“We have so far. What am I gonna do?”
“Come home. I’m on my way out to the Academy to teach a summer class and leaving now would be suspicious.”
“Right,” I agree.
“Double the warding on your house once you get there, and I’ll be over as soon as I can leave. I’ll help you figure this out.”
The knot in my chest loosens. “Thank you, Evander.”
“Of course. Now you better get out of the city while you still can.”
“I will.” I end the call and look at Eliza, knowing she was able to hear our whole conversation. “Do you have a box or something I can stick him in?”
“There might be something in the dumpster out back.”
I cock an eyebrow. “You too?”
“Me what?”
“You really should recycle more, you know.”
She rolls her eyes and walks out from behind the bar, motioning for me to follow her. The back door is locked, and she punches a passcode in the motorized lock and speeds away. I open the door, blinking in the bright sunlight, and step into the alley. Using magic to hold the door open—it locks from the inside, I remember now—I pull the cleanest box I can find from the dumpster and go back inside.
“So you’re leaving?” Eliza asks when I set the box down outside the office door.
“Yes, be relieved.”
I open the office door and look in for Scott. He’s huddled under the desk, looking a little pathetic. Dammit. I should have turned him into hairless rat. I love cats too much.
“Come on,” I say to Scott-cat. “I’ll change you back. Eventually.” I put him in the box but don’t close it just yet. I need to poke a few air holes in it first.
“Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” Eliza asks as I head toward the front door of the bar.
I set the box down to get my purse. Binx winds around my feet, leering at Scott. “Not right away,” I tell her. “But I will be.”
Chapter 13
I wave my hand over the door to magically unlock it. I’m balancing the box against my hip, regretting turning Scott into anything weighing over ten pounds. Before I even reach for the door knob, the front door opens.
“Callie,” Lucas says, throwing the door back. Sunlight burns his skin, but he doesn’t so much as flinch. Binx darts in first, and I hurry along behind him, shutting the door with my foot. Part of Lucas’s face is charred, but that’s not the most jarring thing about him. His eyes are wide and full of worry. It’s the closest I’ve seen him to looking scared, but it’s not for himself. He’s terrified of losing me. “You should have called me right away.”
I set Scott-cat down, and Lucas pulls me into an embrace.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” I confess, looking up at him. His skin is healing already. “I knew you hadn’t gotten much sleep lately.”
“That doesn’t matter.” He cups my face in his large hands, tipping my chin up to him. “You matter.”
He called Eliza right as I was leaving the bar, and she must have filled him in on everything.
“I’m okay,” I tell him, even though just moments ago I admitted I wasn’t. Suddenly, my breath catches. “I mean…I will be. It’s just…it’s…we were just talking about it, and you’re right, I can’t just keep ignoring everything.” I’m not making sense, yet somehow Lucas knows exactly what I’m talking about. He scoops me up and brings me into the formal living room while Binx keeps an eye on Scott.
He sits us down on the couch, keeping me in his lap. I’m all emotional, and I hate it. Crying isn’t going to change how my family treats me. I learned that fast when I was nine and my family dumped me off to be the guinea pig in a perverted doctor’s research lab.
“I’m sorry.” I wipe away a tear that escaped and rolled down my cheek.
“Stop apologizing for what you feel.” He takes my hand and brings it down. “What you went through…you need to let it out. And then let me—”
“Still no murder.”
“Damn.”
I sniffle and smile. “I love you, you know that, right?”
“I do. And you know I love you. That I will do anything for you.”
“I’m a basket case, barely keeping it together at the moment. Are you sure you still want me?”
“I will always want you,” he says definitely. He presses his forehead against mine. “You’re not a basket case. You’re human, and being with you makes me feel again. Not quite human, but close.” I blink away the tears and look into his eyes. He’s wrestling with his own emotions right now, and my heart skips a beat. The tears I was holding back roll down my cheeks, freeing everything I’m feeling.
I hate that the world is against us.
The Grand Coven. The Vampire Council. Humans who think vampire/human relationships are wrong.
Who are they to tell us we shouldn’t be? To say that we’re wrong? I fell in love with Lucas just like I’d fall in love with anyone. Slowly. Deeply. I tried to resist. I didn’t want to fall. Didn’t want to give my heart to anyone. It was so broken, shattered in so many pieces, I didn’t think it was even possible to gather them up and put them back together, but Lucas did that for me.
I didn’t want to admit to myself just how much the issue upset me, and how much it terrifies me. Forbidden relationships sound sexy in fiction, but in real life…the threat of being forced apart makes a ball of nerves sink deep into my stomach.
“Your brother and father are pieces of shit,” he goes on. “You’re very much entitled to shed a few tears and throw around a few curses. Besides, I already told you how much I love your petty, impulsive side, remember?”
Another tear falls. “I do remember.”
He holds me against his chest and lays back, pulling me down with him. I rest my head on his chest, and he runs his fingers up and down my back. “What are you going to do, my love?”
I smile again and close my eyes, not wanting to move away from this spot. “Evander is going to come over later and help me figure it out. Which is kind of funny, actually. He’s not related to me, yet he’s more of a brother than my real brother ever was.”
“I still question just how related you are to your siblings. You smell nothing alike.”
“I used to wish for magical parents who’d sweep in and save me,” I admit. “But they never came. Plus, like I said before, my mom was pregnant with me. I’ve seen the photos.”
Lucas just nods, and I know he’s not convinced. “Are you going back home now?”
“No. Evander is teaching at the Academy and can’t leave until the day is over. We don’t want to draw attention to this. I’m staying with you until sunset.”
He trails his fingers along my spine. “Good.”
I lift my head up and look into Lucas’s beautiful eyes. “You accepted me the moment you met me.”
“I wanted to fuck you the moment I met you.” He flashes his cocky grin. “But yes, I knew you were a witch right away.”
“I never thanked you for it.”
“Why would you thank me for that?”
“Because sometimes, it’s really hard to accept yourself.”
He tightens his hold on me. “Do you accept yourself?”
“Now I do. I didn’t at first, obviously. But I wouldn’t change who I am for anything.” I let my eyes fall shut again, and for a minute I forget about everything that’s messed up right now.
And then Scott thinks it’s a good idea to try and scratch Binx. Binx hisses, eyes glowing red. Scott freaks and tries to jump out of the box. His back legs get stuck, causing the box to tip over. I watch him scramble away, running headfirst into a wall before scurrying off. Binx trots after him.
“I don’t want to get up and deal with life,” I grumble.
“Don’t.”
“I can’t put it off forever.”
“You can put it off for another minute.”
“You really are a bad influence.” I bring one hand up and rake it through Lucas’s hair.
“I pride myself on it.” He holds me tighter. “How did you accidentally cast a complicated spell?”
“I don’t know. It just happened.”
“Maybe you spoke that other language again.”
“I don’t know another language.” I bite my lip. “And I still remember saying the words in English, only I can’t recall what they are right now. But this time I didn’t say anything.”
“If I ever piss you off, turn me into a tiger.”
I lift my head up so I can look into his eyes. “If I’m mad, you’re going to be a fluffy bunny.”
Lucas laughs and flips us over, putting me between the couch and his body. “I guess I’ll have to remember not to piss you off.”
“You haven’t yet.”
“Yet?”
“Most couples fight every now and then. And especially once we start living together.”
“As long as I get to feed off you and fuck you whenever I want, I’m good.”
I roll my eyes. “Good thing I just want to be a doormat.”
Lucas chuckles. “It would be a waste if you were a doormat. And your tenacity is attractive.”
“What else is attractive?” I wrap my legs around him. In the back of my mind, I know how close to being fucked I am, but right now, being a different type of fucked is a good distraction.