“It’s kind of fun to think about,” Kristy says. “And Kristy is a great name for a girl.”
“And Evander if you have a boy,” Evander quips with a smile.
“Eliza already put in a request for us to use her name.”
“I’m the closest this kid will have to a sibling,” she says, batting her big, blue eyes at me. “Unless you plan on cursing my maker again so he can knock you up a second time.”
“That’s not a terrible idea,” Lucas says, keeping a straight face.
“Oh yeah.” I roll my eyes. “You almost died and I had to murder a poor innocent deer in order to transfer the curse. One kid is more than we thought we’d have. I’m good with that.”
Lucas grins, making me excited for bedtime to roll around and have everyone leave so Lucas and I can be alone.
“I didn’t get to throw the killer bachelorette party I had planned,” Kristy starts. “So you better believe your baby shower is going to be insane.”
“Baby shower?” Julian questions. “You’re going to wash her baby?”
“It’s a party,” I explain. “You buy stuff for the baby. You play lame games and have food and cake, usually.” I look at Abby in question. “I think you have them more towards the end of the pregnancy, right?”
“Right. I had mine at seven and a half months,” Abby says. “Do you want to find out what you’re having?”
“Yes,” Lucas and I say together. “Though I don’t know how I will,” I go on. “I can’t really go to a doctor and get blood work or an ultrasound.”
“Oh, right.” Abby bites her lip. “I might be able to help with that. We do the occasional ultrasound in the ER. When you’re around fifteen weeks, I can get you in during my shift and have one ordered for you. And if things aren’t, uh, quite normal…” She flicks her eyes to Lucas. “You can handle it, right?”
“I can,” he assures her, and I smile, so thankful for my sister right now.
“You’ll be in your new house by the summer?” Nicole asks.
“Yeah, we will,” I answer. “We technically could move in now. It’s done enough to live there, but there’s still a lot of construction going on.”
“It’s best to wait until the dust settles,” Lucas say. “Literally. You don’t need to be breathing that in.”
“I’ll be fine,” I press. “I’m not fragile, guys.” I look around the table. “Please don’t treat me any different than before. Remember, I’m not human, so I can handle like a lot more than you all.”
“Humble as always,” Eliza huffs as she looks at her nails, appearing totally bored with this whole dinner.
“It is annoying being treated like you’re weak just because you’re pregnant,” Abby agrees. “Though I’ll fully admit I liked the special attention.”
“Oh, I like attention. Give me all the attention you want, and in fact, if someone wants to bring me some cake, I would not object.”
“If you want cake, I will get you some.” Lucas kisses the top of my head and gets up, going into the kitchen. Binx jumps up in my lap, purring, and I feed him a piece of chicken from my fork. Before he takes it, he jerks his head up and growls.
“I feel it, too,” Julian says, getting to his feet. His eye glow blue as he looks around the room.
“What is—” Evander starts but is interrupted by Sister Selena’s astral projection appearing in the hallway next to the dining room.
“High Priestess,” she pants. Her projection shimmers, and she looks up, relief washing over her face. “It worked.”
“What is the meaning of this?” Tabatha rises from her chair.
“The coven is under attack,” Selena rushes out. “I had to find you. To warn you. We need help. She’s…she’s trying to break through.” Selena turns around, able to sense something back wherever her body is.
“Who?” Tabatha asks, brown eyes wide with fear. “Who is attacking the coven?”
Selena opens her mouth to tell us, but no sound comes out. Her projection jerks, and suddenly a dagger is plunged through her from the back, with the blade piercing out through her skin. Kristy screams, and I watch in horror as Selena’s light gray robe becomes soaked in blood.
Lucas speeds back into the room just in time to see Selena’s image fade from view. She never told us who was attacking the coven, but it doesn’t matter. I already know.
Ruth.Chapter 41“We must go at once.” Tabatha whirls around, moving away from the table.
“Mother, wait.” Evander grabs her wrist. “We don’t know what we’re going into.”
“Then I’m going to find out.” Tabatha pulls her hand out of Evander’s grasp and hurries into the living room. She lies on the couch, crosses her arms over her chest, and starts chanting.
“What is going on?” Abby asks, looking terrified. “Who was that and what the hell happened?”