Dead of Night (The Thorne Hill Series: Book One)

by Emily Goodwin

  And neither did I.

  It’s enough of a distraction to roll over, and I gasp in air, chest heaving. I scramble up, looking for Lucas. He’s on his knees right behind the demon, pulling the blade out of his chest. A wound like that won’t kill a vampire, but that isn’t any sword sticking through his chest.

  “Luc—” I start, running toward him. The demon raises his hand, throwing me back against a tree. “Don’t hurt him,” I beg, eyes filling with tears. “I’m the one you want. Leave him and my coven alone. Just…just take me.”

  “How kind of you to offer.” The demon steps from the shadows, brown robes swirling around his feet. He looks shockingly human, with silver-white hair and gray stubble over his strong jaw. But his eyes are glowing red as if I’m looking through them and right into Hell.

  I push against the invisible hold, knowing it’s no use but refusing to give up, to go down without a fight. The demon moves closer, stopping just feet from me. The smell of brimstone coming from him is so strong it makes me sick. He tips his head, looking me up and down.

  Suddenly he’s before me, with one hand grasping my face. He turns my head up to him and inhales. He holds up his other hand, showing off his long claw-like fingernails. Then he swipes one across my face, tearing open the flesh on my cheek.

  He steps back, licking the blood off his finger. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Why?” Tears well in my eyes. I can’t move, can’t use magic to fight him. I’ve dreamed about my death enough the last few days I should have known it was coming. “Why were you looking for me?”

  Lucas rises from the dark, coming after the demon fast. He’s holding the sword he just pulled from his own chest and slashes it through the air in an attempt to cut off the demon’s head. But the blade just passes right through him, as if it’s made of smoke.

  The demon turns, extending his hand toward Lucas, and closes his fist. Lucas’s hands go to his neck, trying to break the hold the demon has on him. Lucas drops to his knees, coughing, and blood pours from his lips.

  But he doesn’t stop. He staggers to his feet and comes at the demon again, fangs drawn.

  “You just won’t stop, will you?” the demon sneers.

  “I’ll…never…stop…” Lucas chokes out.

  “Very well then.” The demon throws both hands out, sending Lucas flying back into the forest.

  “No!” I scream and yank one arm free from the demon’s hold. He rounds on me again, extending both hands and lifting them into the air bringing roots of the tree out of the ground. They wrap around me, binding my arms to my sides and tying me to the tree. I struggle against it, feeling my flesh tear open from the rough bark on the tree.

  The demon turns away from me, sweeping his arm out and bringing forth red fire from the forest floor. It circles around us, burning everything in its path. Even though it’s feet away, the heat is almost too much to bear and the smoke fills my nostrils, causing me to cough.

  “I’m going to enjoy watching you burn to death,” the demon says. The fire moves closer, burning around him but not catching him on fire. No! This isn’t ordinary fire. This is hellfire and is under the command of the demon. I yank my wrists, trying to free myself. “It’ll be slow.” The demon motions for the fire to crawl around the base of the tree. “I’ll start with your feet.”

  I scream as the fire rises and pull against the tree roots.

  “And then I’ll move to your hands, making sure your flesh is good and burned before you start choking to death on the smoke.” The underbrush goes up in flames, and the smoke is already wafting in my face. Coughing, I turn my head as tears spring to my eyes. It could start pouring down rain and it wouldn’t matter.

  This fire is going to burn until it takes my life.

  I conjure a ball of white light. I can’t move my wrist to throw it at the demon, and my feeble attempt just makes the ball fall into the fire. But when the ball of light touches the hellfire, the flames retreat.

  “Neat trick,” the demon laughs, raising his hand and making the flames rise higher. “It’s a wonder you went hidden for this long with that much power.”

  “Hidden? I’m not hiding,” I say between coughs.

  “You don’t even know, do you?” The hellfire reflects in the demon’s dark eyes.

  “Know what?” I ask, fighting against the roots. But the more I struggle, the more they tighten around me, squeezing me so tight it hurts. The fire inches closer, flames licking my feet.

  “It’s almost a shame.” Flames close around me. “You’ll die without knowing the truth.”

  The truth? What is he talking about? But right now, it doesn’t matter, because I can’t breathe. The air is too hot and every breath hurts. There is no way out of this. Squeezing my eyes shut, I turn my head as far as I can to the side, desperate for fresh air.

  This wasn’t how I thought things would end. The bad guys aren’t supposed to win. But there is no way out. Smoke fills my lungs, and I’m coughing so hard I feel like I’m going to puke.

  The fire creeps up farther, and the heat is too much to take. I can only hope I pass out before my skin starts to burn. My eyes are watering like crazy, and the lack of fresh oxygen is making me nauseous.

  This is it. The end. My end.

  “Callie.”

  A clear voice rings out from beyond the flames. I lift my head up, looking for Lucas. But instead of my vampire, a man with bright blue eyes stands before me.

  “This is not how it ends.”

  I open my mouth to question him, but the flames rise, and he disappears. My head falls back and I’m sure I’m hallucinating, seeing things since I’m on the brink of death. Everything is so hot. The air. The tree roots are on fire now, and the heat travels through them and burns my skin through my clothes.

  I just want it to end now. I want to suck in my last breath and welcome the painlessness of death.

  “This isn’t how it ends.”

  I force my eyes open, looking for the source of the voice. And then I realize I’m the one talking. “This isn’t how it ends.”

  I grit my teeth and squeeze my eyes closed. “I call upon the forces of light.” My voice is barely louder than a whisper. “Defend us in the battle with the darkness. Purge the wickedness.”

  The flames start to retreat, traveling backward and circling around the demon. He throws out his hands and tries to command the fire, but it doesn’t obey.

  “I call upon the forces of light,” I repeat, voice getting stronger. I suck in cool, fresh air. “Cast this demon in chains and send him down to the abyss!”

  The flames start to turn blue, rising up around the demon. He steps back and his robes catch on fire. The blue fire climbs higher and the demon cries out in pain. Horrible screeches leave him as he burns, sounding like a hundred voices crying, a hundred voices begging for death.

  And then he collapses into a pile of ash. The blue flames die down, moving into the earth. Everything is dark. The forest is silent, and I stare, wide-eyed at the smoldering ash.

  “Callie.”

  This time, there’s no mistaking Lucas’s voice. His shirt is covered in his own blood from being stabbed in the chest, but he already healed. He speeds over, yanking one of the roots back.

  “Is he dead?” I pant, trying to break free. I just start coughing, lungs still burning.

  “I don’t know.” Lucas pulls another root back and tears through a few more, freeing me. I fall into his arms. “But he’s gone.” His dark blue eyes widen as he looks from me to the pile of ash. “How did you do that?”

  I shake my head and cough again. “I have no idea…or if that was even me.” The image of the blue-eyed man flashes before me. There’s something familiar about him, something almost comforting.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Lucas lowers me to the ground and kisses the top of my head. “You’re alive.”

  “So are you.”

  “Not technically,” Lucas reminds me with a smile. He gently pushes up my sleev
es and looks at the burns on my wrists. “You’re injured.”

  “Yeah, though if this is the extent of my injuries, I shouldn’t complain, right?”

  “Right.” He cradles me against his chest, kissing the top of my head. “I thought I lost you for a moment there. My heart hasn’t beat in over a thousand years but losing you would break it.” He puts his lips to mine, gently kissing me. “I love you, Callie.”

  My heart flutters in my chest, and I let my eyes fall shut. Lucas King has done the impossible, something just as incredible as me commanding the hellfire.

  He’s made me fall totally and completely in love with him.

  I can’t deny it any longer, and admitting to him means admitting it to myself, which is absolutely terrifying.

  I’m alive.

  He’s dead.

  I don’t know what kind of life we can have together, but I know I don’t want to live this one without him.

  My eyes, already watery from the burn of the smoke, fill with tears. One spills over, rolling down my cheek. Lucas wipes it away and rests his forehead against mine.

  I slide my hand along his chest, feeling the tear in his shirt, which is still wet from his own blood. He almost died protecting me and wouldn’t have stopped until he was nothing but ash on the forest floor.

  “Lucas,” I start, tipping my head to his so my lips brush over his as I talk. “I love you, too.”

  CHAPTER 33

  Lucas holds me tight against him and goes in for a kiss. I turn my head at the last second, coughing.

  “Sorry,” I say between coughs.

  “Don’t be. Are you…are you all right?” Lucas takes my hands in his and carefully pulls me to my feet. “You don’t sound very good.”

  “I inhaled a lot of smoke.” I sway on my feet, grasping Lucas’s hands for support. He steps in and scoops me up. I don’t like to be coddled, but I’m not about to protest. Mostly because I’m not sure I can keep from falling to the ground.

  I’m lightheaded and dizzy, both from inhaling so much smoke and because whatever the hell spell I just performed was the most draining magical act I’ve ever done.

  Lucas makes sure I’m steady on my feet before moving away, going over the pile of ash. He nudges it with his foot, moving the remains of the demon’s robe.

  “There’s hardly anything left. How did you put out the fire?”

  Pressing my hand to my chest, I cough again before I can answer. “I don’t know. It was hellfire…maybe it just goes away once it burns up, uh, someone.”

  “Maybe.” Lucas turns back to me, wrapping both of his strong arms around my waist. I hook my arms around his neck and rest my head against him. I’m completely depleted of energy and want nothing more than to let my eyes close and pass out.

  “The demons.” I pick up my head and look around the forest. “There were other demons…people possessed.”

  “I killed them on the way back to you.” He pushes my hair back and wipes ash off my face. “Why didn’t you go through the door?”

  “I couldn’t leave you.” I take in a shaky breath.

  “You almost died.”

  “And I thought you were going to. That blade paired with the demon powers…” I trail off and shake my head. “Losing you would break my heart too.” My eyes fill with tears again. “There was no way I was leaving you.” I can’t bring myself to say it, because if I do, I’ll start crying for sure. After living for so long on the edge of the void, feeling the tug of the emptiness, I wasn’t sure if my heart was full enough to break.

  Broken hearts can’t break again, can they?

  But Lucas…he has no idea how much he means to me. How the way he looks at me—all of me—healed what I didn’t know was broken.

  “Luckily I’m rather hard to kill.” He smiles and gently wipes ash off my face.

  “I’m proving to be rather resilient myself.”

  “Let’s not test that theory.”

  “I’m with you there,” I say and smile too.

  He cups both hands around my face, tipping my chin up and looking into my eyes.

  “How anyone can look at you and not see how fucking incredible you are is beyond me.”

  I lose my battle with not crying. My eyes fall shut and tears roll down my cheeks. A few spills over the cut on my cheek, burning my tender flesh.

  “Let me take you home,” Lucas whispers. “Let me take care of you.”

  I nod, eyes flitting to the space where the door had been. There’s no way to contact anyone inside, not until a reversal spell is done to unseal the door.

  “I’d like that,” I exhale. Lucas picks me up again, and we make it only a few feet away before bright blue light comes from behind us. Lucas whirls around, fangs bared.

  “The door,” I wheeze, trying not to cough again. “It’s opening.”

  Lucas sets me down, slipping his arm around my waist for support. Three dark shadows emerge from the door before it’s all the way open. My familiars circle around me, automatically going on the defense.

  Kristy, Naomi, and Nicole come out next, holding daggers in one hand and potion vials in the other.

  “Callie!” Kristy exclaims when she sees me. Her eyes are wide and she’s breathing hard. “Where’s the demon?”

  I suddenly can’t talk, realizing that my friends came back to fight along with me.

  “He’s dead,” Lucas tells them. “Callie killed it.”

  “Are you sure?” Naomi looks around, lips parted.

  “That’s all that’s left of him.” Lucas points to the remains of the demon.

  Nicole lowers her dagger and exhales heavily. “You’re safe.” Her statement is more of a question as if she can’t believe it. I’m still having a hard time believing it myself.

  “You guy…you guys came back for me?” I finally find my voice.

  “Of course.” Kristy slides her dagger back into its sheath. “You’re my best friend, Cal. Evander caused a distraction and is holding the door open.”

  “And I wasn’t about to let you have all the fun.” Naomi raises one eyebrow and smiles. “Though it seems you stole the show as usual.”

  “I’d have gladly let you in on the action.” I cough, turning away from Lucas.

  “How did you survive?” Nicole blurts. She’s shaking, and I commend her even more for coming back to fight knowing how scared she is.

  “I’m not really sure.” My eyes flutter and if it weren’t for Lucas’s arm around me, I think I would have fallen to the ground. Everything spins around me and I’m feeling a little nauseous.

  “Are you okay?” Kristy rushes forward, hands going to my shoulders. “You smell like smoke.”

  “She was almost burned to death,” Lucas informs my friends.

  “I didn’t,” I state the obvious and flick my eyes to the door. “We should let them know the demon is gone.”

  “I’ll go,” Nicole offers and gives me a hug before stepping back through the door.

  Kristy pockets the potion she’s holding and shakes her head, pulling her arms in close to her body. “It’s really gone?”

  “I think so.” I shift my weight, almost forgetting that Lucas can hold me one-handed and not be strained. Thank goodness for superhuman strength right now.

  “She burned him with hellfire. He’s gone.” Lucas turns his head down to me, looking proud as he pushes my hair over my shoulder.

  “Hellfire?” both Kristy and Naomi exclaim at the same time.

  “The demon,” I start. “He summoned up hellfire to burn me.”

  “Why you?” Naomi asks.

  “I don’t know.” I shake my head and cough again, still feeling like I’m breathing in smoke. “I tried asking nicely, but he still wouldn’t tell me.”

  Kristy laughs before her face breaks and she lets out a sob. “I was so scared.” She throws her arms around me. “And I felt like the most selfish person in the world going through the door before I made sure you were coming with.”

  “I was going
to go through,” I remind her. “But then…” I look at Lucas. “Then there was too much at stake here. I had to fight.”

  “Back to the hellfire.” Naomi crosses her arms and leans against a tree near the door. “How did you get out alive? Not that I’m not grateful—I am—but hellfire…”

  “I know,” I agree what she didn’t say. “It should have burned me until there was nothing left. And I really don’t know.” I close my eyes, feeling dizzier by the second. “I heard a voice and thought I saw this man with blue eyes standing in the fire. Obviously, I was hallucinating from smoke inhalation or something.”

  “You said a spell,” Lucas says slowly, brows furrowing. “And it turned the hellfire blue.”

  “There are no spells that work on hellfire.” Kristy looks at Naomi in question. “None that I know of at least.”

  I shrug off their concern. “I just said things that came to me. Mostly out of desperation and anger.”

  “What language were you speaking?” Lucas asks.

  “English.” I cock an eyebrow. “Unlike you, I don’t know a bunch of fancy languages. This is the only one I can read or speak.”

  “You weren’t speaking English. Trust me, I heard you, and whatever language you spoke was one I’ve never heard before.”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Kristy forces a smile. “You’re alive and the demon is dead.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “Come back to the coven and let the High Priestess make you a healing draft.”

  “I think I’m going to stay here.” Lucas can’t go through the door, and I want to be with him.

  Kristy knows my reasoning and nods. “Right. I’ll make you something then. If that cough doesn’t go away by the morning, you need to be seen. Smoke inhalation is dangerous, Callie.”

  “I’ll make sure she’s taken care of,” Lucas promises.

  “Why is your shirt torn and bloody?” Naomi asks.

  “The demon stabbed him,” I reply.

  “It takes more than a sword through the heart to stop me fighting for you,” Lucas says to me, aware my friends can hear but doesn’t seem to care. He slides one hand down my arm, landing on my waist. The way he looks at me makes it obvious what’s on his mind, and it involves us both getting naked.