Dark of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  Once I’ve finished my food and cleaned up the dishes, I go back upstairs. Lucas is sitting up, looking down at his phone. The glowing screen illuminates his handsome face, and I get a feeling that can only be described as butterflies.

  “Your Jeep was found.” He looks up from the phone. “Along with your purse.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, and it seems everything is intact. The police were notified, but luckily an officer at that precinct owes me a favor. Everything will be returned to you this morning.”

  “That’s a relief. On top of everything, I really didn’t want to get a new car and a new phone.” I crawl back into bed.

  “Are you still tired?”

  “A little. Want to nap with me for a bit?”

  “Just a bit?”

  “I have to work this afternoon,” I remind him.

  Lucas frowns. “I know you enjoy working at Novel Grounds, but don’t you find it difficult to hold a human job when you’re, well, you?”

  “I am human.”

  “You know what I mean, Callie.”

  “I do,” I sigh. “And yeah, it’s hard, and I’m tired, and things have escalated since one of Hell’s top dogs was sent to burn me alive. But we have a schedule, and I can’t keep making other people fill in for me. It’s not fair to them. Maybe I should drop my hours, but I need to give Kristy and the others more than half a day’s notice. We’ll have to hire someone else to take my spot. Actually…I should call Kristy and check in.”

  “It’s six AM.”

  “Right.” I let out a breath. “I’m a little shaken still.” I close my eyes, trying to quiet the constant noise in my head. “Do you think the VC knows about me?”

  “No. If they did, they’d have come already. And the VC wants witches to be killed, not brought in for a bounty.”

  I flatten my hand over his chest. “What do you think they want with me?”

  “I’ll find out. Dina will crack. And if she doesn’t on her own, I’ll be the one doing the cracking.”

  The same sense of anxiety that hit me last night comes back. Something is going on with the Ley line. My asshole brother and father are determined to make mainstream life hell for vampires. Someone is threatening the people Lucas works with. And now vampire bounty hunters are after me.

  “Were you able to talk to that vender?” I force myself to take a slow breath.

  “Yes, and he was held spellbound and has no memory of who actually threatened him.”

  “Well, that makes this all the more fun.”

  “Yes, and it means the vampire behind this is old.”

  “And the fun keeps coming.”

  He pulls me closer and rests his head against mine. He’d only just fallen asleep when I got up for breakfast, and I have a feeling he’s going to skip drinking my blood the rest of today since I lost so much yesterday. He needs more sleep to make up for the lack of feeding.

  “Once things are settled, we should go on vacation,” Lucas says.

  “Where would we go?”

  “Wherever you want.”

  I smile, thinking of warm sandy beaches, dozing off under the sun with a drink in my hand. But Lucas can’t be there with me. Not in the sun at least.

  “I’ve never been to Las Vegas.”

  “I haven’t been there since the 80s.”

  “1980s?”

  “Yes,” he chuckles. “We’ll go and get a suite in the nicest hotel. Get massages and order food. I’m not actually too sure what humans do in Vegas.”

  “Gamble, go to shows, dance at clubs, and drink a copious amount of alcohol.”

  “Sounds like a good time.”

  “It will be.” I pull the blankets up over me, getting a little chilled from being against Lucas’s cool skin. He turned the heated blanket on but was uncovered when I came back upstairs. “What are you going to do about the whiskey vender?”

  “I was able to persuade him to do business with us again.”

  “But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Can I help?” I ask.

  He runs his fingers up and down my arm. “At this point, my love, it’s best you stay away from other vampires. I know you can handle yourself, but the less attention drawn, the better.”

  I hate that he’s right. It’s dangerous from all sides, and if the Grand Coven found out I was helping a vampire, I’d be burned at the stake.

  “You should get some more sleep before you have to leave,” Lucas whispers.

  “I’ll try.”

  We snuggle together, and Lucas rubs my back until I fall asleep again. Two hours later, the doorbell rings, waking us both. Lucas grabs his phone and logs onto his security system app.

  “It’s Monica.” He shows me the phone. “She has your Jeep.”

  “I’ll go down.” I move out of bed and get dressed, and then hurry down to the front door.

  “Hey,” I say when I open the door. My Jeep is parked on the street a few houses down. “It’s so good to look at her again.”

  Monica laughs. “I’m sure.”

  “Thank you for bringing it over,” I say, stepping aside to let her in. She doesn’t move off the porch but curiously looks past me. “I’m going to make some coffee. Want any?”

  “Is Lucas home?”

  “Yeah, he’s upstairs.”

  She wrinkles her nose. “Then I better stay outside. He’s never invited me in before.”

  “Oh, uh okay. Thanks for bringing everything by again.”

  “No problem. I’m glad you got everything back after, well, whatever happened.”

  “Me too.”

  She sidesteps away from the door. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure too.”

  I close the door and immediately dig through my purse, making sure everything is there. It is. There might be a lot of bad in the world, but there are good people too, like the woman who found my purse on the ground near my car and turned everything in.

  Binx comes down the stairs, purring as he rubs against my legs. I’m putting everything back in order in my purse when a thought hits me, so jarring my phone slips from my fingers.

  I turn to Binx, eyes wide. “Monica knows I’m a witch…and she has a vampire boyfriend.”

  Chapter 23

  My purse falls from my lap as I get up, sprinting back up the stairs.

  “Lucas,” I call, using magic to throw open the master bedroom doors. “Monica knows I’m a witch.”

  Lucas gets out of bed and speeds over, putting his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes. “She does.” His face tenses, and he speeds away again, getting his phone. He calls Eliza, but she doesn’t answer. Ending the call, he throws his phone down on the bed and draws his fangs.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Dominic is at the bar with Eliza and the prisoners.”

  Dominic is Monica’s boyfriend, and if he had anything to do with this…shit. “Do you trust him?”

  “No,” Lucas says with no hesitation. “I trust Eliza and you. That’s it.”

  I swallow hard. “I’m going to the bar.”

  “It’s too dangerous.”

  “I won’t be alone.” I motion to Binx. “And I won’t let my guard down this time. If Dominic is the one who put the bounty on my head, we need to know.”

  Lucas curls his fingers into fists, and he turns, seething with anger. “Eliza is there with them.”

  Them?

  Oh, fuck. Dominic could be working with Dina. Instead of letting her rot in the cell in the basement, he could be bringing her blood to speed up her healing. And then what? Would they attack her? Kill her? Try and use her as leverage?

  “Can you sense Eliza?” I ask Lucas.

  “I know she’s not dead, but that’s the extent of being able to sense her.” He picks up his phone and calls her again. She doesn’t answer, and I hope and pray she’s sound asleep and hasn’t even heard the phone ringing.

&n
bsp; “We should go.”

  Lucas grabs my wrist. “You could be walking into a trap.”

  Binx meows and paws at my leg. “Good idea,” I tell him and then look back at Lucas. “You’re right. It could be a trap, but I don’t have to walk in to see if it is.”

  His eyes narrow ever so slightly. “You can astral project.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Don’t you need certain items for it?”

  “Ideally, salt and candles. The gemstone is for grounding and for keeping spirits away from my body. But with you and Binx watching over me, a quick trip to make sure everything is okay at the bar shouldn’t be an issue.”

  “I don’t have salt. Or candles.”

  “I do, in my Jeep. I keep an emergency witch-kit in the back at all times. It has candles, salt, and sage.” I’ll be right back. I grab my keys and run outside, forgetting my shoes and having to go back for them. Then I set up in the living room, lying down in the circle of salt and saying the incantation to take me to the bar. Binx lies on my chest, keeping me safe from any spirits in the area. Lucas’s house isn’t warded like mine is.

  The world spins and everything echoes in my ears as I shift through the astral plane. When I open my eyes again, I’m at the bar, standing in the dark. Right. This place is light-tight during the day and vampires have night vision. I’ve never been able to use my powers while astral projecting before, but for some reason, today I decide to give it a try.

  I hold out my hand in front of me, feeling the power swell in my chest just like before. A ball of blue light glows in my hand, lighting up the room.

  “Eliza?” I quietly call. “Are you here?”

  She doesn’t answer. I’m standing near the door, and toss the ball of energy up, lighting up the rest of the bar. Everything is neat and tidy as it should be. There are no obvious signs of a fight, but I suppose any blood spilled would be in the basement of the bar.

  Out of habit, I walk around a table. In astral form I can just go through anything, and it’s actually kinda fun to walk through walls. Envisioning myself at the stairwell that leads to the basement, I appear there, taking the ball of light with me.

  “Cool,” I say to myself, looking up at the glowing magical energy. It bobs along overhead as I go down the cement steps. “Eliza?”

  Something scuffles over the ground, echoing through the empty basement. I was drunk the last time I was down here and didn’t exactly take the time to look around. The stairs empty into a large room that’s used mostly for storage. At the opposite side is a single door, deadbolted and padlocked shut.

  “Bingo.”

  I set my eyes on it and walk right through, emerging into a narrow hall. The blue light glows above me, reflecting off the metal bars of an old-fashioned jail cell. Something glows from within, and I have to move a few steps closer before I realize it’s a UV heat lamp, much like one you’d put in a reptile cage.

  “Dina,” I say, seeing her outline huddled against the back of the cell, shielding her face from the UV light. She looks up and the skin on her cheeks chars.

  “You,” she hisses. Her fangs haven’t grown back, and her wounds aren’t healing, thanks to the light.

  “Yeah. Me.” I step closer to the bars. “I’m not going to do the whole speech thing. You know you’re in for a world of hurt. So save yourself the pain and tell me who put the bounty on my head.”

  “I won’t tell you anything.”

  Negotiating with crazy vampires isn’t really my thing, but I know enough not to waste my time. She’s only been in here for a few hours. It’ll take days, weeks even, to make her break down.

  “You were a witch once.” I move closer, more curious about her being a witch in her past than anything else. “What happened?”

  “I ascended to something better.”

  “Better? You lost your powers.”

  She risks another glance at me. “Not all witches have powers like you. But you’re not really a witch, are you?”

  “You know what?” I walk right through the bars, making Dina startle. “I’m not sure. I thought so, but thanks to your warding and the hagstone, I’m starting to realize I’m a lot more powerful than most witches.” I let out a sigh. “So between me and Lucas, you know shit’s just getting started. Tell us what we want to know.”

  “And what? You’ll spare me?”

  “No. But I’ll make your death as quick and painless as possible.”

  Something thumps upstairs, and I close my eyes, concentrating on the source of the sound. I’m projected outside of Lucas’s office, and the door is closed. The thumping is coming from the office, and then something crashes to the ground. I can’t be physically harmed in my astral state, and that means I can’t fight back either. If something is attacking Eliza, there’s not much else I can do other than hope my surprise entrance is enough of a distraction that she can get away.

  Unless…I look down at my hand and conjure a string of blue magic. Weaving it between my fingers, I step through the office door. Eliza is in here all right, along with Dominic. And I suppose I could say he’s attacking her, just not in the way I imagined.

  Because I never imagined this.

  Chapter 24

  “Oh my God.” I squeeze my eyes shut and spin around, stepping back through the door. I’m never going to unsee Eliza bent over the desk while a dark-haired vampire plows into her. I’m so stunned I just stand there in the hall, not able to concentrate enough to pull myself back into my body.

  The office door flies open, and Eliza stands in the threshold, zipping up her dress and glaring at me.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Funny you should ask,” I say with a nervous laugh. “I came to check on you. But you seem to be doing just fine.”

  “She really is a witch.” The other vampire, who I assume to be Dominic, pulls up his pants. “I didn’t think Monica knew what she was talking about.” He steps forward and waves his hand through me.

  “Hey.” I jerk back. “Don’t do that. That’s…weird.”

  Dominic tips his head, staring at me. “I’ll be damned. I’ve never seen this before.”

  “What do you mean you came to check on me?” Eliza puts her hands on her hips and flashes her fangs.

  “Lucas called and you didn’t answer, and we thought maybe…actually, can I talk to you in private?”

  “No. Now get the fuck out.” She walks over. “And be glad you’re not really here or I’d throw you out myself.”

  “Everything is okay, though?”

  “Go!”

  “Okay.” I force a smile and push myself back into my body. My eyes fly open and Binx stands, making sure I’m all the way back before he jumps off.

  “She’s fine,” I tell Lucas as I slowly sit up.

  “Why didn’t she answer her phone?” Lucas takes my hand and helps me to my feet.

  “She was a little, uh, indisposed.”

  “How so?”

  I make a face, feeling awkward, like I’m ratting out Eliza to her father. “She was distracted with a vampire who has to be Dominic. I’ve never seen him before, but this vampire had dark hair and some sort of tribal tattoo on his chest, which I saw because neither of them had many clothes on.”

  Lucas growls. “You need to go back there and tell him to keep his fucking hands off—”

  “Lucas,” I interrupt. “She’s an adult. And I don’t want to go back and risk seeing what I saw again.” I shake myself. “And this might not mean much, but Dom seemed surprised to see me. He said he didn’t think Monica knew what she was talking about.”

  Ignoring me, Lucas calls Eliza again. This time, she answers, and they have a heated conversation in French, talking too fast to make out a single word, though it’s not like I speak anything but English anyway.

  “Is she grounded?” I ask when he lowers his phone from his ear.

  “Funny.” He rolls his neck. “It doesn’t seem that Dom knew you were a witch, or at least a real one at that.”


  “That’s good, I guess.” I rub my forehead. “But really, it’s not.” My eyes meet Lucas’s. “Dom made sense because Monica—wait a minute. Dom is dating Monica but is sleeping with Eliza? Oh my God, she’s the other woman!”

  “Vampires aren’t typically monogamous.”

  “You are.”

  “You’re different. And Monica’s relationship doesn’t concern me. Have any other vampires seen you use your powers?”

  “The first time we met…that vampire Adam.”

  “He’s dead.”

  “Oh. Well, that solves that issue. There’s that other vampire who attacked you at my house. The one we kept in my shed for the day.”

  “He’s dead too.”

  “You’ve hardly left my side since we met. How have you been committing so much murder?”

  “Impressed?” He raises his eyebrows.

  “I feel like it’s wrong for me to say yes.” I shake my head, and my heart starts to race as anxiety creeps over me, prickling my skin.

  “What’s wrong?” Lucas’s hands land on my shoulders. “Your heart started racing.”

  “It’s just a lot.” I bring my hand to my chest and take a breath, trying to get rid of the anxiety that’s wrapping around me like a scratchy blanket before it pulls me under dark water. “Everything that happened with Scott and my dad, and I know they’re not done making my life or yours hell. They’ll be back at it, and it’s only a matter of time before they go after me again. The Grand Coven thinks I’m in cahoots with the Devil. Vampires want to kill me. I have no idea who I really am. And something is going on with the Ley line. It’s so much.”

  “Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together.” He presses his lips to my forehead. “And as far as who you are…you are the most amazing, beautiful human being in this world.”

  “What if I’m not human?”

  “I don’t care if you’re an alien from Mars, Callie. I love you.”

  I close my eyes and shake my head. I’m usually good at staying positive, but right now the stress of everything feels overwhelming.

  “I love you too.” I step forward and wrap my arms around him. “I should call Kristy now and make sure things are okay at home.”