“She’s beautiful,” I whisper, knowing now I’m going to lose my battle with the tears for sure. Penny is precious, with a thick head of curly light-brown hair and pouty, full lips. “She looks like you.”
Abby smiles down lovingly at her daughter. “You think so? People always say that, but I don’t see it.”
“By this time next year, she’s going to look like a mini version of you, just watch.”
Abby laughs. “I hope so. Do you think she…is she…?”
“Like me?” I supply and then shrug. “Who knows. If she’s lucky, she will be.”
Abby puts the blanket back over the visor of the stroller, keeping the sun off Penny’s pale skin. “I’d really like you to come to the party. You can bring your boyfriend if you’d like. Well, I mean if you’re at that stage in your relationship where you bring him to family functions. Have you been together long?”
“No, not long. But we are pretty serious.” Serious in the sense that he gets to feed off me and claim ownership amongst the other vampires.
“That’s good! And I think relationships that start out strong are really telling. Maybe this will turn into something more.” She smiles, hope glimmering in her eyes. My sister really does want me to be happy. But she’d be happy if I settled down with Wall Street Asshole because he’d fit right in with our family.
“Well, you know what they say. The couple that buries bodies together, and then digs them up, and then buries them again, stays together.”
Her lips part and her eyebrows go up. “No one says that.”
“Well, there’s a first for everything.”
“Are you…are you in some kind of trouble?”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” I say with a laugh, fully aware of how insane I sound. It’s funny…the more I try to come off as normal, the crazier I become.
“I’m worried, Callie.”
“Don’t worry. I’m fine. Really.”
“Did you kill someone?”
“Just because you bury a body doesn’t mean you killed them.”
Abby’s eyes widen even more. “So, you…you…”
“I’m joking.” I flash a smile. “And I’d like to bring my boyfriend to the party, but he works pretty much all day and won’t get home until about eight o’clock.”
“Come over for drinks and dessert after the party then? It’s going to be all kid stuff until about seven anyway.”
I smile. “I think I can do that.”
CHAPTER 20
“What the hell could do this?” I pick up a broken piece of my crystal and hold it up to the sunlight. It’s tinged red all right, just like Binx told me. But it’s not stained on the outside, as if something stepped on it and got cut.
No, the red is on the inside of the crystal.
“You guys get anything?” I flick my eyes to my familiars. They sensed the creature, and Freya got a flash of something dark moving swiftly from the woods, but that’s it.
“Let’s go scry for this fucker,” I say, closing my fingers around the broken piece of crystal. I just got home and am wearing my fancy black dress, Lucas’s white shirt, and am barefoot. My familiars follow me inside, and the first thing I do is plug in my coffee maker.
Yawning, I set the crystal down, and head upstairs for a quick shower. I wave my hand over the front door as I pass by it, locking the house with magic. I strip out of my clothes as I walk and use magic again to open the window in my bathroom.
Exhaustion is hitting me, and I’m sure it has to do with the fact that Lucas drank a decent amount of my blood and I’ve had nothing but donuts to eat today. I shower as quick as I can and fight the temptation to lie down for “just a few minutes” in my bed once I’m out.
I towel dry my hair, feeling too lazy to brush it, and end up twisting it into a messy bun at the top of my head. I get dressed in the leggings Lucas sent to the house yesterday, and a tight cami so I can forgo a bra.
Making a cup of coffee as soon as I get into the kitchen, I sink down into a chair at the table, needing to let the caffeine hit me before I can get to work.
“I know,” I tell Freya when she reminds me I need to eat. And feed her, of course. With a yawn, I stand and go to the fridge. I take out a carton of eggs and scramble up a few, splitting it between myself and my familiars. I feel a bit better after eating and downing a second cup of coffee.
Then it’s back to business.
I spread a map over the table, set a black ceramic bowl in the center of it and fill it with water. Holding the crystal in one hand, I lean over the bowl and concentrate. I suck at divination and that’s all I can think about.
Stop thinking about it, I mentally yell at myself. Thinking about how much I suck will only block any sort of connection from forming. I shake my head and try to concentrate again.
“Who are you?” I whisper. “And where did you go?” I think about what Binx told me, remember the image Freya put in my mind of the shadowy figure she saw in the yard.
And then my thoughts drift to Lucas. To his mouth on my neck. His fangs sinking into the flesh of my thigh.
To his tongue lashing out against my clit.
“Get it together,” I tell myself and squeeze the crystal harder in my hand. I splay my fingers over the map and stare into the bowl, trying to see past my reflection. I’ve done this before…with Kristy’s help.
She’s at the store right now and then has a date with Daniel, a warlock she’s been off-and-on seeing for the last year. I don’t want to bother her tonight. I’m a witch. A powerful one at that. I should be able to pull this off.
But my mind starts to drift again, going in the opposite direction that it needs to go. I enjoyed my time with Lucas last night. That was the best date I’ve ever been on, and I meant it when I said he makes me feel normal. I sit up, loosening my grip on the crystal, finally letting myself admit just what last night meant to me.
I was myself. I didn’t have to hide a damn thing. I didn’t have to pretend to be normal…and I didn’t have to pretend like I don’t possess all the powers that I do. Because even at the Academy I was the odd man out for having more than one active power.
Lucas sees me for what I am—for who I am—and I’m just me. I find myself flushing when I think back to last night. And then I’m shaking my head at myself. What was I thinking, so eagerly agreeing to become his?
Normally, a vampire could call upon a human they’ve claimed at any time. They’d be forced to do their bidding, from feeding to fucking. But Lucas can’t control me like that. It’s physically impossible for him to hold me spellbound.
And if he tried anything I wasn’t completely on board with, well…he’d find out just how powerful I am. Though I still don’t think it’s going to come to that.
Like I said, Lucas knows who I am. He knows what I can do.
“I think he might actually like me,” I tell my familiars. “And I think I actually like him.” Smiling, I set the crystal down and lean back in the chair. Sunset can’t get here fast enough.
I just hope I’m not getting in over my head. I’m a witch. He’s a vampire. We’re natural enemies and that alone has to be setting us up for catastrophe later, right?
“So,” I start, turning my attention back to my failed attempt at scrying for this demon. “Binx and Freya, canvas the woods. Pay special attention to the doorway to the Covenstead. Pandora, I need you to help me make a potion. Just in case.”
Binx and Freya take off, shadowing out of the house and into the woods. I stand, and reach for the crystal, intending on putting it away and trying again later. But as soon as my fingers close around the broken piece, pain shoots through my forehead.
I pitch forward, and the world fades around me. When my vision comes back, it’s like I’m floating above my house, watching a dark hooded figure rise from the ground in my back yard. It holds out a bone-thin hand, reading the protective circle I have on the house. It mutters something…something I can’t understand and pushes its hand through the circle. The crysta
ls glow and a jolt of magical energy hits the creature, sending it back into the night.
Gasping, I stagger back, heart racing.
“The fuck,” I mutter, squeezing my eyes shut. Whatever that was hit me just like last time. It wasn’t as if I had a vision. It was as if this vision was shoved into my head against my will. Pandora shifts into shadow form and surrounds me, guiding me into the living room. She lays me down onto the couch and then shifts back into the pretty calico cat the rest of the world sees her as.
Sitting on my chest, she rubs her head on my chin and starts to purr. I let my eyes flutter closed, recalling every detail of that vision.
“I don’t understand,” I tell her. “I don’t have premonitions. But I saw it. I think. Maybe?” I open my eyes and look around the room, needing to get a visual of where I actually am. “It was just like the last time I had a weird vision. It felt more like an out-of-body experience than a—” I look at Pandora. “That’s it. I think I’m intercepting something. I just don’t have any idea what or who…or why.”
Slowly, I get up and go back into the kitchen, picking up the crystal again. I wait for another vision to hit me, but nothing happens.
“I have an idea,” I tell Pandora as it comes to me. “I can’t scry for a location or see into the past, but I can conjure. And if part of this creature got absorbed by the crystal, I should be able to call it.”
“That’s a terrible idea,” Pandora tells me, shadowing through the room. “One that will get you killed.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
Shifting back into cat form, she jumps up on the table and lays down on the map, swishing her tail. She wants me to try scrying again because she thinks this creature is near. That it’s watching and waiting for me to make a move.
“You’re right.” I spring up, going to the china cabinet in the dining room. The exposed shelves hold my fancy dishes, and the cabinets hold extra magical supplies. I get out white candles, a jar of black salt, and a large black tourmaline gemstone.
I go into the living room, move the coffee table, and roll back the rug in the middle of the floor. My other familiars come back while I’m pouring a circle of salt on the floor. They know what I’m doing and gather around to offer their protection while I astral project into the Academy.
I draw a pentagram with the black salt inside the circle, light white candles at all five points and lay down in the center, putting the black tourmaline on my chest, right over my heart.
Binx sits by my head and Frey and Pandora stay at my sides, watching and guarding me. I slowly inhale, letting my eyes fall shut as it feels natural, and spend a few minutes concentrating on my breathing, centering myself before whispering the incantation needed to project myself.
“Evander,” I whisper, thinking of his face. I need to talk to him, and I’m not exactly sure where he is at the moment, only that he’s somewhere at the Academy, teaching a class most likely. “Evander,” I whisper again, and my voice echoes into the air around me, carried along a magical frequency.
“Callie?” I hear him reply. Then I say the spell, and everything swirls around me, faster and faster until the sights and sounds of my living room have gone blank. Using my powers, I give myself the final push and I feel my astral self leave my body and set foot into a dark classroom. Evander is standing near a chalkboard, talking to a small group of teenagers about the dangers of hosting seances.
“Hope I’m not interrupting,” I say, stepping out of the shadows. Evander jumps, bumping into the podium next to the chalkboard.
“Seven devils, Callie!” His brown eyes widen, and he shoots daggers at me.
“Whoa!” one of the students says, looking up from a notebook. “Did she just teleport?”
“No,” I tell him. “I’m astral projecting.”
That gets a collective response of shock and awe from the rest of the class.
“Sorry,” I say quietly to Evander. “But it’s urgent.”
“And you couldn’t have called and left a message? Or come here and knocked on the door like most people do?”
I hike up an eyebrow. “Since when do I do things the way most people do them?”
“True, that’s not typically your style.” His eyes go to the fang marks on my wrist. “Are you in danger, sister?”
“I think we all are.” I inch forward, looking back at the class. “We need to talk. It’s urgent. Is this class almost over?”
“No, but I can always dismiss early if need be. What’s going on?”
I look at the students again, who can’t be much older than thirteen or fourteen. They’re so young, so innocent in their powers. Every single one of them is staring at us, waiting on bated breath to hear what I came here to say.
“I think that’s Callie Martin,” a girl whispers to her friend. “That girl High Priestess Greystone rescued from the prison.”
“I heard she has three familiars,” another adds.
“She wasn’t in prison,” a boy shoots back. “No wonder you almost flunked Magical Essentials. You didn’t pay attention.”
“You guys talk about me in class?” I bring my hand to my chest. “I’m so honored.”
“Your reputation still precedes you around these halls,” Evander goes on, trying not to smile. “The good and the bad.”
“Do you remind them you were with me during most of the bad?”
“Funny, I usually forget to mention that part.” He laughs and turns to the class, raising his hands. He says a quick incantation, drawing a circle around us in one sweeping motion. The class groans when they realize what he’s doing: making a sound-proof place for us to talk.
“Speak, sister,” he tells me, and I can see the worry in his eyes.
“Something was at my house last night. I wasn’t home, but my familiars sensed it, and whatever it was…they’d never come across it before. It couldn’t break through the protective circle I cast on the house, but when it tried, it turned one of my clear quartz crystals red.”
“Red?”
“Yes. And I don’t mean it bled on it or anything. The inside of the crystal is red. Like it absorbed a part of it.”
Evander’s jaw tenses.
“And that’s not all,” I go on. “I think it’s still out there, still in the woods…and I think it was waiting for me to come back here.”
“So it would know where the doorway to the Covenstead is.”
“Exactly. That’s why I astral projected here tonight.”
“Who else knows about this?”
I shake my head. “No one, not yet. I wanted to talk to you first. Do you have any idea what could do that? What could turn a crystal red?”
“No. But whatever it is, Callie, it has to be powerful.” He looks me right in the eye as he talks, knowing that I have some half-baked scheme up my sleeve.
“I know. That’s why I came here first.”
“First?” He gives me a telling look.
“Fine,” I cave, having a hard enough time keeping secrets from him. “I thought maybe I could conjure and question whatever was—”
The doors to the classroom open before I finish talking. Tabatha—High Priestess to everyone else—strides in, pretty face tight with worry. Two other witches on the council are behind her, mirroring her anxiety.
“Oh, good, Callie, you’re—why are you here?” her eyes narrow and she flits them from Evander to me and then to the class. Evander drops the sound-proof circle.
“High Priestess,” I say, bowing my head as a sign of respect.
“It’s your lucky day,” Tabatha tells the students, putting on a fake smile. “I’m afraid I need to borrow your professor. Please go back to your dormitories.”
Everyone knows something is up, and whatever it is can’t be good. Class being dismissed early is one thing, but it’s another when you’re escorted back to your room by members of the council.
“Has something happened, Mother?” Evander asks once the last student has left the classroom.
“Yes.” She wrings her hands and I notice a slight tremble to her fingers. “Another witch has been murdered.”
CHAPTER 21
“By a witch hunter?” I ask, already knowing the answer. “When? And where?”
“It appears so. And a few days ago in a coven just over the state line in Michigan. Another young woman, just about your age, Callie.” She looks at me, imagining it was me found dead and shakes her head.
“Was she killed the same way?” Evander takes his mother’s shaking hands.
“Yes. Throat ripped out, right down to the trachea. And then the body strung up and burned. We were able to tell from this poor girl that she was murdered first from losing so much blood. She was dead before she was burned.”
“That doesn’t sound like a witch hunter,” Evander says slowly, shifting his gaze to me. “Witch hunters typically get off from watching us burn.”
“Exactly,” Tabatha says, voice strained. “Which leads us to believe whoever we’re dealing with might not be as we thought.”
My stomach flip-flops. All signs are pointing to a vampire being the killer right now, and after hearing Lucas tell me that the best way to kill a human is to go right for the throat…no. It can’t be. Even if it were a vampire…it’s not him.
Though he’s old enough.
And powerful enough.
And has been asking me a lot of questions about covens and magic.
“What are we going to do?” Evander asks.
“First thing,” Tabatha starts, “is issue a curfew. All the murders have been done at night.”
Shit. Another reason to suspect a vampire. But then where do the creepy visions, the demon in the woods, and that thing lurking around my house fit into this? I’m certain they’re connected to the witches’ deaths…I just don’t know how.
“Were the victims full witches?” I ask, knowing how weird my question is.
“They all came from established lines of magic,” Tabatha tells me. She looks at me again, finally realizing that I’m astral projecting. “Who is watching over your body?”