Reign of Night (Thorne Hill 7)

“Just kind of?” Abby laughs.

“He’s too pretty to kill.” I smile up at my husband. “I tried really hard not to fall for him.”

“I’m irresistible.” He leans over the couch and kisses me, slipping a hand down my shoulder onto my boob for a squeeze. “I’ll be in the office.”

“Okay.”

“You guys are cute together,” Abby says when Lucas leaves the living room.

“I’m glad you think so now.” I mentally cringe when that last word leaves my lips. Abby still deals with a lot of guilt over what happened when we were kids, and I didn’t mean to add more to it. She had a very hard time accepting the fact that I could be with a vampire. She was raised by William Martin, who instilled nothing but fear in her, and it’s actually pretty damn amazing she came out the way she did. I guess that whole nature versus nurture thing has some merit to it after all.

“I was scared,” she admits. “Though now I know you’re way scarier than vampires.”

We laugh, and I nod in agreement. “That is true. It was kind of hard to date before. Lucas was the first guy who was on a level playing field with me.”

“I never thought about it like that.”

“Even at Grim Gate, I was different. Accepted,” I add quickly. “But different.”

“I wish I could see the school. In my head it’s pretty cool.”

I smile. “It is, and if there were a way to take you, I would, but there’s a good chance you’d burn before you walked through the door. It’s warded to only let members of our Coven in, and if anyone else is coming for a visit, there’s a certain spell that needs to be performed so the door lets them through.”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

She smiles. “I’m kind of jealous you have magic and I don’t.” She makes a face. “I feel silly saying that out loud, but I like not having any secrets between us.”

I force a smile. Yeah…no secrets…like how you almost died and Lucifer healed you, and then Easton and I cleaned up the crime scene, I spelled you to forget, and threw away your bloody clothes. “I can’t imagine not having magic.”

“I wouldn’t want to deal with demons, though. I still don’t know how you do it.”

“Most witches and warlocks don’t deal with demons. We do have the ability to curse you, though, so instead of a passive-aggressive Facebook post, we might send a hex your way instead.”

“There are a few people I’d like to hex,” she grumbles.

“I’m happy to do it for you, and the possibilities are endless.” My eyes might light up a little too much.

“Hah, if it comes to that, I’ll let you know. I’m one of the few moms at Penny’s daycare who works.”

“But you’re a doctor,” I reply, eyebrows going up. “Doesn’t that give you bragging rights?”

“In that mom-circle, being married to a doctor gives me bragging rights.”

“Ugh, I’m sorry.”

She waves her hand in the air. “It’s fine. Gives me something to complain about every night over dinner.” Checking the time on her phone, she sighs. “I don’t want to go back out into the cold, but I should head to the store.”

“And we should head back to Thorne Hill. I miss my bed and cuddling with Binx while I nap sounds really nice.”

“Get all the sleep you can now. It’s annoying to be told how tired you’re going to be once you have your baby, but it’s so true.”

“I can only imagine, but I’m really hoping once I have less humanity inside me, I’ll go back to my old self who hardly needs sleep, can drink an entire bottle of wine before feeling it, doesn’t get sick, and can have Lucas bite me daily again.” I shake my head. “I can’t really say I took being a Nephilim for granted since it hasn’t been that long since I’ve known, but damn, being exhausted and nauseous isn’t fun.”

“No,” Abby laughs. “It’s not.” She stretches her arms out in front of her and gets up, going to use the bathroom before she leaves. I rest my head against the back of the couch, eyes falling shut. Abby’s phone rings, and I sit up to see who’s calling. I’ll answer if it’s Phil so I can have him hold the phone up for Penny to say hi.

But it’s not Phil, and Dad pops up on the screen. I make a move to silence the call but pick up the phone at the last second, feeling petty and impulsive yet again. I answer the call and put the phone to my ear.

“Hello, Dad.”Chapter 15“Just kidding. I know you’re not my real father,” I say with a snort of laughter.

“Callie,” he exhales. “What—where—put Abigail on the phone this instant.”

“Sorry, no can do. She’s busy participating in a dark ritual to sell her soul to my old pal Lucifer. She’ll be part of my coven in no time.”