Once I’ve finished my food and cleaned up the dishes, I go back upstairs. Lucas is sitting up, looking down at his phone. The glowing screen illuminates his handsome face, and I get a feeling that can only be described as butterflies.
“Your Jeep was found.” He looks up from the phone. “Along with your purse.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, and it seems everything is intact. The police were notified, but luckily an officer at that precinct owes me a favor. Everything will be returned to you this morning.”
“That’s a relief. On top of everything, I really didn’t want to get a new car and a new phone.” I crawl back into bed.
“Are you still tired?”
“A little. Want to nap with me for a bit?”
“Just a bit?”
“I have to work this afternoon,” I remind him.
Lucas frowns. “I know you enjoy working at Novel Grounds, but don’t you find it difficult to hold a human job when you’re, well, you?”
“I am human.”
“You know what I mean, Callie.”
“I do,” I sigh. “And yeah, it’s hard, and I’m tired, and things have escalated since one of Hell’s top dogs was sent to burn me alive. But we have a schedule, and I can’t keep making other people fill in for me. It’s not fair to them. Maybe I should drop my hours, but I need to give Kristy and the others more than half a day’s notice. We’ll have to hire someone else to take my spot. Actually…I should call Kristy and check in.”
“It’s six AM.”
“Right.” I let out a breath. “I’m a little shaken still.” I close my eyes, trying to quiet the constant noise in my head. “Do you think the VC knows about me?”
“No. If they did, they’d have come already. And the VC wants witches to be killed, not brought in for a bounty.”
I flatten my hand over his chest. “What do you think they want with me?”
“I’ll find out. Dina will crack. And if she doesn’t on her own, I’ll be the one doing the cracking.”
The same sense of anxiety that hit me last night comes back. Something is going on with the Ley line. My asshole brother and father are determined to make mainstream life hell for vampires. Someone is threatening the people Lucas works with. And now vampire bounty hunters are after me.
“Were you able to talk to that vender?” I force myself to take a slow breath.
“Yes, and he was held spellbound and has no memory of who actually threatened him.”
“Well, that makes this all the more fun.”
“Yes, and it means the vampire behind this is old.”
“And the fun keeps coming.”
He pulls me closer and rests his head against mine. He’d only just fallen asleep when I got up for breakfast, and I have a feeling he’s going to skip drinking my blood the rest of today since I lost so much yesterday. He needs more sleep to make up for the lack of feeding.
“Once things are settled, we should go on vacation,” Lucas says.
“Where would we go?”
“Wherever you want.”
I smile, thinking of warm sandy beaches, dozing off under the sun with a drink in my hand. But Lucas can’t be there with me. Not in the sun at least.
“I’ve never been to Las Vegas.”
“I haven’t been there since the 80s.”
“1980s?”
“Yes,” he chuckles. “We’ll go and get a suite in the nicest hotel. Get massages and order food. I’m not actually too sure what humans do in Vegas.”
“Gamble, go to shows, dance at clubs, and drink a copious amount of alcohol.”
“Sounds like a good time.”
“It will be.” I pull the blankets up over me, getting a little chilled from being against Lucas’s cool skin. He turned the heated blanket on but was uncovered when I came back upstairs. “What are you going to do about the whiskey vender?”
“I was able to persuade him to do business with us again.”
“But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, right?”
“Right.”
“Can I help?” I ask.
He runs his fingers up and down my arm. “At this point, my love, it’s best you stay away from other vampires. I know you can handle yourself, but the less attention drawn, the better.”
I hate that he’s right. It’s dangerous from all sides, and if the Grand Coven found out I was helping a vampire, I’d be burned at the stake.
“You should get some more sleep before you have to leave,” Lucas whispers.
“I’ll try.”
We snuggle together, and Lucas rubs my back until I fall asleep again. Two hours later, the doorbell rings, waking us both. Lucas grabs his phone and logs onto his security system app.
“It’s Monica.” He shows me the phone. “She has your Jeep.”
“I’ll go down.” I move out of bed and get dressed, and then hurry down to the front door.
“Hey,” I say when I open the door. My Jeep is parked on the street a few houses down. “It’s so good to look at her again.”
Monica laughs. “I’m sure.”
“Thank you for bringing it over,” I say, stepping aside to let her in. She doesn’t move off the porch but curiously looks past me. “I’m going to make some coffee. Want any?”
“Is Lucas home?”
“Yeah, he’s upstairs.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Then I better stay outside. He’s never invited me in before.”
“Oh, uh okay. Thanks for bringing everything by again.”
“No problem. I’m glad you got everything back after, well, whatever happened.”
“Me too.”
She sidesteps away from the door. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, I’m sure too.”
I close the door and immediately dig through my purse, making sure everything is there. It is. There might be a lot of bad in the world, but there are good people too, like the woman who found my purse on the ground near my car and turned everything in.
Binx comes down the stairs, purring as he rubs against my legs. I’m putting everything back in order in my purse when a thought hits me, so jarring my phone slips from my fingers.
I turn to Binx, eyes wide. “Monica knows I’m a witch…and she has a vampire boyfriend.”
Chapter 23
My purse falls from my lap as I get up, sprinting back up the stairs.
“Lucas,” I call, using magic to throw open the master bedroom doors. “Monica knows I’m a witch.”
Lucas gets out of bed and speeds over, putting his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes. “She does.” His face tenses, and he speeds away again, getting his phone. He calls Eliza, but she doesn’t answer. Ending the call, he throws his phone down on the bed and draws his fangs.
“What’s wrong?”
“Dominic is at the bar with Eliza and the prisoners.”
Dominic is Monica’s boyfriend, and if he had anything to do with this…shit. “Do you trust him?”
“No,” Lucas says with no hesitation. “I trust Eliza and you. That’s it.”
I swallow hard. “I’m going to the bar.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I won’t be alone.” I motion to Binx. “And I won’t let my guard down this time. If Dominic is the one who put the bounty on my head, we need to know.”
Lucas curls his fingers into fists, and he turns, seething with anger. “Eliza is there with them.”
Them?
Oh, fuck. Dominic could be working with Dina. Instead of letting her rot in the cell in the basement, he could be bringing her blood to speed up her healing. And then what? Would they attack her? Kill her? Try and use her as leverage?
“Can you sense Eliza?” I ask Lucas.
“I know she’s not dead, but that’s the extent of being able to sense her.” He picks up his phone and calls her again. She doesn’t answer, and I hope and pray she’s sound asleep and hasn’t even heard the phone ringing.