“Oh, wow, that’s…that’s really cool.”
“I think so, and she said everything looks good so far.”
Abby drapes the blanket over her lap. “Good. That makes me happy to hear. I can probably get you in for an ultrasound on Monday if you want to come in. I can’t promise you won’t end up waiting a while, but I looked at who else is on the schedule that day, and if things work out, which they always seem to for you, I should be able to have an ultrasound ordered. I work seven to seven, so come in right at sunset and text me when you’re on your way and I’ll get a room ready.”
“You are becoming such a rebel, sis.”
Abby laughs, shaking her head as she dismisses me. “Hardly, and I’m telling myself that my half-angel sister requires the rules to be stretched every now and then.”
“Right! I can put in a good word for you with the man upstairs. Okay, not really, but I can tell Julian to tell my dad to and maybe the message will be relayed?”
“I’m just glad I can help you.”
“Me too." I get another blanket from the settee on the other side of the room and wrap it around my shoulders.
“So, Eliza seems pretty excited to plan the shower,” Abby starts. “I wasn’t really expecting that. Then again, she did plan your wedding, didn’t she?”
“She did, and it’s almost sad I can’t tell more people about this historic moment. A vampire progeny is planning a baby shower for her kind-of stepmother slash sister who got knocked up by her vampire sire because he was cursed with humanity.”
Abby laughs. “Yes, that is definitely a first. She insisted on a day in March because it was significant?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s the anniversary of the first time I met Lucas.”
“Really? How did you meet?” She pulls her phone from her purse and checks to see if she has any missed calls or texts.
“I went into his bar and saw another vampire drinking from a human and—actually, the only reason I was in Chicago that night was because I wanted to drive by your house and see if I could handle going to Penny’s party. So, if it wasn’t for my lingering mental issues and you coming to Thorne Hill to invite me to the party, I wouldn’t have ended up at the Taproom on that particular night. It’s crazy how things work out.”
“Yeah, that is. So then what happened?”
“I got a little drunk, followed a vampire who was feeding off a spellbound human, and stopped him. Then Lucas made up some story about wanting to settle our debt and drove me home since I was, uh, too drunk to drive. He became obsessed with me after that. Right, babe?” I lean forward, looking into the kitchen at Lucas.
“I wanted you the moment I laid eyes on you,” he calls.
“Aww, how sweet,” Abby says. “It was love at first sight.”
“Eh, more like lust, very strong dislike, and probably even stronger interest,” I admit with a laugh.
“That is true,” Lucas says, coming out of the kitchen and pausing behind the couch. “I wanted to taste you as soon as I saw you.”
“And I kind of wanted to kill you as soon as I saw you.”
“Just kind of?” Abby laughs.
“He’s too pretty to kill.” I smile up at my husband. “I tried really hard not to fall for him.”
“I’m irresistible.” He leans over the couch and kisses me, slipping a hand down my shoulder onto my boob for a squeeze. “I’ll be in the office.”
“Okay.”
“You guys are cute together,” Abby says when Lucas leaves the living room.
“I’m glad you think so now.” I mentally cringe when that last word leaves my lips. Abby still deals with a lot of guilt over what happened when we were kids, and I didn’t mean to add more to it. She had a very hard time accepting the fact that I could be with a vampire. She was raised by William Martin, who instilled nothing but fear in her, and it’s actually pretty damn amazing she came out the way she did. I guess that whole nature versus nurture thing has some merit to it after all.
“I was scared,” she admits. “Though now I know you’re way scarier than vampires.”
We laugh, and I nod in agreement. “That is true. It was kind of hard to date before. Lucas was the first guy who was on a level playing field with me.”
“I never thought about it like that.”
“Even at Grim Gate, I was different. Accepted,” I add quickly. “But different.”
“I wish I could see the school. In my head it’s pretty cool.”
I smile. “It is, and if there were a way to take you, I would, but there’s a good chance you’d burn before you walked through the door. It’s warded to only let members of our Coven in, and if anyone else is coming for a visit, there’s a certain spell that needs to be performed so the door lets them through.”
“Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
She smiles. “I’m kind of jealous you have magic and I don’t.” She makes a face. “I feel silly saying that out loud, but I like not having any secrets between us.”
I force a smile. Yeah…no secrets…like how you almost died and Lucifer healed you, and then Easton and I cleaned up the crime scene, I spelled you to forget, and threw away your bloody clothes. “I can’t imagine not having magic.”
“I wouldn’t want to deal with demons, though. I still don’t know how you do it.”
“Most witches and warlocks don’t deal with demons. We do have the ability to curse you, though, so instead of a passive-aggressive Facebook post, we might send a hex your way instead.”
“There are a few people I’d like to hex,” she grumbles.
“I’m happy to do it for you, and the possibilities are endless.” My eyes might light up a little too much.
“Hah, if it comes to that, I’ll let you know. I’m one of the few moms at Penny’s daycare who works.”
“But you’re a doctor,” I reply, eyebrows going up. “Doesn’t that give you bragging rights?”
“In that mom-circle, being married to a doctor gives me bragging rights.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
She waves her hand in the air. “It’s fine. Gives me something to complain about every night over dinner.” Checking the time on her phone, she sighs. “I don’t want to go back out into the cold, but I should head to the store.”
“And we should head back to Thorne Hill. I miss my bed and cuddling with Binx while I nap sounds really nice.”
“Get all the sleep you can now. It’s annoying to be told how tired you’re going to be once you have your baby, but it’s so true.”
“I can only imagine, but I’m really hoping once I have less humanity inside me, I’ll go back to my old self who hardly needs sleep, can drink an entire bottle of wine before feeling it, doesn’t get sick, and can have Lucas bite me daily again.” I shake my head. “I can’t really say I took being a Nephilim for granted since it hasn’t been that long since I’ve known, but damn, being exhausted and nauseous isn’t fun.”
“No,” Abby laughs. “It’s not.” She stretches her arms out in front of her and gets up, going to use the bathroom before she leaves. I rest my head against the back of the couch, eyes falling shut. Abby’s phone rings, and I sit up to see who’s calling. I’ll answer if it’s Phil so I can have him hold the phone up for Penny to say hi.
But it’s not Phil, and Dad pops up on the screen. I make a move to silence the call but pick up the phone at the last second, feeling petty and impulsive yet again. I answer the call and put the phone to my ear.
“Hello, Dad.”
Chapter 15
“Just kidding. I know you’re not my real father,” I say with a snort of laughter.
“Callie,” he exhales. “What—where—put Abigail on the phone this instant.”
“Sorry, no can do. She’s busy participating in a dark ritual to sell her soul to my old pal Lucifer. She’ll be part of my coven in no time.”
“Give the phone to Abigail this instant,” he repeats. “Or I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Call the police and tell them your daughters are hanging out? That’s what everyone still thinks, right? That I’m a Martin? Go ahead. Tell them why you’re so worried Abby is here, hanging out with Callie the Healer, who’s spend the last decade devoting herself to charity. I’ll sound real dangerous.”
“If she’s with you, then she’s with a vampire!”
“A couple, actually.” I should stop, hang up, and not dig Abby into a hole, but I can’t help it. William and Scott already give her shit for hanging out with me. He’s going to call and rip her a new one, I’m sure, and I just hope Abby has enough sense to hang up on him and not give him the time of day. “Oh, it’s my turn to offer the blood sacrifice for the ritual to call forth our Dark Lord and Savior. I’ll have Abby call when she’s soulless and a sister witch. Tootles!” I end the call, snickering to myself, and put the phone back on the coffee table.
Folding the blankets, I put them over the back of the couch. I have some food left over from this morning, and my fruit salad sounds so good right now. There’s no way Lucas will let me eat sticky fruit in his expensive car, so I go into the kitchen to get it from the fridge.
“Callie?” Abby calls.
“In the kitchen! Hang on, I’ll walk you to the door.” I pop the lid off the bowl of fruit and grab a strawberry. “William called,” I tell Abby. “I told him you were busy and would call him back.”
Abby arches her eyebrows. “Sure you did.”
“That was the gist of it.”
“Mom—I mean Nancy—asks about you every once in a while. She has since she came to Thorne Hill with me.” Abby bites her lip as we walk toward the front door. “I think she feels bad.”
“Well, I’d hope so. I’m not her biological daughter, but she raised me for eight years thinking I was. What if you found out there was a freak accident and your baby was switched at birth and Penny wasn’t really yours? Would you throw her away the way Nancy threw me away?” I don’t mean to snap at Abby like this, but dammit, it’s an instant button pusher for me.
“Absolutely not. And I don’t—”
“It’s okay,” I interrupt. “Sorry I got all snappy. I’m not mad at you at all, and I’m trying hard not to be mad anymore. Nancy and William ran into us at dinner last night and popped off. I’m still irritated.”
“Oh, crap, I’m sorry. And they need to leave you alone. I’ve been telling them all that recently.”
“Thank you, Abby.”
“Of course, Cal.” She picks up her coat. “So, see you Monday?” She looks at my stomach and holds out her hand. “I really want to touch the bump but know it’s annoying to have people putting their hands on you.”
“You’re my sister. I’ll allow it.”
Smiling, she rests her hand on my stomach. “Okay. I’m getting my baby-fill. Take care, Callie.”
“You too.”
“I missed you, too,” I tell my familiars, dropping to the ground and holding out my hands. They meow and rub against me, happy I’m home mostly so they don’t have to deal with Scarlet anymore. “And no, I won’t leave you overnight with her again anytime soon. Maybe, though honestly, who knows?” I look up at my hellhound, who's impatiently waiting for me to greet her as well. “And yes, I’ll take you out to play.”
My coat is still on, and I open the backdoor, letting Scarlet bound out ahead of me. She brings me a tennis ball covered in frozen slobber. She drops it by my feet, and I telekinetically throw it far into the yard. I stay out for only a few minutes and then go in, ready for a warm shower and a nap.
Lucas is in the kitchen, phone to his ear as he looks at the screen of his computer. His brows are pushed together, and he’s slowly shaking his head at whatever he’s listening to.
“Is something wrong?” I ask him, taking my shoes off and leaving them by the door.
“One of our venders left a message at the bar,” he tells me, lowering his phone from his ear. “They’re supposed to call either myself or Eliza, not the bar.” He types something on the computer, and I go over, sitting at the island counter next to him. “They’re claiming to have a supply issue, which I know isn’t true.”
“Do you think those other vampires got to them?” I ask, having almost forgotten about the group of vampires against assimilation, who have targeted Lucas for quite some time now, trying to push his buttons and make him lash out against humans, wanting him to get caught attacking them for some reason. How that works into their plan, I don’t know, and I was really hoping we wouldn’t have to find out.
He opens the vender’s website. They supply Taproom with organic berries, and according to an update from just this morning, they received a large shipment from their farms on the West Coast. Their Instagram account is linked, and photos of the truck pulling into their Chicago-based warehouse were uploaded only hours ago.
“The bar is closed,” I muse, thinking out loud. “And they’re lying. Makes sense why they’d call the bar to avoid talking to you. But why? Making organic berry farmers not send you several crates of strawberries is annoying, but not really something I’d consider blackmail. Having someone stab you and hiring a hunter to go after me, I get. But this…this is stupid.”
“It is,” Lucas agrees. “Don’t worry about it, my love. I’ll handle it.”
“I know you will.” I get up to get a drink of water. “And speaking of handling things, I should tell Tabatha about the demon.” I grab a glass and take it to the sink. “But it’s so cold out and I don’t feel like walking to the door. Want to watch over my body while I astral project to the Covenstead?”
“Will you be naked? Because I will happily stare at your naked body.”
I roll my eyes. “No. I’d rather not appear naked in front of the entire coven.”
“Can’t you project clothes onto yourself?”
I tip my head, considering it. “I have no idea, actually. I always project the way I look physically. In theory, I suppose it could work.”
“I think it’s definitely something we should practice.”
“Maybe another time. For now, I need salt, candles, and my black tourmaline gemstone. And Binx.”
“I’ll light a fire in the living room. You get cold astral projecting.”
“Thanks, and I do.” I finish my water and meet Lucas in the living room, bringing in an armload of magical supplies. I make a pentagram on the floor with black salt and place white candles at the points of the stars and use magic to light them. I lie in the center and put the gemstone on my chest, which helps keeps me grounded. Binx settles on top of it, and I close my eyes, center myself, and whisper the incantation as I envision Tabatha’s office. The world swirls around me, and only a moment later, I’m there, standing right before her desk.
“Callie.” Tabatha looks up, eyes wide. “You startled me, my darling. Why are you projecting? Is something wrong?”
“Yes and no. I’m safe, don’t worry, but I did question—and then kill—a demon yesterday and wanted to let you know about it.”
“I thought you were taking a break from demon hunting.”
“Technically, I didn’t hunt this demon. Easton and Melinda did, and it started talking crap about me, which made them call me.”
“Talking crap?”
“The shortened version is basically I’d make a good gift, probably to sacrifice or something to the new demon boss who’s preparing to take over. The only details we got were that this new boss will let demons come to earth and stop hiding in the shadows so they can take souls as they please. I knew this was coming,” I start and feel a little shaky, which is an odd sensation since my body is miles from where I actually am. “I knew another demon would try and take over, yet it’s unnerving me more than I thought.”
“As it should.” Tabatha puts her pen down and gets up, going around to the front of her desk. “There’s a good chance this new boss is nothing to worry about, merely a lower-level demon trying to prove his worth and get more power. But there’s also a chance this
demon could be a real threat, even to you. Bael already found a way to possess you, and we don’t know if any other demons were privy to his methods.” She looks me over, fear in her brown eyes. “The possibilities for what the demons could do to you are endless. Possess you…force you into accepting some sort of dark marriage proposal, use you as a bargaining chip amongst other demons. Your father was right to tell you to be extra vigilant, Callie. We all are, and the Academy has a promising group of senior students wanting to pursue demonology. Frequent readings checking for changes in any sort of demonic energy would be good practice for them and extra sets of eyes for us.”
“That would give me a little more reassurance.”
“Be careful, but don’t fret. It’s not good for the baby.” Her face relaxes. “How are you feeling?”
“More annoyed than anything, but still a little nervous.”
“I meant physically.”
“Oh, right.” I look down at myself, wondering if my baby-bump projected with me. It did. “I’m still tired all the time, and those baby books that said your energy would return in the second trimester were full of lies.”
She laughs. “I don’t recall getting that energy burst, either.”
Binx meows, and it echoes in my ears. “Binx is calling me,” I tell Tabatha.
“Go,” she urges, and I pull myself back into my body. Blinking, I slowly sit up, careful not to knock into the candles. Lucas is still on the ground next to me, and Julian is standing near my feet.
“Hey,” I say and get up, brushing salt off the palms of my hands. “What’s going on?”
“I have something for you, from your father.”
“Is it another blank piece of paper?” I grumble and wave my hand over the candles, putting out their flames.
“No.” Julian holds out a small vial with pale blue liquid inside. “It’s a potion.”
“I can see that.” I take it from him and hold it up, watching whatever is inside glimmer in the light. I step over the salt and go to Lucas, who takes the potion from me and sniffs it.
Reign of Night (The Thorne Hill Series Book 7) Page 14