Reign of Night (Thorne Hill 7)

“Sure,” Easton grumps. “So this demon.”

“Right. It’s obviously looking for me, and I need to talk to it. We only have a few more weeks before another ritual is attempted, and no one should die.”

“I agree. What are you planning?”

“It’s looking for me. I’m going to let it find me.”

“You’re going to be bait?” Easton asked incredulously.

“Not exactly,” I tell him. “Lucas and I are going to head to Chicago soon. You remember where the house in Lincoln Park is?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Meet me there in two hours?”

“Sure. See you then.”

The call ends, and I go back to loading up the potions, adding them to my overnight bag that I’m bringing just in case. I get a crossbody purse solely to carry some magical supplies, though I still doubt I’ll need any of it.

“Ready?” Lucas asks me, and I nod. I make sure all the doors are locked and seal up the house with magic. Scarlet bounds ahead, leaping off the steps and running through the muddy yard, much to Lucas’s annoyance. I have to wipe her paws before she gets into the back of my Jeep, laying down on the blankets I spread out for her.

“Are you all right?” Lucas asks, hand going to my knee as we drive out of Thorne Hill. I rub my temple, fighting off another headache.

“Yeah. I’m a little tired, that’s all. I had a weird dream and didn’t sleep as deeply as I hoped this morning.”

“What did you dream about?”

“Eamon.”

Lucas jerks his head my way, brows pushing together. “You dreamed about another vampire?”

“Not in a sexual way.” I place my hand on top of his and scoot it up between my thighs. “You are the only man—living or dead—I want.” I let out a breath. “I dreamed he was plotting against us, biding his time before presenting us both to the VC.”

“The VC cannot call forth humans unless they’ve been arrested under suspicion of killing a vampire.”

“But I have killed vampires,” I remind him, and Lucas falls silent. He doubled checked everything, and we did it all the right way. The marriage certificate was filled out and notarized. We got married in Michigan, where vampire-human marriages are legally recognized. His properties in Thorne Hill were properly documented as well, and he’s been paying a lot in taxes on them. Lucas has been around long enough to know how to cross his Ts and dot his Is, and if the VC knew anything, they’d know better than to accuse someone from Thorne Hill of witchcraft.

Of course I’m a witch, and most of my town is as well. They could assume I’d been excommunicated and no one would come to my defense, but all it would take is one mention that my High Priestess has accepted us to make them stop poking around. That, in turn, puts the entire coven at risk with the Grand Coven, and the whole situation gives me a headache.

Pandora moves into my lap, softly purring which helps me to relax. I want so badly to get info, to finally be able to do something, that the thought of the demon giving us nothing—just like the other one—makes my stomach hurt.

I distract myself on the drive by looking at the maternity clothes I didn’t get to earlier and have ordered several hundred dollars’ worth by the time we park on North Orchard Street. We park on the street, and Lucas has to speed from the Jeep to the house to avoid getting burned. Eliza is inside and unlocked the door ahead of time, minimizing the sun damage Lucas had to take. He’ll heal in a matter of seconds, but a matter of seconds is all it can take to do some serious damage to a vampire when they’re exposed to the sun.

My familiars shadow in along with him, and I take my time clipping a leash to Scarlet’s collar and getting my overnight bag from the back of the Jeep.

“Callie?” someone calls.

Scarlet moves toward whoever is talking to me, jerking me away from the car. I took my coat off as soon as we got inside the Jeep and haven’t put it back on yet.

“Is that you?” the same woman says, and I turn, seeing Ricci, one of Abby’s fake-ass friends, several yards from me. She’s walking a little dog who’s wearing a purple sweater, and the tiny thing is barking and growling at Scarlet.

“Sit,” I tell Scarlet, who listens. “Good girl.”

“You trained her in German? Neat.”

“Yeah. German,” I say, forgetting my commands to Scarlet come out in Enochian. I pull my bag from the Jeep and sling it over my shoulder. Ricci’s eyes go from Scarlet to my stomach.

“Oh my,” she gaps and looks embarrassed. “You…you’re…”

“I’m pregnant, I know,” I state the obvious. Ricci know I’m married to a vampire, and she also knows I have powers, since I saved her kid from breaking a leg—or worse—when she ignored him and he took a tumble off their foyer balcony. “I’m twenty-six weeks.”