Dark of Night (Thorne Hill 2)

Taking a step back, I hold out one hand toward the door and bring the other up to my ear. “Manga disputatio,” I whisper and channel my energy on Lucas. Different sounds of the house echo through the hand I have cupped over my ear.

“Come on,” I whisper, and think of Lucas’s handsome face. His voice comes through loud and clear.

“I apologize if we interrupted something,” a male vampire tells Lucas, though he doesn’t sound sorry at all.

“It’s nothing I can’t resume later,” Lucas says, and the other vampires laugh. “I assume you’re here on behalf of Jacob. I don’t like to be stood up, and I’m not the most forgiving vampire.”

“We’re here because of him, not on his behalf,” a female vampire says. They walk through the house, and their footsteps echo through the one-way magical telephone. “He was following our orders to meet with you and file an official report with the Council about the anti-assimilation group that’s causing trouble in the area.”

“They’ve caused me no trouble,” Lucas goes on, lying to the VC. I’m pretty sure he still has a member of that group tied up in the basement of the bar, slowly torturing information out of him. Or just for revenge.

“Then they’re smarter than we thought,” the female vampire says. “You’re the oldest vampire in Chicago. Going after you would not be wise.”

But they have gone after him, and that scares me. Because I get the feeling that group isn’t stupid. Though they did send three young vampires after Lucas…unless that was meant to set him up. They knew he’d easily kill them.

“We believe some of the vampires targeted by this group are being threatened or blackmailed into not coming forward. If they see you—the oldest and one of the most respected vampires in the area—speaking out against this, then they might too.”

The vampires move again, muffling their voices and making it hard to tell what’s being said. I know Lucas wants nothing to do with politics of any kind. He wants to find out who’s in charge of the group and handle it his way, which probably involves ripping out and crushing hearts with his bare hands, instead of it going through the vampire legal system, which functions similar to the human one.

Though they do opt for the death sentence way more often than humans do.

“Jacob’s disappearance is concerning,” the male vampire says. They stopped moving and their voices are coming in clearer again. “He’s not the only registered vampire to go missing in the last few weeks either.”

“Do you think it could be a hunter?” Lucas asks, doing a good job at playing along with this.

“It’s possible,” the male vampire replies. “There has been a new wave of hate crimes against our kind after Senator Martin’s speech.”

My fucking father.

“That might not be the only reason vampires are going missing.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas asks.

“The VC hasn’t made any official announcements yet,” the female vampire starts, “as we don’t want to put vampires on the defense. Lord knows we’re still struggling with assimilation and acceptance amongst the humans. Any sort of freak out or wrongfully accusing an innocent person would not work in our favor. Plus, we don’t want to piss them off.”

“Who?”

“Witches.”

“Witches?” Lucas echoes, sounding shocked. “In Chicago?”

“Not necessarily just in the city, but in the Midwest. We’ve gotten reports of increases in magical energy.”

“You were around during the War,” the male says.

“I didn’t take part in it,” Lucas informs him.

“You still know what they did to us. What they could do again.”

“The witches haven’t bothered us in centuries,” Lucas counters, and my hands start to shake.

“I’d like to keep it that way,” the female says. “You’re old enough to be able to tell the difference between a tree-hugging human who practices Wicca and calls herself a witch and the real deal. And if you come across one, I trust you’ll do the right thing and end them.”

Chapter 5

I step away from the door, jaw clenched tight. Neither the Grand Coven nor the Vampire Council approve of witch-vampire relationships, but hearing how the VC wants to deal with witches…it’s unnerving. They’ve been so focused on assimilation, ordering anyone other than vampires to death is extreme. Many witches lead fairly normal lives outside the coven and look like ordinary humans. The VC must really hate us to be willing to risk a vampire murdering a human in cold blood.

Lucas has made it clear that he only follows the laws put in place for vampires because he saw it as beneficial to himself to be able to put his businesses and properties in his name instead of having a human proxy. He’s a rules-don’t-apply-to-me kind of guy and wouldn’t stop seeing me just because the VC told him to, even if he didn’t care about me as much as he does.

Which happens to be a lot. A take-a-demon-blade-through-the-heart lot. And I love him.

More than anyone I’ve ever loved before.

More than I thought possible.

Because for a while there, I wasn’t sure my broken heart was capable of loving like this, of feeling such affection and passion for just one man. I will do anything for him, even if that means killing every single vampire that stands in our way.

I drop my hand, having lost my concentration, and sit on the bench at the foot of the bed. This doesn’t change anything, right? Lucas knew the VC’s stance on witch-vampire relationships and didn’t hesitate to move our relationship forward. Hell, he didn’t even bring it up.

So why am I freaking out so much?

Letting out a breath, I get into bed and move under the covers. I can’t hear the vampires anymore, but I can still feel their energy coming from the first floor. Needing to do something, I grab my phone and open my Kindle app, reading two chapters of a small-town romance before Lucas comes back into the room.

“They’re gone,” he says and leaves the door open behind him.

“Good. Do you have to carry out orders and kill me now?”

“You heard?”

“I had a little magical assistance to listen in on your conversation. I was worried they were going to accuse you of killing Jacob and all try to stake you or something.”

His full lips start to turn up into a grin. “And what would you have done?”

“Blown them up too.”

“You think you could have gotten there fast enough?”

I set my phone down and shrug. “I’d try. Though I think you’d be able to fight them off, wouldn’t you? Or are they older? What if two vampires who were each exactly half your age attacked you? Would it be a level playing field?”

Lucas chuckles and gets into bed with me. It’s like he’s a magnet or some

thing, because as soon as he’s in close proximity, I can’t help but touch him.

“Age isn’t everything with vampires. Yes, you get stronger over the years, but like people, not all vampires are skilled in hand-to-hand combat. A vampire who is two-thousand years old but has only fought off humans would be difficult due to the increased strength, but if they don’t have the skills, I’m confident I’d win.”

“You are very skilled.”

“In more ways than one.” He advances, pinning me down against the mattress. “And because I know you’re wondering, I am older than both of the vampires who came to the house tonight. I could easily kill them, though this is a rare time when I’m going to say not killing will make things easier.”

I laugh, though I’m not sure if he’s actually joking or not. He moves between my legs, and the soft material of his sweatpants pushes up the silk of my pajama shorts. I arch my back, pressing my core against him.

“You have nothing to worry about,” he promises. “I love you, Callie. You know when I say something, I mean it, but you don’t know how few people I’ve loved—actually loved. And no one has ever come close to how I feel for you. You are everything I’ve been looking for, everything I’ve longed for and wished for over the last sixteen centuries.”

My heart lurches in my chest, and I bring my hands up, raking my fingers through his messy brown hair.

“Saying I’ve felt the same in the seven years I’ve legally been an adult doesn’t pack the same punch,” I start.

“No,” he says softly with a smile. “It doesn’t.”

“But you’ve showed me what it’s like to be loved, and how amazing it is to open myself up and give everything to you, because I know without a doubt there will never be another who I love more than you.”

“There won’t be,” he growls and puts his lips to mine. I buck my hips, rubbing myself against him. I tangle my fingers in his hair and run my other hand down his back, tracing his spine down to the waistband of his pants. I push my hand inside, giving his muscular butt a squeeze, and then tug down his pants.