“Oh, I do love the older brother’s best friend trope. We have a whole section devoted to those types of books at the store.” I set the salami down. “I really can’t eat it?”
“Hang on.” Eliza does a search on her phone. “Microwave it until it’s steamy. It says you’re unlikely to get sick, and since you’re not human you’re not as weak as most.”
I look at the salami in my hand, and my eyes fill with tears. There’s so much I don’t know.
“Here.” Eliza gets a plate, puts a few pieces of salami on it, and goes to the microwave. She looks at it for a few seconds, not familiar with using it, and then heats up my meat.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She crosses her arms and leans against the counter. “If it’s a girl, you should name her Eliza,” she says seriously.
“Maybe a middle name. I would say I’d name her after my mother, but I’m named after my mother, so that would just be weird.” I shake my head, hair falling in my face. “I don’t really want to think about that yet. Julian told me I’m the first nephilim to get knocked up.” I pause, feeling emotional again. This time I know I can’t blame it on hormones, though. “I’m assuming I’ll be able to grow this little thing until it’s ready to pop out, but what if…”
“You’re nonhuman half rejects it?” Eliza finishes for me.
“Yeah.” I look up, locking eyes with her, and feel a sense of relief. I’ve been denying that to myself, not even wanting to let myself think it. “We need to deal with this, assume things are going to happen as we think, but I don’t want to get too excited.” I look up, trying to blink away tears.
I fail.
“I didn’t want that test to be positive,” I go on. “But then when I saw how excited Lucas was…”
“It’ll be okay,” Eliza says and comes over, awkwardly patting me on the back.
“Thanks,” I sniffle. “Keep this between us, okay?”
“Ugh, another secret.” She rolls her eyes, and I laugh. The microwave beeps, and I get the plate out, flipping the pieces of deli meat over and sticking it back in for another thirty seconds for good measure. I stick the plate in the fridge to let the meat cool back down and eat several pieces of cheese, which sadly doesn’t sit well in my stomach.
I go back into the living room and sit on the floor to play with Scarlet. The blinds start to go up, startling me. The sound sends me back to being in the research lab.
“I’ll never let that happen to you,” I whisper, hand going over my stomach. “And you’ll always know exactly who you are.”
I get up to find Lucas and Julian. I make it to the foyer before the doorbell rings. Scarlet barks and comes running like a good little guard dog.
“It’s our friends,” I tell her and suck in a breath. “Time to blow everyone’s fucking minds.”Chapter 39“Hey, guys,” I say, opening the door. Kristy, Evander, Tabatha, Ruby, and the twins all arrived together, and I step back, welcoming them into the house.
“Wow.” Ruby stops short in the foyer, looking at the large chandelier above us. “This place is amazing.”
“Why don’t you live here?” Evander laughs. “I would.”
“Thorne Hill is home.” I close the door behind them and give Tabatha a hug.
“It’s been too long,” she says, hugging me tight. I close my eyes, comforted by the smell of lavender and sage.
“It has.” The last time I saw her was when she came over to help heal Lucas. “Come in,” I say to everyone. “There are appetizers out, and once Abby gets here, we can eat.”
I pretend like I don’t see everyone exchanging glances and avoid eye contact with Kristy. I’ve never kept a secret from her since we became friends all those years ago.
“Hello.” Julian appears in the hall, popping in from upstairs.
“What’s going on?” Evander asks, pointing to Julian. “Are you in trouble, Callie?”
“Not any more than usual,” I say, waving my hand in the air. “Julian just wanted to visit.”
“They can just visit now?” Evander stares at me dubiously and then looks at Kristy, thinking she knows more than she’s letting on. She actually does, and I don’t want to put her in an awkward situation.
“This is Julian,” I tell Ruby, who’s the only one in the bunch who hasn’t met him. “He’s a cousin. From my father’s side.”
Ruby stares at me for a few seconds and then looks at Julian, jaw dropping. “He’s…he’s an angel?”
“I am an angel of the Lord,” Julian says.
“Julian, this is Ruby. She’s a witch. We go way back. She used to hate me,” I ramble. Fuck, I wish I could drink. The doorbell rings again, and I let Abby in. Lucas and Eliza come downstairs, joining us in the kitchen as we fill up plates and go into the formal dining room.