Reign of Night (The Thorne Hill Series Book 7)

by Emily Goodwin

  Lucas pushes me back, slowly laying me down as he moves out from under me. My thigh is still bleeding, and he settles between my legs once more, slowly running his tongue over the two little bite wounds. The flesh around it is tender, and I’m sure I’ll have a bruise when we’re done. Despite what Lucas says, I’ve gained a little bit of weight, and the added softness to my thighs makes me bruise much easier than before, or it’s because as Elena grows, so does the amount of humanity inside me.

  Moving his mouth off the wounds, he presses his fingers over them, applying pressure until the wounds clot, which never takes lot for me. My heart is racing and I’m breathing fast, pussy still contracting every few seconds as ecstasy floats through my veins. A moment later, Lucas moves over me, holding himself up so he doesn’t press against my stomach.

  Seeing my blood streaked across his face is so fucking hot. I wipe a bead off his cheek and hold my finger out for him to lick. Groaning, he moves to the side, carefully taking me with him, and lays on his back. He’s still wearing my favorite gray sweatpants, and the tip of his monster cock sticks out the top.

  I inch them down, slowly freeing his cock, and then moves on top. He takes his pants off the rest of the way, discarding them dangerously close to the fire, but neither of us cares right now. I straddle him, and the fresh bites on my thigh hurt as it rubs against him. Wrapping my fingers around his thick shaft, I sink down onto him, moaning from how good it feels to have every inch of me filled by him.

  He grabs my waist, holding onto me as I fuck him, reaching around and cupping his balls with one of my hands. He bends a knee up, pushing me forward, and my breasts hover over his face as I ride him hard. I’m close to coming again, and he brings a hand up so he rubs against my clit as I rock my hips. I’m so fucking close, and I know he’s closer, waiting until I come again to let himself climax as well, and the second my pussy tightens around his dick, he grabs my hips and presses me down onto him, burying his cock deep inside as he comes.

  I hold myself there, feeling his cock pulse inside me, before we slowly untangle. Lucas lays me down and speeds out of the room, turning with a damp washcloth. He gently wipes up the smears of blood on my thigh, and then I take the washcloth from him, holding it between my legs as I go to the bathroom. I pee, wipe myself up, and then toss the rag in the laundry basket we need at the top of the landing that leads to the basement.

  Lucas is putting another log on the fire when I come back into the living room, and then we snuggle up naked on the couch under a blanket together.

  “You never did tell me how shopping was.” Lucas gathers my hair to the side and kisses my neck. I’m feeling a little light headed from the blood loss, even though he didn’t drink as much as usual. I close my eyes and rest my head against his bare chest.

  “It was nice. Evander didn’t find it too fun, though. He left and went to an electronic store while we looked at clothes and baby stuff. But it was nice. And dinner was nice, too, well, until Melinda called and said three more bodies were found by another Ley line in Florida. They had demonic sigils carved into their chests.”

  “Do you know what demon?”

  I nod. “Paimon. He’s an upper-level demon,” I add, knowing Lucas is going to ask. “So, it might not be demons doing the sacrificing but humans. Either way, it’s not good.”

  “The bodies were found today?”

  “Yeah. She said the ME marked time of death around dawn this morning.”

  “And the last set of bodies were found about a month ago.”

  “Right and—” I cut off, remembering how dark it was last night when I let Scarlet out. “Where’s your phone?”

  “Right here,” he says and reaches over, picking it up off the coffee table. He uses facial recognition to unlock it and hands it to me. I open an internet search and pull up a chart of the moon phases.

  “There was a new moon last night, and one the night the other bodies were found.”

  “What does that mean in terms of magical significance?”

  “A few things,” I say, looking at the date of the next new moon. “It can be literal in the sense that a dark sky is ideal for dark magic, but it’s also good for setting new intentions, and your spell can grow with the moon. In regards to demonic sacrifices…I’m not sure. Obviously, it has significance to them since two sets of victims were killing the same way, over a Ley line, and on a new moon.”

  Lucas runs his fingers up and down my arm, helping to keep me calm. “If the next sacrifice takes place on the next new moon, we have a month.”

  I nod. “It gives us a little bit of time, at least. I’ll let Tabatha know, and Nicole and Naomi. Their gran studied demonology. Maybe she’ll recognize if this ritual is some sort of summoning or something else.”

  “Good idea. There are other covens protecting Ley lines just like yours, correct?”

  “Right.”

  “They should be warned and on the lookout for demons. Is it possible to place wardings around the Ley lines?”

  “Maybe around a hotspot, but they’re too big. Though if we can get all the covens around said hotspots to cast a spell at the same time, we can probably tap into the Ley line’s collective power and cast something pretty damn powerful.” I hold out my hand and telekinetically bring my purse over so I can get my phone out. Evander was meeting with some friends at a bar in town tonight and will be able to receive my text to relay to Tabatha later, who’s back at the Covenstead. I fire off a text and put my phone done, not expecting a response until the morning.

  Lucas is right: we have a month, and a lot can happen in a month. A lot of good…and a lot of bad. I’m trying to stay positive, to think we’ll get to the bottom of this just in the nick of time like usual, but I have a sinking feeling that Paimon is already here, and he’s not alone.

  Chapter 28

  My phone rings, stirring me from my sleep.

  “I’ll get it,” Lucas tells me, and my eyes fall shut. It’s early in the morning—much too early to be awake yet. “It’s your sister.”

  I sit up, worried something happened because why else would she be calling me so early? Nerves prickle through me. What if my spell is weakening and she had a dream about getting shot? A lot has gone on, pushing that issue to the back burner, but the guilt is still there.

  “Hello?”

  “Hiiiii,” Penny says into the phone, little baby-voice melting my heart.

  “Hi, Penny! What are you doing up this early?”

  “Inks! Inks!”

  I look at Lucas and shrug. “Hey, Penny, where’s Mommy?”

  “Inks,” she says again, getting frustrated. There’s movement against the phone, and it sounds like she’s slapping the screen. “Inks!”

  “Penny, what are you—ugh, again?” Abby groans. “Oh, gosh, Callie, I’m so sorry.” Penny starts crying, upset Abby took the phone away. “I just got home after seventeen hours at the hospital and just want to sleep so I gave her my phone. I’m that mom now, and I don’t even care. Phil was suppose do to be here, but he had to rush in and take care of a patient who ripped out his foley right after surgery.”

  “I don’t know what that means, but I’m sorry. You sound exhausted.”

  “I am.”

  “Lucas and I are planning on going to Chicago tonight to buy a crib from some fancy-pants baby store Eliza insists we go to. Everything is handmade and way overpriced. I could come over beforehand and play with Penny so you could nap. I’ll consider it practice for when Elena gets here.”

  “Oh my god, that would be amazing. When? Now? I’m joking. But I’m not.”

  I laugh. “I can come if you want me to.”

  “No, it’s okay. Unless you can do that teleporting thing Julian does. Phil should hopefully be home in an hour so he can take this monster. Until then, I’m locking her in my bedroom with the TV on since she keeps calling people when I give her my phone. I should have let Phil get her a tablet for Christmas,” she grumbles to herself. “I think I’m going to order o
ne now, actually.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” I say, helping to ease her guilt. “And we’ll be town around sunset, but it’s no big deal to come an hour or so earlier and hang out with Penny if you want to nap.”

  “Pray I’m fine by the evening. We have—” She cuts off.

  “Abby? Still there?”

  “Yeah,” she says, and Penny starts fussing again. “We have plans tonight and have to leave around five-ish. I already have a babysitter for the night, though I’d feel safer with you watching her.”

  I do my best not to cringe, though I suppose it won’t matter since she can’t see me. I have powers and can keep us safe if someone tried to rob the house or something, but I also walk around with a target on my back twenty-four seven.

  “I’ll happily watch her another time. You guys going out on a date night or something?”

  “Or something. It’s…it’s Scott’s engagement party,” she rushes out, sounding relieved to have said it. “And I don’t want to go, trust me. It’s a pretentious party at the Metro Club that’s doubling as a political fundraiser. It’s the last place I want to go and—”

  “It’s okay,” I tell her. “Go and load up on free food or something.”

  “There’s an open bar.”

  “Oh, how I wish I could drink.”

  Abby laughs. “Thanks, Cal.”

  “Of course. Oh, hey, what was Penny saying? Inks?”

  “Oh, she means Binx. We’ve been working on trying to say his name. She loves that cat.”

  “She’s pretty close! I can totally hear it now. And I’ll bring him next time we come to Chicago and see her. He loves the attention.”

  “And she would love that.”

  Penny starts crying again, and Abby says a rushed goodbye, sounded worn out and frustrated.

  “That will be us someday soon,” Lucas says, and I smile, getting that weird, out-of-body experience again. Only days ago, we made the connection that the ritualistic killings both took place on a new moon, leaving us roughly three weeks to put a stop to it before another ritual takes place.

  Tabatha put the word out, and the day before the new moon cycle hits, witches of the coven surrounding the hotspots are casting the same protective spell at the same time. Something like this hasn’t been done in decades, and I’m not exactly sure what the story that was told the coven members was, if they were even informed at all. Each coven’s council and High Priest or Priestess will perform the spell. There’s no need to make everyone panic…and there’s no need to lay out cookie crumbs of dark magic for those who are looking to leave their covens in search of greater power.

  “It will,” I say, flopping back onto the bed and feeling Elena moving around. She stretches out her legs, and it almost hurts. Moving to my side, I shove a pillow behind me to try and get comfortable while preventing myself from rolling onto my back. I never really paid attention to how I slept before, and it surprised me how much I slept on either my back or my stomach. “The baby shower is next week. And then after that, I’ll be in the third trimester. Holy fuck.”

  Lucas chuckles and brushes my hair back so he can kiss my neck. He readjusts the covers and lays down with me, rubbing my back until I fall asleep again. I sleep for a solid three hours before Freya jumps on me, waking me from a bad dream.

  “Thanks, girl,” I tell her and run my hand over her head. She rubs against me and then meows, saying I can thank her by cooking some turkey with a little bit of butter and salt. “Give me a minute.”

  I get up and go straight to the bathroom, having to pee so bad it almost hurts, like I do almost every morning now. I showered last night and let my hair air dry like usual. For as little as I do with it, my hair is actually in great shape. I never apply heat to it since I use magic to style it, which definitely helps. I wash my face, put a few drops of my morning sickness potion in a glass, and fill it with water.

  Curling my hair with magic, I go into my closet and get out one of the new maternity dresses. It was really hard to find solid black maternity clothes in the store, and this slate blue wrap dress is so far from my usual style. I put the ties through the loops in the side of the dress and pull it around myself, tied a bow to the side and above my belly. I look at myself in the floor-length mirror and shake my head.

  “Who are you?” I whisper to myself and turn to the side, looking at my profile. I’ve popped seemingly overnight, and this dress highlights the bump even more. It’s still cold outside, and the last time I went into Novel Grounds, I kept my coat on, hiding the fact that I’m pregnant from two of our non-employees because I didn’t feel like explaining anything. Lucas is right that it’s none of their business, but I can’t really blame anyone for wondering how the fuck my vampire husband was able to get me pregnant.

  I take my laptop from the top of my dresser, intent on finding some darker-colored dresses to get me through the rest of this pregnancy. I pretty much live in black leggings and over-sized sweaters in the winter and dresses in the warmer months when pants are optional.

  Going down the rear stairs, I go straight to the kitchen and pull out the ground turkey to make breakfast for my familiars and Scarlet. I dish up their food and grab a muffin from the pantry, sitting at the island to online shop while I eat.

  “You look lovely,” Lucas says, coming up behind me. “I like that color on you.”

  “Thanks. I feel way too flashy in it, though.”

  “Is that why you like to wear black?” he asks, tipping his head. “So you don’t stand out?”

  “Maybe?” I say with a shrug. “I never really thought about it. I just like it. And it is good to wear when you’re sneaking around outside hunting demons at night.” I look at the dress. “It’s a pretty dress, and I do like the color, but I feel like everyone will stare at me in this thing.”

  “They’ll stare at you in anything,” he says seriously. “And when they see that you’re pregnant, they are going to hate me for being the one who knocked you up. You are mine, after all.”

  “Being pregnant is literally a walking advertisement that says we had sex!”

  Lucas smiles and kisses my forehead. “I’m going to get back to work.”

  “Okay,” I tell him and open my laptop. My landing page for the internet is a news site, and I usually go right to Google. I should change it so that’s my landing page, but I’m lazy and this works. I’m about to click off when an article catches my eye.

  “Oh fuck.”

  Chapter 29

  “Holy fuck,” I mutter again, not able to click over to the news outlet’s site fast enough. The article loads, and I click play on a video clip of a pretty news anchor standing along Navy Pier. The wind whips her hair around, and waves hit the pier, spraying cold water into the air.

  “I’m here, where witnesses say a man climbed from the water and onto the pier. As you can see, the water is choppy today with an undertow warning. If it was warm enough to swim, beaches would be closed.” The camera pans in on the water. “A lot of people don’t realize how dangerous Lake Michigan is. There’s a deadly undertow that has claimed the lives of even the strongest of swimmers.” I lean back, hand going to my face, and watch, unblinking.

  “You’ve got to see this,” I tell my familiars, who jump up on the counter and look at the computer. The news anchor starts interviewing someone who was there at the time.

  “He was sopping wet,” the woman says, and the shock is still there on her face. “And he had chains wrapped around him like…you know…” Her eyes get really wide. “He’d been dumped in the water.” She shakes her head and looks right at the camera. “I’m telling you, he wasn’t human.”

  The news anchor, who thinks this lady is off her rocker, goes to interview another witness.

  “He climbed right up the pier,” an adolescent boy tells her. “And he was mumbling something.”

  “Did you happen to hear what he said?”

  The boy nods. “Something about killing the half b
reed and bringing the body to him.”

  The clip ends by saying the man was nowhere to be found once police arrived, and if anyone has any information, please call the Chicago PD.

  I close my computer and look at my familiars. “Well, fuck.” Taking a final bite of my muffin, I take my computer into the office.

  “I think we need to go to Chicago earlier than planned,” I tell Lucas, who looks up from his own computer.

  “Why?”

  “Demons, of course. Watch this.” Opening my computer as I walk, I replay the news clip for him.

  “Half breed,” he sighs. “They’re talking about you.”

  “Yep. This is the first time I’ve made national news.”

  A few seconds tick by. “Fuck.”

  “Funny,” I say, letting out a breath. “That was my reaction, too.”

  Lucas looks from the news article to me and back down. “The demon is looking for you.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “And he wants to bring your body to him.”

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I ask, biting my bottom lip, heart skipping a beat. “We should find the demon and question him?”

  Lucas frowns. “No.”

  “You are thinking that.” I sit on his lap and drape one arm around his neck. “I don’t like it, either, Lucas, not one bit. I want to buy an overpriced crib tonight and pick out yellow bedding that doesn’t quite match the lavender paint in the nursery and is way too gender neutral, but it’s what I want.”

  “Yellow is a good choice.” Lucas rests a hand on my thigh. “What do think we should do, my love?”

  My heart swells in my chest, so fucking grateful to have a husband who not only will do anything to keep me safe, but respects me and what I think. “I think we should find this demon, catch it, and question it.”