Fuck, I hate this.
“Want to go upstairs?” Lucas asks, wincing as he gets up.
“As much as I’d love to have sex, I don’t think we should risk tearing your stitches.”
Lucas wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head. “I was actually going to suggest watching all the Star Wars movies together.”
“All of them?” I pull back and look at him incredulously. “Aren’t there like six?”
“There are more.”
“Which one has that Jar Jar Binks?” I smile. “I like him because of his name, of course, and he’s funny.”
Lucas’s face goes blank. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
I shake my head. “No, why? What’s wrong with Jar Jar Binks?”
“What’s wrong with Jar Jar Binks?” Lucas echoes, looking at me in horror. “How are we married again?”
Laughing, I take his hand. “I cast a spell on you.”
“I knew it.” He slides his hands down my body. “But for real, watch Star Wars with me?”
I take his hand. “Make me a super fan.”“Callie, wake up.” Lucas’s large hand lands on my shoulder. “Your friends are here.”
I sit up, blinking, and stretch my arms out in front of me. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“You needed it.”
Lucas and I are both in bed, tucked under the covers. I didn’t realize how tired I was until I laid down next to him.
“Yeah, I guess I did.” Slowly, I pull my feet out from under the covers, earning a growl from Freya for disturbing her, and pad down the stairs. I open the front door moments before Kristy and Tabatha step onto the porch. Evander is right behind them.
“I got here as fast as I could.” Tabatha opens her arms and folds me into an embrace. “How are you, my darling?”
“I’ve been better.” I step back and let everyone in. “Where are Nicole and Naomi?”
“Albert invited them and their gran out for dinner. They went to keep up the ruse that everything is normal here.” Tabatha takes off her robe and folds it over her arm. She’s wearing a long black dress with crimson-red stars and moons stitched along the hem.
I always loved the way Tabatha dressed when she was at the Academy or when she was leading a gathering. She looks so elegant with a hint of gothic, and I remember wanting to look just like her when I grew up.
“Evander relayed what you told him, but tell me everything from the start,” she says. Nodding, I take a step to go upstairs, but Lucas gets to the top of the landing first and comes down.
“Hey,” Kristy says, scanning him. “How are you holding up?”
Lucas makes a face, again uncomfortable with people gushing over him. “I’m fine.”
“He keeps saying that.” I shake my head. “Come into the living room.” Eliza is still in there, sitting on the edge of the couch, listening to us all talk.
“Cursing a vampire is a tricky thing.” Tabatha rests her robe over the back of the couch and motions for Lucas to have a seat. Evander sets a large book and a leather bag of magical supplies on the coffee table. Eliza must have cleaned the room up after I astral projected, and I make a mental note to thank her later. “Especially one your age.”
She takes a crystal out of the bag. “Lie back.”
With a sigh, Lucas stretches his tall form out on the couch, looking at me and silently pleading for this to stop because it’s unnecessary and stupid.
I wish it were, and any other day, his confidence would be a turn-on.
“Now tell me everything.”
Perching on the arm of the couch, I let my eyes fall shut and think back. “We went to Lucas’s bar in Chicago because—” Pandora jumps onto the back of the couch and meows, reminding me of something. “You’re right.”
I open my eyes and look down at Lucas. “The night you were stabbed, you woke up, remember?”
He raises one eyebrow. “Do I remember waking up? I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Of course. I mean in the middle of the night. You woke up because you dreamed about witches in the woods having some sort of ritual.”
“And then you saw necromancers in the woods casting a curse,” Lucas goes on.
My heart skips a beat. “Do you think it was the same ones?”
“The chances of you both having some sort of random vision is unlikely.” Tabatha holds the crystal above Lucas and slowly drags it down, reading his energy. “Curses leave scars, and witches with advanced powers are able to detect when they’ve been cursed. I suppose a vampire with advanced age and powers could as well. What do you remember about the visions?”
“Mine is hazy. I couldn’t even make out what was being said.” I bite the inside of my cheek and watch Lucas as he thinks back.
“It was dark and the woods. There wasn’t anything identifiable. It was the correct season, and I remember the moon. What phase is it right now?”