“The Martins.”
“Yep. And she had heard talk of some vampire also being on their side, probably as a way to manipulate that ass to pushing more anti-vampire laws.”
“To piss us off and make us retaliate,” Lucas finishes. “Fuck.”
“Right?” I rest my head against his chest. I want to go upstairs and snuggle in bed with him, taking solace in his embrace. “Hunters in The Order are hardcore,” I go on as the thought enters my mind. “They hate anything supernatural, and so does William Martin.”
Lucas meets my eyes and finishes what I don’t want to say. “The Order knows about witches, as do the Martins. Together, they could expose you all.”Chapter 29“Ugh, it’s so cold in here.” I wave my hand over the door, sealing it with magic. We’re back in Thorne Hill and I just took off my coat only to want to put it back on again. “I had to have the heater fixed last winter and the guy told me it might not make it another year.”
“The heater is working just fine.” Lucas takes his shoes off. “I turned the heat down.”
“To what, arctic?” I take my phone from my purse and hang my jacket on the back of a kitchen chair.
“Sixty-five.”
“That’s freezing! I’m turning it back to seventy. I’m too cold.”
Lucas cocks an eyebrow. “Can’t you put on a sweater?”
“I don’t want to wear a sweater inside the house. Which is why I keep it at seventy. It’s warm enough to be comfortable.”
“It’s a waste to run the heat that high. You have a fireplace.”
“In the living room.” I put a hand on my hip and look at Lucas, amused. “I think I finally found something you’re cheap about.”
“I am not cheap,” Lucas counters.
“Usually not,” I say. “You were the one suggesting I trade my Jeep in for a BMW instead of just fixing the headlight, which would cost so much more than just getting the headlight fixed.”
“See, not cheap.”
“Then let me keep the temperature set to what I like. You don’t even get cold like I do.”
“Fine,” he grumps, and I laugh. It’s such a normal thing to disagree over, and I secretly love it. Only because I know I’ll get my way in the end.
“Now, in the new house,” I start. “I might be willing to use the fireplaces more. There’s one in nearly every room. This house only has one and the living room gets unbearably hot without heating the rest of the house.”
“Speaking of the living room fireplace, we never did get to spend the night in front of it. Would you like to try again tonight?”
“Heck yes!” I say, and Lucas goes upstairs to bring the mattress down. I forgot my leftovers from lunch in the car and put my jacket back on to go out and get them. We’re going to have a covered walkway from the estate to the garage area, and it’ll be the first time in my adult life that I’ll have an indoor spot to park my Jeep.
I bring Scarlet with me and she races through the yard, bringing me a slobbery tennis ball. I throw it for her, using magic to send it all the way to the woods. I unlock the car and get my food, looking forward to going back in and heating this up.
Scarlet barks, and I spin around, slamming the car door shut.
“Seriously, Julian,” I huff. “You need to stop doing that.” I let out a breath and Scarlet bounds over, jumping in place, tail wagging so hard her whole body shakes.
“You changed her glamour?”
“No, Lucifer did it while we were in Florida. Eliza said she woke up like this, quite literally.”
“Interesting choice, though more fitting for her.”
“Lucas said the same thing,” I tell Julian and pat my leg to get Scarlet to follow us into the house. “Is everything okay in angel land?”
“Everyone is on high alert looking for Lucifer, and the demons continue to grow more and more restless with no one to keep them in line.”
“The ones in Hell, you mean?”
“Yes. And without Lucifer to manage them, they are able to come and go through the gates of Hell much easier than before.”
“Well, that’s lovely…and something Lucifer left out.” Using magic, I open the front door. Lucas has the mattress in the living room and is getting the fire started.
“Julian,” he says, giving him a nod. “Everything good?”
“Yes, I suppose I do show up mostly to bring bad news.”
“Do you have any?” Lucas asks and strikes a match, lighting a small piece of wood on fire. He has the wood neatly stacked in the fireplace and gets a good blaze going. I’ve never been able to get a fire going “the old-fashioned way” like that. I’ve tried and failed so many times I have no idea how things accidentally burn down. Luckily, I have powers and can get a fire going with one simple spell.