“It is,” I start and then cut off.
“What?” Kristy asks.
“Who did I recently piss off?” I was so desperate to save Lucas before I didn’t see the writing on the wall.
“Ruth,” she says, lips parting. “Oh my god. It has to be her. She attacked us both and then tried to blackmail you into summoning the devil so she could get more power.”
“And it was because of me she lost her position in the Grand Coven.”
Lucas wraps an arm around me. “If it’s the witch, then let’s find her and kill her.”
“It won’t be that easy,” I rush out.
“Whoa.” Ruby holds up her hand again. “You’re really talking about killing a witch?”
“She didn’t hesitate in her attempt to kill you,” Lucas counters. “Or anyone in this house.”
“But killing? Callie,” Ruby says. “You wouldn’t, would you?”
Ruth almost killed Lucas, and then she put my sister and my precious niece at risk. A swift death seems too good for her. “Ideally,” I start, forcing my words to come out calm and level, “I’d turn her over to the Grand Coven for a trial again, but that didn’t seem to do too much good last time.”
Ruby puts her head in her hands. “I don’t know why I came over here.”
“You came here to accuse my husband of murder,” I remind her, and Kristy elbows me.
“Stop,” she whisper-yells. “Now isn’t the time for bickering. Whatever is out there is still out there. The Grand Coven isn’t going to do anything if Callie tries to report this either. She’s not a member of the coven anymore. So unless you want to come with me, report it, and demand an expedited investigation,” she says to Ruby, “my vote is on trying to handle this together.”
“I’ll humor you,” Ruby goes on, crossing her arms over her chest. “Ruth wants revenge. That I understand. She’s power-hungry, and you got her kicked off the highest council. Going after your loved ones is sadistic but makes sense. Summoning demons to go after you is batshit crazy, but again, it makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is you have a hellhound and why it’s glamoured to look like a puppy.”
Silence falls over the table again, and this time, it’s awkward as fuck. Part of me just wants to blurt the truth and get it all out there. And another part is desperately trying to come up with a lie, but everything falls short.
There’s no way in hell—hah—a hellhound would obey anyone who wasn’t demonic…unless Lucifer himself commanded it to do so.
Ruby scoots her chair back and starts to get up. “Look, I’m all for helping you come to some sort of solution, but not if you’re going to lie to me.”
Kristy’s eyes meet mine, and she gives me a little nod, letting me know there’s no going back now. Ruby has seen too much.
Dammit.
I push my hair back, take another drink of wine, and twist my wedding ring around my finger. “I was given the hellhound as a present. A wedding present.”
“From your vampire husband?”
“Even I wouldn’t go that far,” Lucas quips. “Though the thing is growing on me. And I would think you would know vampires have no dominion over creatures from Hell.”
“Yeah, I do know. Which begs the question of how a hellhound came into your possession,” Ruby presses, giving me her best stare-down. She’s scared and is working hard to keep her composure together. I really did underestimate her before.
I open my mouth only to snap it shut again. Every person who knows the truth puts me one step closer to being found out.
Maybe.
Or maybe not.
“My father isn’t Senator Martin,” I say, words cutting through the room like a knife. “I was switched at birth when Nancy Martin’s daughter was stillborn. My real mother was a witch who died during childbirth, and my father…my father is an angel.” I shake my head. “Which sounds crazy to me still, so I can only imagine how it sounds to you.”
Silence falls over the table, and Ruby stares at me for a good ten seconds, probably trying to decide if I’m full of shit or not. “Are you for real?”
“She is.” Kristy puts her hand on mine.
“And you’ve known all along?” Ruby’s brows hike up again. I never realized how expressive she is until now. I’ve never had a nice conversation with her until now either, though.
“No,” Kristy and I say at the same time.
“I didn’t find out until a few months ago,” I tell her. “I got poisoned with a demonic virus and almost died. My father ended up coming and saving me at the last possible second.” I look up. “Because suffering for days builds character, right?”
“You’re a Nephilim,” Ruby says after a moment of consideration. “No wonder you always scored higher than me on every test.” She stares me right in the eye, and then we both start laughing.