Dark of Night (Thorne Hill 2)

The Ley line.

Twice in the last week, it’s felt weird. The Ley line affects everyone in this town, even though they have no idea it’s even here. I couldn’t say exactly what was wrong with the Ley line, other than it felt weird. Did I dismiss it too easily?

“I love you.” Kristy takes the iced coffee from my hand.

“I know.”

“Seriously, though, I need the caffeine right now. And maybe a shot of vodka.”

“Then you’re really going to love this.” I open the lid to a sheet cake. “I kept my promise and brought you cake.”

“Happy First Birthday?” Kristy reads, cocking an eyebrow.

“You get a free smash-cake when you order a first birthday cake.

Kristy tips her head, looking at me. “You never fail to impress me, Cal.”

“I’m a genius, I know.” I go around the counter. “Have people been assholes all day?”

“Yes! It’s like every other person in here has something to complain about.”

Crap. That’s what I was afraid of. I decided to stop by our bookstore on the way home from getting groceries to not only thank Kristy again for finding someone to cover my shift tonight by bringing her the cake I promised as well as coffee, but to check in on how things were going.

“It’s taking all I have not to snap back,” Kristy confesses. “Even Betty is getting there, and she’s the nicest person in this town.”

“Remember the other day how I said something felt weird about the Ley line?”

Kristy’s eyebrows go up. “You don’t think—” She cuts off when a customer comes up, complaining that we sold out of a new release already and now her whole day is ruined because of it.

“Is it terrible I wish something is wrong with the Ley line?” Kristy heavily sits on the stool behind the counter. “At least that way people aren’t actually turning into assholes.”

“Right?” I pop the lid off the cake I bought and hand Kristy a fork. Yes, we’re eating it right out of the box. I sink my fork in and take a bite. “I’ll go investigate when I get home.”

“Speaking of home…” She gets a forkful of frosting. “Everything is okay there?”

“As okay as it will be. Scott is gone, thankfully.” I take another bite of cake. “I told Lucas everything.”

“Everything, everything?”

“I didn’t write a novel, but yeah. He knows how I was sold, tested and tortured, and how Tabatha came to get me.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t rip your father apart last night.”

“He wants to. He wanted to back at Penny’s party.” I regret admitting that the moment the words leave my lips. Just last night, Tabatha, Evander, and Kristy told me they are worried Lucas is going to cross a line he can’t uncross. “But he won’t. He won’t do anything I don’t want him to.”

Kristy just nods and looks down at the cake again. “This is good. You know I love buttercream frosting.”

“It’s the best. Anyone who prefers whipped has something wrong with them.”

Kristy laughs. “Right? I’m going to emotionally eat this the rest of the day in order to avoid cursing people.”

“I say curse ‘em.”

“Now I’m really glad I got Vanessa to come in for you tonight.”

“Want me to come back after I unload my groceries?”

“No, I’m leaving in like an hour anyway. But thanks.”

“Call me if you need anything.” I take one more bite of cake and head out, slowly walking down the sidewalk. I’m almost directly over the Ley line and everything feels normal. Stopping by a manhole cover in the sidewalk, I drop down to my knee and pretend to tie my already-tied boot. Holding my hand over the cover, I read the energy coming from inside.

I almost don’t feel it at first, it’s so slight. But the energy is pulsing, like a heartbeat.

“Shit,” I say out loud this time. The energy flows, coming off stronger some days than others. But it shouldn’t pulse like this. Looking back at the store, I debate on going in and telling Kristy. She’s stressed enough as it is from dealing with crabby people all day.

I hurry to my Jeep, needing to make it home fast before my cold food items spoil in the heat, and to send my familiars out to investigate. If something is going on with the Ley line, the coven needs to be alerted right away. This isn’t something to mess around with, and even though calling the Grand Coven back is the last thing I need right now, they’ll have to come.

Protecting the Ley lines is a priority.

I pull the Jeep around back, parking as close as I can to the back porch. I grab my bags of cold items first, taking them in to put away. Binx comes to greet me as soon as I’m through the door, and Pandora and Freya want to know what kind of food I bought for them. I ask them to go look into the Ley line and promise I’ll make them food once they get back.

I put my freezer items away first, glad my ice cream didn’t melt, and then go into the living room to look for Lucas. What I see makes my heart stop and heat as hot as the sun wash over me.

He’s sleeping on the couch—naked—with his face turned up to the sun. There’s no gentle rise and fall of his chest as he sleeps. No soft breathing. When vampires sleep, they truly look dead.

Smiling, I take a moment to appreciate his glorious body, and then sneak back out to bring in the rest of the food. I’ve put almost everything away when he wakes up, coming into the kitchen.

And he’s still naked. Damn, I’m a lucky witch.

“You seem to have lost all your clothes.” I shove a can of soup into my now-full cabinets.

Lucas looks down at his body, acting startled. “I hate when that happens.”

I laugh and cross the room, going over to him. He takes me in his arms, and his skin is warm from the sunlight streaming down on him, and now it makes sense why he took his clothes off. After over sixteen-hundred years of living in the dark, I’d sunbathe naked too.

“Did you freak Eliza out?”

“I did.” He grins. “It was fun.”

“Everything is okay at the bar?” I ask, fearing a bit for the answer. The health code violations were fake, but if word got out there were rats at The Taproom, people might not want to go.

“Yes,” Lucas says, and I let out a breath of relief. “Luckily, Mondays aren’t busy days for us anyway.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Lucas smooths my hair back. “We’re still on track for a boring afternoon.”

“Let’s hope so. What do you want to do for our date tonight?”

“I made us a reservation at Almeida for eleven-thirty.”

Almeida was a swanky restaurant that became incredibly popular after extending their hours and serving top-shelf human blood, bringing some of the older and wealthier vampires in from all around the country. And rich humans find the vampires to add something exclusive about the experience, making it one of the top places to eat in all of Chicago. I blink. “That place books months in advance! How did you get a table?”

Lucas smirks. “I have my ways.” He leans down and kisses me, reminding me that’s he’s very much naked right now. His hand goes up my shirt, unhooking my bra.

“So, we’re meeting with the bank after sunset to finalize the house stuff, and then we’ll leave?”

Lucas nods. “Yes, and I want you to come with me because I’m putting the house in your name too. I want it to be our house.”

I already knew he was doing that, but hearing him say it out loud brings a big smile to my face. “I want it to be our house too.”

“I love you, Callie.” He tips my head up to his, and my heart skips a beat. In a swift movement, he picks me up and carries up upstairs. The rest of the afternoon isn’t going to be so boring after all.