Reign of Night (Thorne Hill 7)

I hold myself there, feeling his cock pulse inside me, before we slowly untangle. Lucas lays me down and speeds out of the room, turning with a damp washcloth. He gently wipes up the smears of blood on my thigh, and then I take the washcloth from him, holding it between my legs as I go to the bathroom. I pee, wipe myself up, and then toss the rag in the laundry basket we need at the top of the landing that leads to the basement.

Lucas is putting another log on the fire when I come back into the living room, and then we snuggle up naked on the couch under a blanket together.

“You never did tell me how shopping was.” Lucas gathers my hair to the side and kisses my neck. I’m feeling a little light headed from the blood loss, even though he didn’t drink as much as usual. I close my eyes and rest my head against his bare chest.

“It was nice. Evander didn’t find it too fun, though. He left and went to an electronic store while we looked at clothes and baby stuff. But it was nice. And dinner was nice, too, well, until Melinda called and said three more bodies were found by another Ley line in Florida. They had demonic sigils carved into their chests.”

“Do you know what demon?”

I nod. “Paimon. He’s an upper-level demon,” I add, knowing Lucas is going to ask. “So, it might not be demons doing the sacrificing but humans. Either way, it’s not good.”

“The bodies were found today?”

“Yeah. She said the ME marked time of death around dawn this morning.”

“And the last set of bodies were found about a month ago.”

“Right and—” I cut off, remembering how dark it was last night when I let Scarlet out. “Where’s your phone?”

“Right here,” he says and reaches over, picking it up off the coffee table. He uses facial recognition to unlock it and hands it to me. I open an internet search and pull up a chart of the moon phases.

“There was a new moon last night, and one the night the other bodies were found.”

“What does that mean in terms of magical significance?”

“A few things,” I say, looking at the date of the next new moon. “It can be literal in the sense that a dark sky is ideal for dark magic, but it’s also good for setting new intentions, and your spell can grow with the moon. In regards to demonic sacrifices…I’m not sure. Obviously, it has significance to them since two sets of victims were killing the same way, over a Ley line, and on a new moon.”

Lucas runs his fingers up and down my arm, helping to keep me calm. “If the next sacrifice takes place on the next new moon, we have a month.”

I nod. “It gives us a little bit of time, at least. I’ll let Tabatha know, and Nicole and Naomi. Their gran studied demonology. Maybe she’ll recognize if this ritual is some sort of summoning or something else.”

“Good idea. There are other covens protecting Ley lines just like yours, correct?”

“Right.”

“They should be warned and on the lookout for demons. Is it possible to place wardings around the Ley lines?”

“Maybe around a hotspot, but they’re too big. Though if we can get all the covens around said hotspots to cast a spell at the same time, we can probably tap into the Ley line’s collective power and cast something pretty damn powerful.” I hold out my hand and telekinetically bring my purse over so I can get my phone out. Evander was meeting with some friends at a bar in town tonight and will be able to receive my text to relay to Tabatha later, who’s back at the Covenstead. I fire off a text and put my phone done, not expecting a response until the morning.

Lucas is right: we have a month, and a lot can happen in a month. A lot of good…and a lot of bad. I’m trying to stay positive, to think we’ll get to the bottom of this just in the nick of time like usual, but I have a sinking feeling that Paimon is already here, and he’s not alone.Chapter 28My phone rings, stirring me from my sleep.

“I’ll get it,” Lucas tells me, and my eyes fall shut. It’s early in the morning—much too early to be awake yet. “It’s your sister.”

I sit up, worried something happened because why else would she be calling me so early? Nerves prickle through me. What if my spell is weakening and she had a dream about getting shot? A lot has gone on, pushing that issue to the back burner, but the guilt is still there.

“Hello?”

“Hiiiii,” Penny says into the phone, little baby-voice melting my heart.

“Hi, Penny! What are you doing up this early?”