Reign of Night (Thorne Hill 7)

“If it’s not gone in the morning, you should call the midwife.”

“I will,” I tell him. “It’s just been a long fucking day.”

“It has.” He comes into the room and hands me two pills and a glass of water. My familiars move off me so I can sit up and take the pills.

“Are you okay?” Lucas asks, meaning my mental state. “A lot happened in a short time.” He sits on the bed next to me, pulling me close to him once I’ve washed down the medicine and put the glass on the nightstand.

“Something Scott said is bothering me,” I confess. “Right before you came in, he said something like we were wondering why you stay in the shadows and he meant witches. It just…it doesn’t sit right with me.” I run my finger over the scorched material of Lucas’s shirt. My heart speeds up when I think about the police surrounding him, using UV light to force him to submit when he was already complying. The sound of the gunshot echoes through my mind, making me jump.

Lucas brings me onto his lap, able to hear my racing heart. That wasn’t the first time Lucas got shot in front of me, but it was just as terrifying. Demons, monsters, witches using dark magic…they’re dangerous. Very dangerous. But so is a gun in the hands of an unhinged person, and the fact that anyone, anywhere, can be that volatile, raining shots down on the least suspecting, innocent people, terrifies me.

“Was he trying to egg you on?”

“I don’t know.” I flatten my hand over Lucas’s chest. There’s no heartbeat against my palm, and his chest doesn’t rise and fall as he breathes. “Maybe I’m reading into it too much, but it felt like he wanted us to come out so he could attack us. Though the way he said it, stay in the shadows…it’s just not the way Scott talks.”

“I don’t know, my love, but even if he tried to out you, he would end up looking like the insane piece of shit he is. The world still isn’t ready for vampires. They won’t be ready for witches.” Lucas lays us down, keeping me tight in his embrace.

“You’re right. And maybe it was just Scott trying to push my buttons, but it doesn’t make sense. And Roger knowing I was at Abby’s house doesn’t make sense, either.” I close my eyes right as something clicks into place in my mind. “Holy shit.” I sit up, twisting to look at Lucas. “The day Roger tried to shoot me—the first time—I went wedding dress shopping with Abby and Kristy. We ran into Nancy and her hoity-toity friends, and she was embarrassed.”

“And a hunter from the Order was sent after you.”

“Yeah. On the same day.” The Order of the Mystic Realm is an old-school, super intense—and super hateful against anything nonhuman—group of hunters that even Easton and Melinda wouldn’t touch. They told me there are still a few chapters left, and the hunters that make them up are more than a little corrupt.

Lucas’s eyes narrow slightly. “A vampire hired Roger, who was a shitty hunter, to go after you. The purpose of that was to try and piss me off.”

“So you would react in the public eye and get arrested.” More of Scott’s words come back to me. I did what I should have done the second that bloodsucker attacked me at Penny’s party. “When did those vampires start going after you for assimilating?”

“Sometime last year. They went after almost all vampire-owned businesses who abided by the VC’s rules. But it got worse after we met.”

“Holy shit.” I push my hair back, heart hammering even faster in my chest. “I can see the writing on the wall, but why? Why would the Martins work with vampires? They hate vampires with a passion.”

“Yes,” Lucas says, blue eyes meeting mine. “But they hate you more.”Chapter 23“Good morning, my love.”

I roll over, stretching my arms out before sitting up. “What time is it?”

“Nearly ten a.m.”

“I slept in late.” It’s bright and sunny today, and wind presses into the side of the house. Hopefully it’s blowing in a warm front.

“Easton texted you last night.” Lucas eyes my phone on the nightstand. “You really should block his number. It was past midnight and too late to be contacting you.”

“Stop being so possessive and jealous,” I grumble. “I’m usually up until two or three a.m., and it could be about a demon.”

“Exactly why he shouldn’t be contacting you.”

I make a face and grab my phone. It only has two percent battery left since I didn’t plug it into the charger.

Easton: Haven’t heard from you in a while. Everything okay?

“He’s just asking how things are going,” I tell Lucas and lie down to type back a reply.

Me: Yeah, overall. What about you guys?