Curse of Night (Thorne Hill 5)

But it’s comforting having him here. He knows the truth—he knows my father—and there’s no judgement from him whatsoever. And it’s so fucking nice to ask him about my angel side, though there are many specific things only my father can answer, like if I’ll live longer than the average human.

Half of me came from an immortal being. And not just any immortal, but the mighty archangel Michael, according to Julian. Michael is one of the most respected, revered—and feared—archangels. He’s got some major clout amongst the other angels, which means it’ll come as a huge shock if the others find out that Michael not only lied about me, but is the reason I was born.

Regardless of not having the answers, it’s a good distraction to talk with Julian as I put up the decorations. Because it still stings knowing that I’m going to miss out on the Samhain festivities with my coven. One of the reasons Lucas and I put off the second leg of our honeymoon was so I didn’t have to be here when the celebrations started.

The coven was my family. The Covenstead was my home. It shaped me into the witch I am today, and losing that part of me hurts. I still see those who matter most, but it’s not the same.

Though now…now things are different. Julian is here—for now. And I have Lucas, who means more to me than anyone in the world. And soon we’ll have our baby.“Are we just going to tell her?” I unbuckle my seatbelt and look at Lucas. We just pulled into the garage of his Lincoln Park house. “Or should we ease it into the conversation? Because this is going to be quite shocking and I am not in the mood to deal with drama today.”

“It’ll be fine, Callie,” Lucas promises. “We’ll tell her together.”

I nod and let out a breath. I started feeling car sick halfway here, and all I want to do right now is lay down in a dark room, take a nap, and wake up three months from now when the morning sickness is supposedly going to be over.

“Let’s do this, then.” I get out of the car, waiting for Julian to follow me inside. He sat in the backseat with Scarlet, trying to figure out a way to adjust her glamour to make it look like she’s growing. So far, we’ve had no luck, and Julian thinks the glamour is something only an archangel can change.

Or maybe me…just not today.

Lucas opens the door, my familiars run in ahead, and Scarlet yips and chases after, slipping on the marble floor and crashing into a wall. I swear, the longer she’s in puppy-form, the more she acts like an actual dog.

Eliza is sitting in the kitchen, with a bottle of hot pink nail polish open. The smell immediately makes me gag.

“Motherfucker,” I mumbled, annoyed that now every single little fucking thing is getting to me.

“Hello to you, too.” Eliza brings a freshly polished hand to her face and gently blows on her nails. There’s a martini glass full of blood in front of her and looking at if for some reason makes me able to smell the coppery scent of blood. I turn, gagging.

“Are you okay?” Lucas asks, dropping my overnight bag on the kitchen floor. He takes me in his arms, brushing my hair back. “What do you need?”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Eliza throws her head back, dramatically sighing, and reaches for her glass of blood. Her perfect eyebrows go up as she looks Julian over. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a friend. Maybe I’ll know what it’s like to be touched by an angel, too.” A smug smile comes over her face as she waits for either me or Lucas to turn to her and tell her to shut the fuck up.

But when neither of us do, she gets a little concerned.

“What’s going on?” she asks and quickly stands.

“Callie is with child,” Julian states. “She’s rather nauseous.”

So much for easing this into the conversation. But right now I’m honestly not sure if the Hot Pocket I had before we left for Chicago is going to stay in my stomach or not.

“What?” Eliza’s voice is high pitched and strained. She’s still holding the glass of blood, and thinking about the thick, red liquid does me in. I put my hand over my mouth and run to the sink, throwing up everything that’s in my stomach. Lucas gathers my hair in his hand, pulling it out of the way as I heave into the sink.

“I hate this,” I whimper and then throw up nothing but bile.

“Do you have seltzer water?” Julian asks Eliza. “I read it can help.”

“I…I…I’m a vampire,” she finally says as she realized this is all serious. “I only drink blood.”