Heir of Night (The Thorne Hill)

“Not if we put the demon into a vampire.” Tabatha straightens her shoulders, still looking regal despite not getting much, if any, sleep last night. “It was Lucas’s idea after Ruby told him about her breakthrough with the binding spell, and he retrieved a vampire for us. We can bleed the vampire and make it weak, but it won’t die. The demon can be bound inside and kept safe at the Academy until we are able to send it to Hell for good.”

“Whoa. That…that’ll actually work.”

Tabatha smiles. “Just pray it will.”

“Pray to who?” I ask cattily. “Lucifer’s on vacation right now and he’s the only one who’s been answering any of my prayers.”

Tabatha purses her lips and shakes her head. “I have several witches and warlocks from our coven already preparing the spell, and the High Priest is coming from the Crescent Moon Coven to help.”

“You’re saying you don’t need me?”

“We have this covered,” she tells me.

“You know I don’t do well sitting on the sidelines. Besides, you know you’ll end up needing me.” I raise my eyebrows and give her an innocent smile. “And if Lucas is there, plus the whole freaking coven, I won’t exert myself.”

“It’s not just exerting yourself, but exposing yourself.”

“That only happens when I drink. I promise to keep my pants on.”

Tabatha shakes her head again. “I’m not only suggesting you sit on the sidelines because you’re pregnant and could get hurt. I am worried, Callie, about what will happen if the archangels get definitive proof a Nephilim is on earth. We know what they’ll do to you, but we don’t know what they’ll do to your father.”

She takes my hands. “I’m sure you’ve thought about it before on a personal level. But cosmically? A war between such powerful beings could actually be the end.”

I swallow hard, making a mental note to add yet another thing to my oh shit list. “You’re right, and I know I’m still fighting through resentment and abandonment issues, but my dad has sacrificed and risked everything to keep me alive.”

“He has, and you’ll understand more once you hold your baby in your arms. There is nothing we won’t do for our children. You cross lines you never thought you’d cross.” She lets go of one of my hands and picks something up from the table next to us. “Just like I am now.”

“What?” I ask right as Tabatha blows a powder into my face.

“Somnum, my darling girl.”

I can’t react fast enough, and the spell takes effect immediately, making everything around me go black.

My eyes fly open and I sit up, sucking in a breath. I’m in my bed, and Binx is next to me. “How did I get up here?” I ask out loud.

“I carried you,” Eliza says. She’s leaning against the closed bedroom doors, looking like a fairy princess again in a pastel-blue dress with her blonde hair hanging in perfect waves around her face. A fairy princess I’d very much like to punch right now. “Like a baby. I can’t say you sleep like one. You talk in your sleep.”

“I don’t.” I blink a few times, fighting off the rest of the sleep spell. “I was trying to say a counter-spell, but those damn herbs were paralyzing. I couldn’t talk.”

“That was the point.”

I stretch my arms out in front of me and wiggle my fingers. “This is bullshit.”

“Is it?” Eliza crosses her arms across her chest and doesn’t move away from the door. Physically, she’s much stronger than me but is no match if I use magic. “We all know you would have gotten involved, just like when the protection spell was cast on the Ley lines.”

“Yeah, and it’s a good thing I did get involved. They needed me, and they might need me now.”

“Don’t even try,” she says when I get out of bed. “Tabatha put a barrier spell on the house. You can’t leave.”

“I can break a barrier spell with ease.”

“She was aware, which is why she linked it to every bottle of wine in the cellar. If you try to break the spell, all the bottles will break right along with it. All that wine will be wasted.”

“Hilarious,” I deadpan, giving Eliza a blank stare. “Just…just step aside so I don’t have to telekinetically shove you away.” My feet are tingly, as if they’d fallen asleep. I wiggle my toes to get the feeling back. The spell hasn’t quite worn off yet, but I know how to completely counter it. I just need to get downstairs and mix up a quick potion. I get up and wobble.

“Callie,” she says sternly. “You’re not steady on your feet. Sit before you fall—again.”

Needing to stick it to her just a little, I hobble to the end of the bed and sit on the bench. Binx comes over, rubbing his head on my arm.