“Are you feeling sick?” Lucas asks, gently resting his hand on my stomach. I don’t have the heart to tell him that when I feel like I’m going to throw up, the last thing I want is for anyone to touch my stomach.
“I have been for days. Luckily the devil himself busting out of Hell and then cleaning up a crime scene is rather distracting.”
“You should go upstairs and lie down,” he suggests.
“Stop treating me like I’m fragile,” I counter, though a nap sounds fucking amazing right now. My heart is still racing and I’m not sure if I want to go into a full telekinetic rage and throw shit around the room or collapse onto the soft mattress in the guest room and snuggle under warm blankets. “Will you come with me?”
“Of course.”
“Okay. Then I’ll go lie down.”
“And I’ll get the ear plugs,” Eliza huffs, rolling her eyes so far back it’s impressive. I’m not in the mood for sex, but if anyone can change that, it’s Lucas.
“Are you hungry?” Lucas asks, pulling me to him again. Being pressed up against his chest brings an instant sense of comfort, and for a split second, I actually believe everything is going to be alright.
“A little.”
“What do you want? I’ll have Monica bring it over for you.”
“Tacos, maybe. I’ll know for sure after I nap.” I slip my hands under Lucas’s shirt, comforted further by the coolness of his skin. “Normally, I’d say there’s no way I’d be able to lie down and fall asleep after everything that happened, but this baby is stealing all my energy. I’m almost thankful,” I add, looking forward to passing out and not having to deal with my emotions for an hour or so.
Granted, that’s only if I don’t have a nightmare.
“You went through an emotional trauma,” Lucas starts, lacing his fingers between mine. “Even though your sister is fine, seeing someone you care about almost die isn’t something that you can easily get over.”
“I know.”
“It’s okay to be upset,” he goes on, and I know he’s trying to open a conversation about how not okay I am. I don’t have time for that, though, and if I let myself go down that emotional path, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get off.
Abby is fine. Roger is gone. And Lucifer has busted out of Hell. I need to focus on one issue at a time or I’m going to come undone.
“I know,” I repeat. “But I’m okay. Tried, but okay.” I look up and smile. “I promise.”“I swear you got bigger since the last time I saw you!” I coo, picking up Penny. The sun set only minutes ago, and Lucas and I just walked through Abby’s front door. She’s on-call but still home and answered the door with a smile on her face. Seeing her step aside and welcome us in loosened the knot in my stomach—just a bit.
If Easton hadn’t said anything about the spell not fully working, I wouldn’t be worried. I’ve never doubted my magic before, but it’s not like I’ve exactly followed up with anyone on how long the memory alterations have lasted. And I’ve never covered up anything of this caliber.
Abby almost died. The fear, the pain, the blood loss…it was all real. I cleaned up enough blood to know she had to be feeling a little woozy the rest of the afternoon. Maybe she wrote it off as being tired or stressed, or not eating properly. Something totally normal, since most people wouldn’t attribute feeling run down with maybe I got shot and healed by the devil.
“She’s in a growth spurt every other day,” Abby laughs. Penny smiles and babbles at me, and then leans out of my arms, reaching for Scarlet.
“Do you mind if she comes in?” I ask Abby, setting Penny down so she can love on Scarlet. We’re standing right where Roger’s body was, and the thought makes me sick. I grimace, wrinkling my nose as I wait for the nausea to pass.
“Not at all, though the more Penny plays with her, the more she’s going to want to get a dog of her own.”
I laugh. “Scarlet isn’t a real dog, remember.”
“Oh, I’ll never forget what she actually looks like. Same with your familiars. Are you ever going to get a normal pet?”
“Normal is boring.”
“Familiars and hellhounds suit you,” Abby says with a wink. Phil walks through the house, greeting both Lucas and me with a big smile.
“I hear a congrats is in order,” he starts, holding out his hand for Lucas to shake.
“I told him,” Abby rushes out. “You’re not mad, are you?”
“Of course not!” I rush out, too eager to agree with and please Abby. It’s not like I’m feeling guilty or anything… “I’m kind of over keeping secrets. It’s not much fun and I’m starting to lose track of them at this point.” Except I’m looking at you and all I can see is the blood pouring from the bullet wound in your stomach.