Immortal Night

by Emily Goodwin

  “Keep the pressure,” I tell her and pull away. We’re in my bedroom, and dawn is quickly approaching. My automatic blinds will come down at any second, keeping my house light-tight during the day. Light from the outdoor lamps filter through the room, and when the woman turns, hair falling over her face, I get hit with a vision of Callie.

  Dammit. I should have brought a blonde home with me instead.

  I want to forget about her. I don’t want to think about her again. She’s annoying. Probably more than a little fucked up in the head.

  And she’s a witch.

  I shouldn’t want to see her again, but as soon as the vision of her enters my mind, there’s a fluttering inside me like my dead heart is trying to beat again. She unnerves me in the best way possible, and it’s been a good seven centuries since anyone—dead or alive—as been able to do that.

  “That was amazing,” the woman pants, flopping down on the bed. “I’m exhausted.”

  “You should get going then.” She starts to push up on her elbows in protest. I caught her eye and have her under my command. “Go home,” I tell her. “Take a shower and get some rest.”

  She nods and slowly gets out of bed, gathering up her clothes. I meet her downstairs once she’s dressed, and hand her a glass of water. She takes a big drink and then leaves the house. I lock up after her, going up to take a shower myself.

  My mind is still on Callie when I get into my bed after showering, and I know it’s going to be a long fucking day until night falls again. Because until then, I’ll be thinking about her.

  About the way her green eyes flash like stained glass in a lightning storm when she’s angry.

  About the way her breasts rise and fall as she breathes.

  The way the magic she so easily conjures illuminates her beautiful face.

  Fuck. Me.

  Or better yet, fuck her.

  Eliza is right that I need to fuck her out of my system. Though I have a feeling once I fuck her I’m going to want more, and I don’t necessarily mean more of her pussy.

  As annoying as she is, there’s something else about Callie drawing me to her. A likeness neither one of us want to admit. No matter what, there’s only one way to put an end to this—one way or another.

  Once night falls, I’m going back to Thorne Hill.

  My eyes fly open and I sit straight up. If my heart could beat, it would be pounding right now. I’d be able to feel my pulse bounding through my body, echoing in my ears.

  Night hasn’t yet fallen, but will be here shortly. Right now it feels like it won’t be here soon enough. I dreamt of Callie, and in my dream I fucked her good. Tasted her too, and she was unlike anything I’d had before.

  Eliza went back to her apartment, a ritzy place downtown, last night and now my house is quiet. I get up, shower, and get dressed. I log onto my computer once I’m in my office, entering the name of the store I saw in Callie’s photos in an online search.

  She co-owns Novel Grounds with a friend named Kristy, who is the blonde woman posed next to Callie in the photo. I wonder if she’s working tonight. It has been a while since I’ve bought new books…

  I close my computer and check my phone. Before going to sleep for the day, I called Monica, a human who frequently runs errands for me, and had her bring Callie’s Jeep back to Indiana for her. She was supposed to send me a confirmation text so I know everything got handled.

  Monica is scared of me, and all she sent was the single word done. At least I know Callie has her Jeep back unscathed. I spend the next few minutes tidying up the house. Eliza keeps insisting I should hire cleaners again, but I haven’t lived in this Lincoln Park house long and like the anonymity of no one knowing who I am for the time being.

  I’m not a messy person, so it’s not hard to keep my own house clean.

  Finally, the sun has sun low enough in the sky I can go out. I’ve been a creature of the night for so long I am used to the dark. I’ve been without the sun for nearly two thousand years and have stopped missing it. I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like.

  Yet tonight, I find myself cursing the light because I want to go to Thorne Hill and see a certain witch. Here’s to hoping the traffic isn’t bad. I usually speed and getting pulled over isn’t much of an issue since I can hold the officer spell bound and have him let me go with a warning. The issue is having my plates run before I can get to that point.

  I’m registered as a vampire in the US legal system, and being a vampire comes up as a warning right away. When I registered, I had to fill out a book full of paperwork about when I was born and when I died, along with a million fucking questions about what I’ve been up to since becoming a vampire.

  On paper, I’m only three hundred years old, and Eliza is only one hundred and fifty. Once vampires have been undead for around five hundred years, our powers increase. We’re faster, stronger, and some develop the power to hold humans spellbound. I don’t need to advertise that fact.

  Traffic going into the city is nearly at a standstill, but going out, it’s not so bad. I made it to Thorne Hill in under an hour and drive through town, spotting Callie’s Jeep parked near the bookstore. I park across the street and get out, pausing for a minute to take in my surroundings.

  Callie’s not the only witch in this town. I can sense magic all around me, and it excites me when it should make me hesitate. Crossing the street, I head straight to the bookstore and go inside. A mousy young woman looks up from the register to say hello but her voice dies in her throat when she sees me.

  Color rushes to her cheeks, and she sweeps her eyes over me, still unable to form a coherent sentence. I tend to have that effect on women. That woman isn’t a witch, but I can sense magic coming from somewhere in the store. It magic isn’t as strong as Callie’s, and after walking down two aisles, I spot the blonde girl from the photo. According to the website, her name is Kristy and she and Callie have been best friends for over ten years.

  And she’s also a witch.

  This is getting more and more interesting as the night goes by. Callie isn’t in the store, but with her Jeep parked out front, I decide to stay and look for a book to read during the day tomorrow and see if she shows up before I leave.

  Five minutes later, the bell above the door dings. I don’t have to look up to know it’s her. I can sense her and smell her magic all at the same time. That fluttering inside me comes back, and I lift my eyes from the dirty romance novel in my hand to look at her beautiful face.

  Chapter 8

  “What the hell?” she whispers, and her black cat winds around her feet. She takes her cat with her? She either is a crazy cat lady or that cat really isn’t a cat at all, though I didn’t sense anything otherwise when I was at her house last night. I was a bit preoccupied with mentally fucking her in every position I can think of, though.

  “Why, hello to you too,” I say and flick my gaze back to the book. I’d just come across a deliciously detailed sex scene. “Have you read this one? I find this passage very exhilarating.”

  Callie’s eyes are wide, and her heart rate is increasing more and more the longer she stares at me. “I haven’t yet, but if you’re going to crack the spine, you better be buying it.”

  “Yet? Then I will buy it and will think of you when I finish this sex scene.” I turn the page and quickly read a paragraph about the love interest in this book making the woman come so hard she soaks the sheets beneath her. “You know, I’ve heard women complain that sex in real life is never as good as it is in books. Obviously, they’ve never been fucked by a vampire.”

  “Keep your voice down,” she whisper-yells.

  “You’re rather prudish for someone who half-owns a store full of erotic romance.”

  “I am far from a prude. But unfortunately for you, you’ll never find out just how much of one I’m not.” She purses her lips and shakes her head at herself. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you.”

  “Why?”

  “I
told you. I’m curious about you.” I close the book.

  “Well, I’m not an animal at a zoo. Go get your jollies elsewhere and watch somebody else.” She lifts her head up and once again, her take-no-shit attitude throws me. It’s so different from what I’m used to, and being surprised turns me on as much as it thrills me.

  I force myself to stop staring at her before my cock hardens right here in the store. This place is nice. Quaint, even, and fits right into this picture-perfect little town. She’s still pissed at me for lying to her, and while I can’t blame her, I don’t want to be the reason she’s upset. I can be the reason she’s the one squealing and soaking the sheets instead.

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” I say honestly. “I feel an apology is in order for me misleading you last night. You’re not the type of witch I thought you were, and if you’d grant me permission, I’d like to take you out tonight.”

  “What?”

  “I’m asking you on a date, Callie.”

  Her cat growls as she’s gaping over my question. I turn my head and inhale, looking at the cat. He looks just like a house cat but he can’t be. I crouch down to get a closer feel.

  “Your cat isn’t really a cat, is he?” I ask, still trying to get a read on the thing. It’s definitely not a regular feline, but I can’t figure out what it is.

  Callie looks around, making sure no one is listening. So the people in the town don’t know she’s a witch. “No, he’s a familiar. You’re just now figuring it out? Nice job with the shielding,” she compliments the familiar.

  “He’s an old one. Isn’t he?” I’m getting more of a read on the power coming off the familiar.

  “He is. And powerful.”

  “A black cat though? Isn’t that a little cliché?”

  Callie smiles, and it’s like the sun is shining down on me. Without killing me, of course. She’s so fucking gorgeous. “Maybe that’s why he picked this form.”

  “You called him Mr. Prickle Paws,” I say, having heard her talking to him before she came into the store. I give her a pointed look and try not to laugh. She has a thousand-year old familiar with a pet-name. It’s so fitting for her, who doesn’t seem like the type of witch—or woman—who follows rules.

  “He has very sharp claws. And he likes it. Just like he likes the soft pink blanket at the foot of my bed, don’t you Mr. Prickle Paws?” The cat purrs and rubs against her ankles. I don’t know much about familiars, but I do know they have sworn loyalty to their witches. No matter what that familiar will guard Callie with it’s life. Well, that’s assuming they’re alive. I don’t even know what they really are. I heard stories about familiars being terrifying spirits risen from the pits of hell to aid and guide witches in their craft, but never believed it.

  Until now. “You have two others?”

  “Yes. Pandora and Freya.”

  “Witches only have one familiar.” Or at least that’s what I was told. If that’s true, how did Callie come across three?

  “Their witches were killed,” she says quietly, inching closer as two teenage girls walk by, laughing and blushing as they look me over. Like I said. I have that effect on women. “And once I handled the you know what…”

  “They pledged to you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Now I’m even more curious.”

  “Look, I’m going to be frank here,” she starts and takes the plastic bags of food she’s holding off her wrists. She starts walking toward the front of the store. “If you’re trying to get super secret witch info out of me, don’t waste your time. I’m not like the other witches.”

  “I know,” I tell her and she stops walking to turn. She looks right into my eyes, and again, it’s like she’s seeing right through me and can see in the dark. I look away.

  “Do you have to do that?” she asks.

  “Do what?”

  “Blink?”

  “Oh.” That’s the last thing I thought she’d ask. I don’t realize I do it anymore. “I suppose not. My eyes won’t dry out like humans, but if dirt or dust gets in them, it’s still irritating. And it’s like breathing. Many of us don’t let those habits go. It’s something you don’t even think about.”

  “So weird.”

  I nudge her with my elbow and smile. “I thought it was interesting yesterday.”

  “Interesting…weird…they’re both cool I guess.” She slowly walks to the end of the aisle. The mousy woman is watching us again, with her mouth hanging open. She’s human and I doubt she’s able to sense I’m a vampire. What’s the surprise here? That an attractive man is walking through the store, or that an attractive man is walking through the store with Callie?

  The cat trots ahead, distracting the woman.

  “Meet me after the store closes tonight?” I ask, not realizing how much I want her to say yes until I ask.

  She sets the bags of food down and shakes her head. “I’m not sure I want to. Not after last night.”

  “Talk like that and people are going to assume we hooked up. Don’t damage my reputation now. I never disappoint. In fact, I dreamed about you today.” I reach forward and gently tuck her hair over her shoulder. The smell of her shampoo hits me, along with the scent of sunshine on her skin.

  Fuck, I want her.

  And she wants me too. Her body tenses and she takes in a slow breath, trying to mask what she’s feeling. She knows I can sense it, and she doesn’t want me to know I’m turning her on just from one little touch.

  “Did you dream about me?”

  “I dreamed I shoved a stake through your heart and then set fire to what was left of your remains.”

  “Such a lady,” I shoot back with a grin. “And at least we both had dreams about penetrating the other in one way or another.”

  “You’re such a pig,” she retorts.

  “You keep saying that, but your body says otherwise.”

  She steps back, looking down at the food on the counter. “I do find you attractive,” she admits, surprising me once again. Not about her finding me attractive. I know I am. But what surprised me was her admitting it.

  “I thought I disgusted you.”

  “Oh, you do.” She picks up something that looks like a roll of rice. “So yeah…I, uh, I have issues.”

  “Don’t we all?” I ask and then smile. “Shall I meet you at your place later? I assume you’d like to change into something that shows more skin.”

  She puts the food in her mouth, taking her time chewing and swallowing just so she won’t have to answer. She looks over at her blonde friend, maybe hoping she’ll come over and bail her out of answering me. The blonde, Kristy, is ringing up a customer. Once the customer leaves, Kristy leans down and grabs a yellowed piece of paper. Her heart rate increases when she reads whatever the paper says.

  “What is it?” Callie asks.

  “The coven,” Kristy answers, voice matching her elevated heart rate. She’s scared. “They’ve called an emergency gathering.”

  Callie looks at me, and a bit of fear clouds her own eyes. “If—and I mean a big fat if—I decide to let you take me out on a date, it’s going to have to wait.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” I say.

  Callie grabs another piece of food and shakes her head. “There’s no point in arguing with you, is there?”

  “I always get what I want.”

  “And you want me?” she says in a voice meant to mock my own. It makes me laugh, and Callie just narrow her eyes.

  “I do. You’re interesting Callie, and I don’t find interesting people very often. And there’s something else about you,” I start and lock eyes with her again. I don’t need to finish my sentence for her to know what I mean.

  She feels it too.

  “I…I should go.” She turns away only to face me again. “Do you remember where I live?”

  “I was there last night,” I say and raise an eyebrow. “I remember.”

  “Meet me back there in like an hour. I’ll decide if I want to go out with
you then.”

  “Save yourself the trouble and just say yes now.”

  She does her best not to smile. Eyes lingering on mine for another few seconds, she lets her lips curve into a half smile. “An hour, and I’ll let you know. I’d say don’t hold your breath, but you don’t breathe.”

  I give her a curt nod. “Fine. One hour and then I’ll take you out on a date.”

  Chapter 9

  I close the book and look out at Callie’s backyard. It’s been exactly an hour, but I didn’t expect her to appear at the exact amount of time. She and Kristy left the bookstore together in a rush. I took my time browsing books and then walked through the small downtown area of Thorne Hill just to kill time.

  There’s something odd about the main street of the town. It feels like a line of witches were lined up along it, but none were. I’ve only felt something like that once before, and it turned out to be a Ley line, buried deep underground. If that’s the case, it makes sense why there are multiple witches living in Thorne Hill.

  It’s a cool night tonight, with a soft breeze and few clouds covering the moon and stars. I prefer the quiet of the country to the noise of the city, which is one thing that hasn’t changed even after all these years. In my human years, I lived on a farm in the countryside of what’s now Rome. We were poor, had many hard winters, and watched villagers die from exposure, famine, and illness every year.

  I don’t think about my human life often. I won’t let myself. My last days on earth as a human were terrible. After a year fighting in wars, I was captured, taken to Rome as a prisoner, and forced to fight for the emperor’s entertainment.

  Setting the book down on the porch railing, I stand from the bench I was sitting on and move down the stairs, needing to change my train of thought. I still remember the putrid smell of piss, shit and festering wounds that surrounded me for days on end, trapped in a tiny cell as I awaited my turn to go out and fight in front of a crowd.

  The wind rustles the trees, and brings with it the scent of blood. Human blood. I race toward the woods and hear Callie’s voice echoing through the dark.