickness again.

  I take one last bite and groan. Yep, it’s morning sickness. This really isn’t fair. I love eating, and now that I can’t drink, eating is all I have. Maybe I’m being a little overdramatic, but I can blame that on hormones, right?

  Yawning, I put the bowl back down and lean against Lucas. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his lap. Eyelids feeling heavy, I close them and snuggle in closer. I’m almost asleep when my phone rings.

  “I’ll get it for you,” Lucas offers.

  “I can get it,” I say, lazily sitting up. “I have to pee anyway.” My phone is on the mantel, next to the angel-killing dagger that we probably should lock up somewhere safe and spelled. I hold out my hand and telekinetically bring my phone to me.

  Abby is calling, probably to check on me, and the realization that I have to tell everyone I’m pregnant hits me like a slap to the face.

  “Are you going to answer?” Lucas asks, looking at my phone.

  “I don’t know what to say,” I rush out.

  Julian looks over at me. “Hello. That’s what you say when you answer the phone.”

  “I know. But she’s going to ask me how I am. What do I say?”

  Julian doesn’t follow, but Lucas knows what I’m thinking. He takes the phone from me and answers.

  “Hello, Abby,” he says. “Callie is in the bathroom. I’ll have her call you when she’s out.” He ends the call and holds the phone out for me.

  “Thank you.” I take the phone and look down at the screen.

  “You don’t have to tell her. Not yet. Not until you’re ready.”

  “I know. And I know a lot of women wait until they—” I cut off, realizing yet another thing that sneaks up on me.

  “Until what?”

  “Until they go to their doctor and get the blood test or an ultrasound. I…I can’t do that. I’m not human, and the last time my blood was processed in a lab, it came back as inconclusive.” I look down at my stomach, slowly shaking my head. “So I guess…I guess there’s no point in waiting to tell everyone, right?”

  “It’s up to you, Callie.”

  “And you,” I press. “It’s your baby, too.”

  Lucas smiles at my words. “I’d like to tell Eliza.”

  “Me, too. What about inviting everyone over for dinner tomorrow? I need to fill them all in on the other stuff. Tabatha should know that someone on the VC is trying to set up vampires. The Grand Coven would jump on a reason to restart the war, and if they’re given the heads up…I don’t know…it might help.”

  “Who is everyone?” Julian questions, looking at me with a bit of concern.

  “Kristy, Evander, Tabatha, Nicole, Naomi, and Abby. Ruby, too, I suppose. That’s everyone who knows I’m a nephilim, though Ruby doesn’t know who my father is.”

  “And you trust her?”

  “I do,” I tell Julian. “She helped fight the root-monsters Bael conjured and is still helping me hunt down Ruth.”

  He gives me a curt nod. “If you trust her, then so do I.”

  “Then tomorrow,” I say and feel nervous all over again. “We’ll tell everyone.”

  “Callie,” Lucas whispers, slipping his arms around me. “I’m taking you to bed.”

  “Okay,” I mumble as he lifts me as if I weigh nothing at all. I fell asleep on the couch, and all I want now is to cuddle up with Lucas under the heated blanket.

  Lucas carries me upstairs and lays me down in bed. He turns on the blanket and lies down next to me. I nestle closer, resting my head on his chest.

  “Lucas?” I whisper, tipping my head up to look at him.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you sure you’re mad? Not at me, but that this happened? Everything is going to change, and it scares me.”

  “I am not mad,” he says slowly. “Change, even good change, can be difficult. But this…this is good.”

  My eyes begin to fill with tears. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” He turns my head up and kisses me. “I died over a thousand years ago and have walked the earth feeling that death deep inside me everyday. And then I met you.” He brushes my hair back. “I never knew I could live after death, but I feel more alive when I am with you than I ever did before. You are everything, Callie, everything I could ever want and so much more. And now…”

  He puts his hand over my stomach. “Now part of me and part of you have come together and created a new life.” His eyes get a little misty. “You’ve given me so much, Callie. So much more than I deserve.”

  My own eyes fill with tears. “You do deserve this, Lucas. You given me a lot, too. I never though I could find someone who would love me, all of me, but you do, and you’ve never once hesitated or shied away from any part of me.”

  “Every part of you is beautiful.” He presses his lips to mine. “Even your petty and impulsive side.”

  I smile, tears running down my face.

  “And I know this wasn’t planned, and I know this was the very last thing either of us expected,” he goes on, wiping away my tears. “Which is why I think this was meant to be.”

  He’s a vampire. I’m a witch. We shouldn’t even be together, yet we are. And now we’re having a child. Together. We’ve overcome the odds. Proven the centuries-old grudge needs to be forgotten.

  The thoughts should bring me comfort, but it does the opposite. Because now that we’ve come so far, I’m terrified something is going to take it away from us.

  Chapter 37

  “What’s this?” I ask when I step into the kitchen. It’s after ten, and I just woke up. Pregnant or not, I haven’t gotten much sleep lately, and a good solid night’s sleep was just what I needed.

  Lucas wasn’t in bed with me when I woke up, and all three of my familiars had taken his spot. I curled up with Binx, too comfy to get out of bed. But then I started to feel sick, and I remembered what Lucas said about morning sickness being worse on an empty stomach.

  “A security system,” Julian tells me. He’s sitting at the kitchen table, looking through the Infernal Dictionary. Lucas is in the office, finalizing the sale of that property in California. His eyes lit up when I peeked in, and my heart fluttered in my chest seeing the love in his eyes.

  “Really?” I make a face and pick up an em
pty box. “Lucas installed it?”

  “Yes.” Julian flips a page in the book. “After you were asleep. There are cameras in the front and back of the house and motion sensors at the end of the driveway, by the shed, and several in the woods.”

  “They are going to go off constantly,” I mutter, setting the box back down on the table. “And I already have a damn good security system. My wardings are impressive. You said it yourself.”

  “I did, and they are.” Julian looks up from the book.

  “Then we don’t need security cameras. It’s insulting.”

  “It’s an extra measure,” Julian says and closes the book. “Unnecessary, perhaps, but Lucas cares deeply for you.”

  “Yeah.” I can’t help but smile as I open the fridge. “He does.” I pull out a package of chicken breasts to cut up for my familiars and Scarlet. “And it doesn’t hurt anything.”

  I take the chicken to the stove, knowing my familiars are spoiled and like their meat seasoned and cooked. I gag as soon as the chicken starts cooking in the pan.

  “Are you feeling ill again?” Julian asks, coming over, brows pushed together with concern.

  “The smell of the chicken is nauseating.” I shudder and put my hand over my nose. “How do people handle feeling sick? I definitely took being half archangel for granted.”

  Julian laughs. “Humans can be rather vulnerable. But their fragility is endearing. More so when they recognize it. Life is short yet so many humans waste it.”

  “They do for sure.” I turn down the burner and step away, going to the back door. I crack it open and breath in some fresh air for a few seconds before going back to the chicken. I give it a quick stir and then get out bread to make myself toast. Nothing else sounds appetizing right now, and the thought of putting food in my mouth makes me want to throw up.

  But if eating makes me feel better, then I’m going to try and force myself to nibble on toast. I feed my familiars and Scarlet on the porch and leave the door wide open. Sunlight streams through, but Lucas is far enough away in the office it won’t hurt him.