Reign of Night (Thorne Hill 7)

“He’s not coming back, is he?” I ask, not even wanting to look at the building. “I should stop hoping.”

“I wouldn’t stop just yet.” Lucas runs his hands down my arms, and I turn, seeing Lucifer walking out of the police station.

“You’re good to go, my niece, and my…my nephew-in-law,” he says to Lucas, and the thought is so fucking weird. Lucas and I are legally married, so my family would be his in-laws, in that sense.

“Just like that?” Lucas questions.

“Yes, just like that. There are no records or memories of you being arrested, except for that asshole ex-brother of yours, and I suggest you let him keep that memory. Nothing like falling back to the old you’re going crazy tactic when it comes to torture.” He looks at me for a second, small smile on his face. “You do look just like your mother. Take care, niece.”

The sound of feathers rustling echoes through the night, and Lucifer disappears.

Lucas wraps an arm around me again. “What do you think the chances are he’s going back to Hell?”

“Slim to none. He told me he wasn’t ready. But that’s not all he said.” I pull my hair over my shoulder thinking back. “And it wasn’t what he said, but how he said it.”

“What was it?”

I meet Lucas’s gaze. “He said he loved my mother. She was a Satanist who Michael was sent to save, and he ended up falling in love with her. I’ve asked both Lucifer and Julian before if Michael really loved my mother, and they both said yes. But maybe I should have asked if my mother loved him, too. Because now I’m starting to wonder if my mother was involved in one of the biggest cosmic love triangles of the universe.”

“I suppose that could be possible. You’ll get your answers someday. I’m sure of it.” He brings a hand to my stomach once more. “But speaking of mothers, we’re supposed to see our baby.”

I gasp. “I kind of forgot.”

“The last hour or so was a little distracting.”

“You’re telling me.” I let my eyes fall shut, feeling Elena move around. “I left my phone in the car. I need to call Abby. She’s probably wondering if something bad happened because I said I’d be there right at sunset.”

“I have my phone,” he tells me, pulling it from his pocket. “And Abby’s number. We’re closer to the hospital here than at the office.”

We drove Eliza’s Mercedes to Scott’s office, and Lucas had planned on taking it to the hospital as well, not wanting to park his six-figure prized car in a public lot. Lucas hands me his phone, and I bring up Abby’s number. The call goes right to voicemail.

“Hey, Abby, it’s Callie calling from Lucas’s phone. We got a little hung up but are on our way now. I don’t have my phone with me, so if you need to get ahold of me, call me here.”

I end the message, give Lucas his phone back, and pick up Binx. I whisper an incantation, cloaking him from everyone other than Lucas and myself.

We get an Uber and Abby calls when we’re halfway to the hospital. After a super busy start to her shift, they hit a bit of a lull that won’t last long. She’s getting a room set up for me now and said to text her when we get there so she can try and sneak us in without having to go through the administration process.

I’m getting a little nervous and a lot excited again, as well as incredibly exhausted. The night turned so fast, going a direction I never thought it would go in. My anger got the best of me, and in all honestly, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner. Lucas says he likes my petty and impulsive side, but those two things are bad enough on their own and dangerous when you mix it with my uncontrollable surges of power.

We go in all together, with Binx walking at my side, still cloaked from everyone’s eyes. A woman is at the check-in counter, angry about having to fill out insurance forms. She’s throwing such a fit it offers a good distraction, and Abby is able to slip us back into a room before anyone takes notice.

“What kind of hang-up did you run into?” She closes the door to the little room and wheels an ultrasound machine over, looking at Lucas with concern. Right. The front of his shirt is burned and one of his sleeves is bloody, with a tear in his shirt.

“It’s probably one of those situations you’d rather not know about,” Lucas answers for me. “Everything is good now.”

“You know what? I think I’m fine leaving it at that.” Abby motions for me to get on the bed. “I’m not an OB, but I do have an OB friend who’s on-call tonight. I already paged her to come down and do an emergency ultrasound on my sister who fell going up the stairs and wants to be checked out just to be safe. Though given the state you’re in, I should have said you were in an accident.” Her eyes go to Lucas’s chest again, and she shakes her head. “When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?”