“Like the automatic blinds.” Lucas sits on the edge of the bed, taking my hand in his.
“Exactly like that. I know I’m not there, but little things like that…it sends me back, and everything gets tight, and I can’t breathe.” I bring my hand to my chest. “It’s stupid, I know.”
“It’s not stupid,” Lucas and Abby say at the same time.
“I can’t force you to go through with any sort of testing or treatment, you know that, right?” Abby says.
“Yeah, I do.” I pick dried blood off Lucas’s hand. “And I really do feel fine.”
“But you shouldn’t,” Lucas says slowly. “Not that I’m ungrateful, but when I found you…I wasn’t sure if you would make it.” He grips my hand tighter and leans in, resting his forehead against mine as he gently runs his fingers through my hair. It’s an intimate gesture, but Lucas has never seemed to have a concept of PDA.
Or if he does, he simply doesn’t care.
“I…I don’t know what happened,” I start, thinking about how I was able to conjure energy while under a ward against witchcraft.
I shouldn’t have been able to do that.
Just like I shouldn’t have been able to command hellfire.
Or heal myself.
“But I do know you still have business matters to attend to.”
“That pales in comparison to this.” Lucas cups my face with his hands, and my heart skips a beat.
“I’m fine, I promise,” I whisper, wanting nothing more than to lie down next to him and drift to sleep. Well, after a shower, of course. I turn my head, looking at my sister. “Right? I’m fine.”
“Um,” Abby starts. “Let me do an exam and check your vitals at least.”
“I can handle that.” Lucas breaks away but keeps his hand on mine. “Distract me?” I ask him as Abby pulls a penlight from her pocket.
“Should I take off my clothes?” Lucas asks seriously. He’s joking and I know it, but Abby freezes, looking at him with wide eyes.
“Only if you do a Magic Mike dance for me,” I say back without missing a beat. “Oh, can you go get me a bunch of dollar bills first? I want to make it rain as you’re shaking it in my face.”
Lucas laughs and runs his fingers along the inside of my wrist, tracing my veins. Feeling my heart beating comforts him.
“I was thinking that since the graveyard has been conveniently cleared of bodies, we have room for a pool.”
“I thought the same thing!” I stare straight ahead as Abby looks into my eyes. “But we have those tombstones to deal with, and I feel bad just tossing them.”
“About a century ago, I was in a small town in Europe and saw an interesting cobblestone path. They used graves as part of the pathway. It struck me then, and I think it would add the exact type of character you love to the house.”
I smile and have to remind myself not to turn and look at Lucas. How he gets me on such a deep level, I’ll never know.
“We can do that from the driveway leading to the front door. Will you want a garage?”
“Of course. Some of my cars do not stay outside.”
“Men and their cars.” I can’t help but roll my eyes then. “Can I steal a spot in the garage? It’ll be so nice not to have to clear snow off my Jeep again.”
“You’ll have the spot closet to the house.”
“We left that zombie in the attic.”
“You’re right. I forgot about that. At least there wasn’t much left of her.”
“I need to figure out who she is. It’ll help to know her name in case she starts haunting us the day we move in.”
Abby takes her stethoscope from her neck. “Did you get a house together?”
“We just bought one,” I say. “Well, Lucas bought it. We quite literally signed the paperwork hours ago.”
“Wow. That’s…that’s…really nice.”
“It is.” I smile again. Abby’s trying hard to have a relationship with me, and I know this is all weird to her. She’s scared of vampires and is only okay around Lucas because she knows he loves me—and knows I have the power to stop him. “You’ll have to come over once everything is restored. The house is old and has been empty for a while. It’ll take a few months at least to get things move-in ready.”
“Is it in Thorne Hill?” Abby puts the stethoscope to my chest.
“Yes, it’s actually close to my current house. I’ve wanted to buy it for years but couldn’t afford it.”
“Breathe in,” she tells me. I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. She moves the stethoscope down my chest. “Take another deep breath.” She moves to my back, listening to my lungs.
“Are you talking about that big white house?” she asks, hanging her stethoscope around her neck again. “The one you can just hardly see through the trees as you leave your place?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“It’s a neat old house. Kinda creepy.” She smiles. “It suits you.”
She checks my blood pressure and temperature next. “Your vitals are normal, and you don’t have signs of a concussion.”
“So I can leave?”
“Yes and no. I have no reason to keep you. If you didn’t tell me the extent of your head injury, I wouldn’t suspect it. But knowing how hard you were hit still concerns me. If you do go home, um…” She looks at Lucas. “You can hear her heart beat?”
“Yes,” he says. “And yours.”
Abby closes her eyes, shaking her head and looking away. “That’s…interesting. Can you, um, keep an eye on her for the rest of the night?”
“I will.”
“Call my cell if anything changes. If you just feel the slightest twinge of pain, let me know, okay?”
“I will, but I promise, I’m fine,” I press again. “I just want a shower, a pizza, and a nap.”
Abby lets out a sigh. “I’m here all night and will call you on my next break.”
“I don’t have my phone,” I tell her.
“You can use mine,” Lucas says. “There’s a landline at the house too. I never use it, but you’re more than welcome to it.”
“I’ll call you in the morning,” I tell Abby. “And thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. You’re my sister. I’m glad you’re okay. And Lucas? Thanks for looking out for her. I’m glad she has you.”
Chapter 22
“That feels better.” I sink onto the bed, eyelids heavy. Lucas is next to me, and his hands go to my shoulders. We just got out of the shower, and I want so badly to fall back against the mattress and go to sleep.
I’m exhausted, feeling a similar type of depletion as when I commanded the hellfire. My mind is whirling, and I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not really a witch…or not just a witch.
“And that feels amazing.” My eyes close and my head falls forward as Lucas massages my muscles.
“Lay down,” he tells me. “Get some rest, my love.”
Nodding, I let him pull me down to the bed. He covers us both up and keeps rubbing my back. Right when I’m about to drift to sleep, I feel the same panic I did when that vampire rushed at me and sank her fangs into my neck.
My eyes fly open, and I’m hit with anxiety, crippling every muscle, every single nerve in my body.
“Callie?” Lucas inches closer. “What’s wrong?”
“What isn’t wrong?” I roll over, needing to feel his cool skin against mine. “Other vampires know about us. How? It’s not like I go around telling people I’m a witch.”
“I don’t know,” he says, sounding pained to admit the truth to me. “But I will find out. If I have to rip that bitch apart until there is nothing left, I will.”
“I know.”
“That’s not all that’s bothering you, though, is it?”
I shake my head. “I can’t stop thinking about being called a half-breed, Scott saying I’m not really his sister, and now being able to do magic while warded.”
“Vampires aren’t known for their ability to
carry out magical acts. I’m sure they got the symbols wrong.”
He’s trying to comfort me, I know, and I wish I could believe him. But I can’t. Something is nagging at me, and every time I blink, I get a flash of the blue-eyed man. He feels so familiar and has an oddly comforting sense to him. But why?
“The man I saw in the fire,” I start.
“The one with the blue eyes who you’ve been dreaming about?”
“I need to talk to him.”
“You’re not sure if he’s real.”
I bite my lip. “He is. I can just feel it.”
“How will you go about talking to him?”
“I don’t know.”
“My love,” Lucas whispers, pressing his lips to mine. “You need to rest.”
“I’m too anxious to sleep. I’ll go to the bar with you. Make sure everything is okay and all.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“Lucas.” I prop myself up on my elbow. “The whole reason we came to Chicago was to deal with this. Did you get the address for the guy who—can you open a window?”
“Why?”
“Binx.”
Lucas speeds out of bed and opens the window on the wall next to the bed. A second later, my familiar shadows into the room, shifting into cat-form and jumping onto the bed.
“Oh, my sweet boy,” I coo, running my hand over his sleek fur. “Don’t be sorry. I’m the one who told you to stay home. And speaking of, is everything okay there?”
Binx starts purring and lets me know things are the same, with the Ley line randomly pulsing.
“Is it?” Lucas asks.
“For now,” I say, forgetting he can’t hear Binx’s thoughts like I can. “But something is definitely up. So let’s go take care of vampire business before things blow up at home.”
Lucas’s jaw tenses. “No.”
“No?”
“I’m sorry, Callie, but no. I’m not letting you get involved any more than you are. Feeling your fear…your pain…” He turns his head down. “I’m not losing you, and if that means pissing you off, then so be it. You are not coming with me to the bar tonight.”
“You can’t tell me what to do.” I sit up, fully aware that I’m naked and the sheet is slipping away from my body.
“I suppose I can’t, but I’m going to try.” He draws his fangs and comes back to the bed, moving over top of me. Binx lets out a warning growl but steps aside, able to sense Lucas’s intentions.
They both love me.
They’d both die for me.
“I’m ordering you a pizza and a bottle of wine. You are going to stay here with Binx, eating and drinking in bed while watching a movie. You are having an uneventful night tonight, so help me Satan.”
“Dammit, Lucas,” I say through gritted teeth. “I really want to be mad at you, but that sounds kind of wonderful.”
“I’m leaving you a credit card too and expect to see at least ten grand in charges from your online shopping tonight too.”
“Ten grand? What the hell do you think I’m going to buy?”
“It’s easy to spend ten grand.”
“Yeah…not for me. Though I do have a lot of books on my TBR list.”
“TBR?”
“To be read.” I shake my head. “Stop being so good to me and let me be pissed, okay?”
He laughs. “Fine. I’ll change the settings on the security system to send me a text if you disarm the house. That way I’ll know if you try to leave to come fight rogue vampires. Does that help?”
“Yes, you stalker.”
“Good girl,” he growls, fangs flashing in the overhead light. He advances, and suddenly I’m melting into a puddle beneath him. “I love you, Callie. And I’ll do anything to protect you. I failed you tonight.” His eyes gloss over, and his head droops.
I reach for him, pulling him to me. “You didn’t. I let my guard down.”
“You’re a good person.” He lies down next to me and rests his head on my chest, listening to my heart beating. “So much better than I deserve.”
“Don’t say that.”
He looks up. “It’s true, and we both know it. You are a goddess, Callie. There is so much light inside of you. It would be blinding if it weren’t so beautiful.”
My eyes fall shut, trying to keep the tears at bay.
“I accepted the path of darkness for myself. I’m a vampire,” Lucas continues. “That’s what we are. That’s what’s inside of us. Darkness.” He slips one hand under me, and my heart swells in my chest. “I believed I could never be anything but dark. I let it consume me, and I told myself that’s how things were meant to be. For over a thousand years I clung onto that false truth…and then I met you.”
A tear rolls down my cheek.
“You gave me the sun, Callie. You reminded me what it feels like to be alive. To have blood pulsing through my veins. To have a purpose.” He sits up and takes my face in both his large hands. Another tear falls, slowly rolling down my face. “You showed me what it means to live, even after I died.”
“Lucas,” I start, voice hitching. He puts his lips on mine, kissing me as tears stream from my eyes. “I love you,” I whisper between kisses. We’re both naked from the shower, and the same desperation that I’m feeling surges through Lucas as well.
He moves between my legs, kissing me harder. Binx jumps off the bed and trots out of the room, giving me some privacy to make love to my vampire.
“And I love you,” Lucas growls, pressing his hard cock against me. I widen my legs, welcoming him farther between. The tip of his dick rubs against me, warming me and making my pussy wet. There’s no slow build today. No teasing, no holding back to make the anticipation build until the point where I think I’m going to explode.
Lucas pushes his cock inside me, and I wrap my legs around him, overcome with the need to be connected, the need to be joined as one. He pulls his lips off mine and moves his mouth to my neck, licking and sucking my skin in the same place Suzanna bit me mere hours ago.
I arch my back, crying out from the sensations he’s giving me as his big cock strokes my inner walls. He pushes in deeper, filling me completely, and bites down on my neck. He holds his fangs there, buried in my flesh, and starts to thrust in and out of me faster and faster.
The pain in my neck webs over my entire body, clashing with the pleasure. I break out in shivers, entire body twitching as I come so hard the sheets grow wet beneath us. Lucas releases my neck from his teeth and licks up my blood, burying his cock balls deep inside me as he finishes.
My heart is racing as he pulls out, wrapping himself around me. He puts two fingers to the bite in my neck, and it’s only then I realize he didn’t drink any of my blood. He only bit me and kept his teeth in my skin, needing to taste me but not wanting to take any more blood away from me. I’ve already lost enough tonight.
It had to have taken a huge amount of control for him to do that. I can only equate it to being starving and putting a piece of your favorite food in your mouth but not being able to chew or eat it. You’d just taste it, knowing you’ll have to spit it out.
“I love you,” I whisper once more, running my fingers up and down his back. “And as much as you think you don’t deserve me, know I feel the same about you.”
“Hey, sis,” I say, holding the phone against my ear with my shoulder. It’s early, and Lucas came home right before dawn. He’s upstairs sleeping, and I came down to get something to eat and call Abby from the house phone like I promised. “How was the rest of your shift?”
“Uneventful compared to your surprise visit. How are you?”
“Much better.”
“Really? I keep thinking about everything that happened, and I have to say I agree with Lucas in being grateful you’re okay but not sure how.”
“I’m not sure either,” I admit, brow furrowing. I open my mouth to ask Abby if she knows anything she hasn’t told me, if she ever overheard our father or Scott talking about how I’m not actually part of the fam
ily but stop. “But I am.”
“Are you at Lucas’s house?”
“Yeah. I’ll head back to Thorne Hill later, though. I have to work.”
“Everything is okay? Lucas said he…he…you-know-what to that vampire who attacked you. That’s illegal, even for vampires.”
“Yes, but also no. He has a right by Vampire Law to kill any vampires who bite me.”
“Oh…that’s, um, good he won’t get in trouble for it then.”
I open the fridge, not sure how much to go on with this part of the conversation. Abby is a rule follower. Getting pulled over for speeding—even if she didn’t get a ticket—would upset her for days. That’s how she’s always been, and I’m sure it has everything to do with our emotionally abusive father putting the fear of God into her as a child.
“Thanks again, Abby.” I pull out a carton of eggs.
“You’re welcome. For once I can say I was just doing my job,” she laughs. “If you get hurt again, which seems likely, don’t hesitate to ask for help.”
“I won’t. Take care.”
“You too.”
I set the phone down and make scrambled eggs, splitting it between myself and Binx.
“Did you look at the hagstone?” I ask him, shaking salt onto my eggs.
He looks up from his own plate. He did, and the warding is strong.
“You’ve been all over earth and beyond.” I set the salt down. “You’ve seen a lot. Witches, demons and so much in between. What am I?”
Binx shifts into shadow form and stands before me. “You are the one I serve. The only one worthy to serve. It matters not to me what you are, but who you are.”
“It matters to me.”
“Why? Why question what makes you rise above the rest?”
“You sound like Lucas.”
Binx’s red eyes glow. “You mean he sounds like me.”
I smile. “Right. You’re older than him. And I see your point, but not knowing who I am…it’s like part of me is missing.”
“There is great power inside you. Stronger than any I’ve felt before. It is what drew me to you. It is what saved you.” He shifts back into a cat and starts eating again, telling me I should do the same.
Dark of Night Page 21