Curse of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  “Do you think you’ll talk to my dad anytime soon?” I ask Julian as I tear a bite off my slice of toast.

  “What constitutes soon for you?”

  I point to my stomach. “Before this thing pops out?”

  “That’s not how it works,” Julian says. “Do you know how birth works?”

  “I do. I say a lot of things I don’t mean in a literal sense. And I can be rather sarcastic from time to time.” I take another small bite of toast and look at my coffee pot. Getting up and drinking coffee has been part of my routine for years. One cup won’t hurt, will it?

  I pick up my phone with the intent of looking up a list of things I shouldn’t consume now that I’m pregnant. I know the obvious ones, like alcohol, soft cheese, and sushi.

  I have a text from Kristy I haven’t yet answered, which reminds me I need to invite everyone to dinner. I want Abby to come, but the last time I invited her over, things didn’t quite go as planned.

  And there’s a very good chance we’ll get attacked here again.

  Taking one more small bite of toast, I get up and go to the office. Lucas isn’t on the phone anymore and looks up, smiling, when I come in.

  “Good morning,” he says and gets up, speeding over to me. His arms fasten around my waist, pulling me against him. Heat flashes through me as I hook my hands around his neck, and I stand on my toes to kiss his lips. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Not quite so tired,” I reply. “But a little queasy.”

  “Are you craving anything? I can make you whatever you want.”

  “I’m working on a yummy piece of toast with butter.” Lucas moves my hair to the side and kisses my neck. I can feel his fangs grazing over my skin, turning me on even more. “Are you hungry?”

  He suddenly takes his mouth off me and shakes his head. “You’ve been getting dizzy and weak after I’ve fed from you. I did some research last night, and while there is nothing published on feeding from your pregnant wife, I did come across articles stating pregnant women shouldn’t donate blood.”

  His words shock me, even though it’s obvious at the same time. “But you need to eat.”

  “I will. Just not from you until after the baby is born. It’s advised to wait at least six weeks after birth before donating blood as well.”

  “That’s like a year almost. You can’t survive that long without feeding.”

  “I could,” he says. “Not that I’d want to, and I’d be very weak.” He cups my face in his hands. “I won’t feed off another human. Bagged blood will work.”

  I’ve liked our arrangement where Lucas only drinks my blood, which is only possible because of what I am. A regular person couldn’t lose as much blood as I do on a regular basis and be okay.

  “If you just take a little bit every once in a while, I think I’ll be fine,” I tell him. “There’s something hot about knowing my blood is flowing in your veins.”

  He lets out a growl and picks me up, kissing me hard. He spins us around and sets me on the desk. I lean back, wrapping my legs around him. It’s so easy to get instantly carried away, totally overcome with desire for him.

  But then I remember Julian is in the kitchen and there isn’t a door to close in the office.

  “I came in here to ask,” I say between kisses. “Can we…we have dinner at your…Chicago house tonight?”

  “You can do whatever you fucking want.” Lucas moves his mouth to my neck, fangs pressing into my skin just hard enough to cause a little bit of pain without breaking through the surface.

  I toss my head back, eyes fluttering shut as desire courses through me. But then something else does, too, and I break away, bringing my hand to my mouth.

  “Feeling sick?” Lucas gently combs his fingers through my hair.

  “Yeah. I should try and finish the toast and see if it helps. This is so weird. I’m hungry but feel sick at the same time.”

  He rests his forehead against mine and puts a hand over my stomach. “It’s so fucking hot knowing I knocked you up.”

  “It is,” I agree, but the hotness is lost on me as I feel chunks rising in my throat. I move off the desk, thinking I might puke. After a few seconds of standing perfectly still, I know I’m not going to puke all over Lucas’s shoes.

  “I’m going to try and finish my toast,” I tell him. “And then I want to get my Halloween decorations out.” I held off decorating before since we thought we were going to be in Florida for most of the month. “And we should probably cancel our vacation plans.”

  “We have another week. Let’s wait and see what happens. You need a break from life, Callie. Now more than ever.”

  “Yeah,” I agree, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bummed to not be able to go on any sort of thrill ride. “I want to actually be able to relax, though. Spend a day just lounging in the sun and then go out and enjoy the night with you. Without worrying. I’m not leaving Thorne Hill if there’s a threat.”

  “I know, and that is something I love about you.” He puts his lips to mine again. “You are fiercely loyal to those you care about, Callie. And that’s how I know you are going to be a wonderful mother.”

  My heart swells in my chest, and I fling my arms around him, kissing him with fury. Then his phone rings, and we break apart.

  “It’s Eliza,” he says.

  “Are you going to tell her?”

  “Not over the phone.”

  “That’s probably a good idea.” I move out of his embrace. “Better see what she wants. And tell her we’re using the house tonight. She might not be happy about that.”

  “I’ll handle it,” he chuckles and then answers the phone. I go back into the kitchen, sitting at the table with Julian.

  “Can you read Latin?” I ask him, nibbling on my toast.

  “I can read all languages.”

  “Whoa. That’s really cool. Is that something I could do?”

  Julian looks at me, eyes narrowing. “No. The human part of your brain would get in the way.”

  “Thanks,” I say dryly and finish eating. Then I get up, bring the dishes in from the porch, and straighten up the kitchen. I call Abby as I go upstairs to get dressed for the day.

  “Hey, sis,” I say when she answers. “Sorry I didn’t call you back last night. I fell asleep.”

  “That’s okay. I figured you and Lucas were busy, if you know what I mean.”

  “Hah. That’s usually the case with us.”

  “I may be a little envious of your sex life. Oh, to be a newlywed again,” she laughs. “So everything’s okay? I was a little worried that something happened to make you give us those protection charms.”

  “A lot of things have happened, and it would be easier to talk about them in person. Are you busy tonight? Lucas and I are going to his place in Chicago.”

  “I’m off, but Phil is on call. I’ll ask Mom if she can come over and watch Penny.”

  Ugh. Nancy Martin. “Okay, good. Because I do have something important to discuss.”

  “Are you in danger?”

  “I’m always in danger.”

  “Yeah, I’m starting to realize that. What time do you want me to come over? You’re still in Thorne Hill now, so you can’t leave until after sunset, right?”

  “Yeah, we’re here, but we can leave during the day.”

  “How?”

  “I magically enchanted the windows to keep harmful rays from burning up vampires. And there are light-tight cars that offer pickup services. Most vampires can move fast enough from their house to the car they only burn a little bit and heal.”

  “Right. I forgot about that, but I actually saw an Uber commercial last night for vampires.”

  “It’s a booming business. So, uh, let’s say seven, does that work?”

  “Assuming I can get Mom to come over, yeah. I’ll text her now and will let you know. And maybe we can have our spa day tomorrow,” she says hopefully. “I am dying for a facial. I haven’t had one in like three months.”
<
br />   “I’ve never gotten a facial. Unless you count ones you do yourself.”

  “Oh my god, you’re going to love it.”

  “It sounds nice, but I also don’t like people touching my face,” I laugh. “Except Lucas. He can touch me anywhere.”

  Abby giggles. “This isn’t going to be like that, but I do think you’ll enjoy a little pampering.”

  “I think so, too. Thanks, Abby.”

  “Of course. I’ll see you tonight, then.”

  “Okay, bye.” I end the call, toss my phone on the bed, and then get dressed, putting on a long-sleeved black dress and tall socks to go under my boots. I use magic to do my hair, going with loose, cascading waves instead of curls today, and put on a bit of makeup.

  Knowing I’m basically living on borrowed time before the next attack, I should get a jump on some housework and then get my decorations out. Julian helps, and I get two loads of laundry done, the entire first floor vacuumed and mopped, and the dishes all washed and put away.

  Lucas has been in the office working the whole time and comes out, joining me on the couch when I take a break for lunch, and because I’m feeling so fucking nauseous again. I end up falling asleep, napping for an hour and a half.

  Then it’s back to business, and Julian and I get most of the Halloween decorations out from the basement. It’s nice and weird at the same time, going about my normal life with him here. It’s painfully obvious he’s not accustomed to anything remotely human, having only observed but not interacted with people before.

  But it’s comforting having him here. He knows the truth—he knows my father—and there’s no judgement from him whatsoever. And it’s so fucking nice to ask him about my angel side, though there are many specific things only my father can answer, like if I’ll live longer than the average human.

  Half of me came from an immortal being. And not just any immortal, but the mighty archangel Michael, according to Julian. Michael is one of the most respected, revered—and feared—archangels. He’s got some major clout amongst the other angels, which means it’ll come as a huge shock if the others find out that Michael not only lied about me, but is the reason I was born.

  Regardless of not having the answers, it’s a good distraction to talk with Julian as I put up the decorations. Because it still stings knowing that I’m going to miss out on the Samhain festivities with my coven. One of the reasons Lucas and I put off the second leg of our honeymoon was so I didn’t have to be here when the celebrations started.

  The coven was my family. The Covenstead was my home. It shaped me into the witch I am today, and losing that part of me hurts. I still see those who matter most, but it’s not the same.

  Though now…now things are different. Julian is here—for now. And I have Lucas, who means more to me than anyone in the world. And soon we’ll have our baby.

  “Are we just going to tell her?” I unbuckle my seatbelt and look at Lucas. We just pulled into the garage of his Lincoln Park house. “Or should we ease it into the conversation? Because this is going to be quite shocking and I am not in the mood to deal with drama today.”

  “It’ll be fine, Callie,” Lucas promises. “We’ll tell her together.”

  I nod and let out a breath. I started feeling car sick halfway here, and all I want to do right now is lay down in a dark room, take a nap, and wake up three months from now when the morning sickness is supposedly going to be over.

  “Let’s do this, then.” I get out of the car, waiting for Julian to follow me inside. He sat in the backseat with Scarlet, trying to figure out a way to adjust her glamour to make it look like she’s growing. So far, we’ve had no luck, and Julian thinks the glamour is something only an archangel can change.

  Or maybe me…just not today.

  Lucas opens the door, my familiars run in ahead, and Scarlet yips and chases after, slipping on the marble floor and crashing into a wall. I swear, the longer she’s in puppy-form, the more she acts like an actual dog.

  Eliza is sitting in the kitchen, with a bottle of hot pink nail polish open. The smell immediately makes me gag.

  “Motherfucker,” I mumbled, annoyed that now every single little fucking thing is getting to me.

  “Hello to you, too.” Eliza brings a freshly polished hand to her face and gently blows on her nails. There’s a martini glass full of blood in front of her and looking at if for some reason makes me able to smell the coppery scent of blood. I turn, gagging.

  “Are you okay?” Lucas asks, dropping my overnight bag on the kitchen floor. He takes me in his arms, brushing my hair back. “What do you need?”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Eliza throws her head back, dramatically sighing, and reaches for her glass of blood. Her perfect eyebrows go up as she looks Julian over. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a friend. Maybe I’ll know what it’s like to be touched by an angel, too.” A smug smile comes over her face as she waits for either me or Lucas to turn to her and tell her to shut the fuck up.

  But when neither of us do, she gets a little concerned.

  “What’s going on?” she asks and quickly stands.

  “Callie is with child,” Julian states. “She’s rather nauseous.”

  So much for easing this into the conversation. But right now I’m honestly not sure if the Hot Pocket I had before we left for Chicago is going to stay in my stomach or not.

  “What?” Eliza’s voice is high pitched and strained. She’s still holding the glass of blood, and thinking about the thick, red liquid does me in. I put my hand over my mouth and run to the sink, throwing up everything that’s in my stomach. Lucas gathers my hair in his hand, pulling it out of the way as I heave into the sink.

  “I hate this,” I whimper and then throw up nothing but bile.

  “Do you have seltzer water?” Julian asks Eliza. “I read it can help.”

  “I…I…I’m a vampire,” she finally says as she realized this is all serious. “I only drink blood.”

  “I’m fine,” I grunt and turn on the sink, rinsing the throw up down the disposal and getting a drink. “I feel better now.” I close my eyes, let out a breath, and straighten up, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

  “Holy fuck,” Eliza says, staring daggers at me. “You really are pregnant.” Her eyes go to Lucas. “And you’re okay with this?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Lucas shoots right back. “She’s pregnant with my child.”

  Eliza lets out a snort of laughter and shakes her head. “That’s not fucking—holy fuck—you were cursed with humanity. That’s how it happened.”

  At least she’s catching on fast. “Yes,” Lucas tells her, still keeping a hold on me.

  “You fucked her while you were dying?”

  “Eliza,” Lucas says sternly

  “Sorry,” she sighs. “But you’re serious. She’s…she’s really…pregnant?”

  “She is,” Lucas answers. “She’s almost six weeks along now. We just found out yesterday.” He smooths my hair back and presses a kiss to the top of my head. The swirling sensation inside my stomach is gone, and now I’m hungry. And a little horny. And very tired.

  Being pregnant is weird as fuck.

  “Callie hasn’t been feeling well for a while now, but neither of us thought it was possible. But it is, and it happened.” He turns my head up to his, kissing me even though I just puked up an entire pizza Hot Pocket in the kitchen sink. “She’s having my baby.”

  His words melt me, and suddenly tears spring to my eyes. Dammit, hormones.

  “Holy fuck,” Eliza repeats. “You’re sure it’s yours?”

  Lucas growls, and Eliza slinks back. “Fine. Sorry. But…fuck.”

  “I know,” I agree, looking up at her. “Trust me, it’s the last thing I thought would ever happen.”

  “You’re not even human,” she says, eyes narrowing. “Are you going to be okay?” Her disbelief fades away, revealing her concern.

  “I think so.” I shrug. “But I honestly hav
e no idea. I’m the first nephilim to live a semi-normal life like this. And I’m the first for sure who’s ever gotten knocked up by a vampire who was cursed by homicidal necromancers.”

  Eliza looks from me to Julian. “Is that why he’s here?”

  “No,” I answer. “He came here because a demon was trying to con said homicidal necromancer into busting him out of some sort of supernatural prison so he can make me his demon bride, kick my uncle off the throne, and overthrow Hell.”

  “It’s true,” Julian says, nodding his head. Eliza gapes at us, looking from me to Lucas to Julian and back again. A few seconds of stunned silence pass before she rolls her eyes.

  “Fucking witches.” She looks at her nails, takes a long drink of blood, and puts the glass on the counter. “If you’re six weeks along, then you’re due in June.”

  “You’re really good at math,” I tell her.

  “It’s just basic math,” she shoots back and then grabs a glass from the cabinet. She fills it with water and hands it to me.

  “Thanks,” I say and take a small sip.

  “So now what?” she asks.

  I look at Lucas and shake my head. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re fucking pregnant, Callie.” Her eyes go from me to my stomach, to Lucas. “What are you going to do?”

  “Um, try not to die,” I say slowly, using my go-to answer. “That’s always my plan. Try not to die.”

  “Modern medicine has helped you in that aspect. More women survive childbirth now than before.”

  “That would be reassuring if I could go to a doctor,” I say, wrinkling my nose. “But I have a pretty good track record for surviving even the worst situations.”

  Eliza just nods, and one of her guinea pigs comes scampering through the kitchen. Scarlet lets out an excited woof and takes off after it. The guinea pig squeaks and makes a run for it, and I hold out my hand.

  “Stay,” I tell Scarlet. “Leave the guinea pigs alone.”

  The little puppy slides to a stop, crashing into one of the barstools by the island counter.