“Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you come in.” I put my hands on Lucas’s chest and push him away, giving him a glare. I didn’t hear my friends come into my house, but he did. He grins, dark blue eyes flashing.
“This whole I don’t have a vampire boyfriend thing will work a lot better if you don’t come in smelling like you just had sex with one.” Naomi leans against the wall and crosses her arms over her chest. “Though I will admit I’d take a go at him if you’re willing to share.”
“You gotta pay me first.” I run my hand through my messy hair. “A hundred bucks every half hour?”
“I’m worth more than that,” Lucas huffs. “Two hundred at least.”
We all laugh, and Nicole comes into the kitchen carrying a bottle of white Zinfandel. I open the wine and pour four glasses, knowing Kristy will be here soon. She’s usually not late, and right when I grab my phone to text her and make sure things are all right, she comes through the front door.
“Here.” She hands me a little glass jar. “You have bite marks on your neck. Put this on and let’s pray to the Goddess they go away before the witching hour.”
“You made me extra-strength healing balm?” I ask, eyes getting a little misty. Just a little. “Thank you.” I hug my best friend and go upstairs to get a hair tie, pulling my hair into a messy bun before slathering the healing balm over the fading bite marks on my neck.
Eliza calls Lucas while I finish dinner, and he goes outside to talk to her. Suddenly, the energy shifts.
“Callie?” Evander calls.
“Kitchen,” I call back. A second later, he walks through the wall, projecting himself into the kitchen. “You’re making teriyaki chicken without me?” He looks at the pan on the stove. “Bring me some?”
“If there’s any left over,” I laugh. “Glad your priorities are in order.”
Evander looks around the kitchen. “Good, you’re all here.” He’s dressed in all black, with a silky cloak draped over his shoulders. It’s the traditional garb for gatherings. My friends have on their black dresses already, but I still need to change. “I don’t have much time, so let’s make this quick.”
“What does the Grand Coven know about the demon attacks?” Kristy asks.
“They were alerted after the third death, and the fact that they didn’t react fast enough can be used as leverage if need be. They didn’t take the threat seriously and more witches died than would have had they been involved. The story they were told is that everything unfolded as it truly did, with the last of the coven taking refuge here.”
“What about Lucas?” I ask. There were several Council members with Evander when they led us to the door. “Do they know about him?”
“Mother skipped over that part, but that’s not to say the others won’t mention him. But all who were with you that night will attest to him putting his own life in danger in order to protect the coven.”
“Thank god,” I sigh. “What am I supposed to say about the demon? If I tell them I commanded hellfire they’ll…they’ll…fuck. I don’t know what they’ll do.”
“Nor do I. What they were told was we all passed through the door, but the demon got you. You were able to cast a protective circle around yourself and conjure a ball of white light strong enough to kill a fourth hierarchy demon. No one outside this room, besides my mother, knows the true identity of the demon. And we have to keep it that way.”
I look at my friends, feeling bad they’re involved. “Okay. I can do that,” I say with a nod. “Were the specifics of the circle cast mentioned?”
“Not that I know of,” Evander answers.
“The Light of the Moon Circle,” Kristy suggests. “Say that’s what you cast. It’s fast and strong and could kill vampires.” She turns to me, eyes wide. “Which unfortunately happened.”
“You’re faking my death now?” Lucas comes in through the back door, and Evander looks him up and down.
“I can see why you’ve taken to him, Cal,” Evander says under his breath, nodding approvingly. “Though that is an interesting twist to our tale. The vampire got caught in the cross fire and is no longer a threat.” Evander considers it for a moment. “Only bring it up if they ask. The best lies are simple lies.” He turns, listening to something back at the Academy that we can’t hear. “I must go now. Take care, sister.”
He disappears, and the five of us are left standing in silence in the kitchen. The gravity of the situation is weighing heavily on me, as well as my friends.
“Is dinner almost ready?” Nicole asks, breaking the silence.
“Almost.” Kristy checks the rice, and Naomi pours us all more wine. I add sauce to the chicken and veggies, and Lucas sets the table for us. Right as I start to serve up our plates, Binx comes shadowing through the door, shifting into cat-form as soon as his paws hit the floor.
“What?” I ask, spinning around so fast a piece of chicken falls to the ground. It won’t go wasted at least. He darts forward to grab it, pushing the thought back into my head.
Something is going on with the Ley line again.
Chapter 8
“What do you mean again?” Kristy asks, taking her plate into the dining room. “Something was messing with the Ley line before?”
“I’m not sure,” I confess, looking at Binx. “We went for a run and it felt weird. But then it went back to normal, and I had all three of my familiars canvas the woods. They found nothing, making me think it was an influx of power from the recent Solstice.”
Binx meows, reminding me that he, Freya, and Pandora have continued to patrol the woods and paid extra attention to the Ley line since then and haven’t felt anything weird since.
“You know how the Ley line ebbs and flows. Sometimes it gets a little extra power and you can feel it in the air.”
“It’s been rather calm for a while.” Naomi stabs her fork through a piece of broccoli. “We’re due for a little influx, actually. I should have brought my crystals to charge. The Ley line runs right through your downtown, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, almost directly under the main road,” Kristy answers. “Which at first was done to keep nons from digging into it, but then they put the sewer lines in.”
“It’s only a matter of time before you have a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle situation on your hands,” Nicole says seriously.
“Hey, as long as they help me fight demons, I’m good with it.” I mix my chicken in with my rice.
“Do you want me to check it out?” Lucas asks.
I look up at the beautiful vampire standing in the threshold of the dining room, and my heart hammers. There’s a chance there could be members of the Grand Coven in the woods, and it would be in their best interest not to run into Lucas.
Because if they tried to attack him, he’d fight back. And he’d win. Then we’d really be in hot water.
“Yeah,” I say, and I instantly regret it. “I felt it stronger by the white house in the woods.”
“You mean our house.”
I can’t help but smile. “Right. By our house.”
“You bought a house together?” Nicole asks once the screen door snaps shut after Lucas leaves.
“He’s buying that white house down the road that I’ve been in love with as a surprise.”
“I got excited when my last boyfriend bought me a pizza as a surprise,” Nicole laughs. “But a house?”
“Lucas likes to invest in, uh, different properties,” I say, feeling uncomfortable. “He has the means to buy it and fix it up, and he knew I’ve had my eye on it, that’s all.”
“Yes, that’s all,” Naomi quips. Kristy, bless her, changes the subject, and we talk about potions the rest of dinner. I carry my empty plate to the sink, looking out at the dark yard for Lucas. He hasn’t come back yet, and I can’t shake the bad feeling that’s growing in the pit of my stomach. Sensing my nerves, Freya shadows into the yard, going after my undead lover.
The girls help me clean up the kitchen, and I go upstairs to change into a trad
itional black dress.
“I came back at the right time.”
I turn, having just pulled my shirt over my head, and smile when I see Lucas. His hair is windblown from running fast through the forest, and he has mud on his pants. Or maybe not.
“Is that blood?”
Lucas looks down at his clothes. “Yes, but it’s not mine.”
“Who’s is it?”
“I believe you call them lower-level demons,” he says, coming into the room. He grabs me around the waist and pulls me close. He smells like the forest, and I find the scent to be rather intoxicating.
“What kind?”
“I’m not sure. It’s dead, though. I ripped out its heart and tore off his head. And yes, I buried the body. We might as well mark off an area to be your unofficial demonically-caused-death unmarked graveyard.”