Reign of Night (Thorne Hill 7)

“I wasn’t invited,” I say, fighting the urge to go all petty and impulsive again. I need to find the demon, and I’m not doing that to Abby. My phone vibrates with a text, and I glance down at the screen, seeing a message from Lucas.

Got him.

“Maybe your invitation got lost,” Drunkie slurs, obviously checking out my breasts. His eyes go down a little further, and it’s then he realizes I’m pregnant, but it doesn’t stop him from staring.

“I’m sure that’s what happened. You know how the post office can be.” I force a smile. “But I’m just so glad to be here and so happy for the new couple. In fact, I think I’m going to give a toast.”

Widening my fake-ass smile, I turn to Abby. “Don’t drink the Champagne,” I whisper and then move through the crowd, going into the kitchen, pulling a vial of truth potion from my bag as I walk. Several bottles of Champagne are open in preparation to be poured into the glasses that are neatly arranged on black trays.

“Light of the moon, dark of the night, cloak me from all, hide me from sight,” I say the incantation, enabling me to stand here unnoticed, and divide the truth potion among the open bottles. I put the empty vial back in my purse and step back, moving out of the way of the wait staff.

I snap my fingers, breaking my cloaking enchantment. “Is it time for the toast?” I ask, and a younger woman nods, looking at me with confusion, wondering why the hell one of Scott’s fancy guests would be back in the kitchen.

“Great. I wanted to give a surprise speech congratulating the happy couple.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” She smiles and starts pouring the champagne in the glasses. I wait, watching the glasses get passed out among the partygoers. And now it’s show time.

“Excuse me!” I call, picking up an empty water glass from someone’s table. I tap a spoon against it, and the room quiets down. “Hi, everyone. Great party, right?”

There’s a murmur of agreement.

“I’ll keep this short and sweet,” I go on. “Congratulations, Scott and Ella.” I raise the water glass up. “To a long happy life. Cheers!” I pretend to take a drink and watch as pretty much everyone sips their Champagne. “And now,” I go on, raising my voice to ensure I’m heard, “tell each other how you really feel about William and Scott Martin.”

A few seconds of strangled silence tick by as people try and resist spitting out the truth. I put the water glass down and take a few steps backwards, moving toward the kitchen again. Lucas suddenly appears beside me, moving so fast I didn’t see him coming.

“Yeah. Where’s the demon?”

“We have him on an empty floor. I was worried about you.”

“I’ll go in a second,” I tell him. “I want to watch the show.”

“What show?”

I reach into my purse and show him the empty vial of truth potion.

“Fuck, I love your petty side.”“We have the demon in an empty office,” Lucas tells me as we leave the Metro Club. Chaos is just starting to break out, and I’m almost sad to miss it. A group of politicians finally speaking the truth? This will never happen again. “It’s a few floors down.” He scoops me up, able to move faster if he carries me at vampire speed down the stairs instead of going in the elevator.

We go into the vacant office space, which used to be a lawyer’s office. The glass doors are already unlocked, and I can see the light from Easton and Melinda’s flashlights bobbing up ahead.

“Hey, guys,” I say and hold out my hand, conjuring a bright blue energy ball to toss up overhead and light the area. “Everything good?”

“For us.” Easton unscrews the cap of a jar of holy water. “For him? Not so much.”

The demon trains his dark eyes on me and inhales. “How kind of you to bring me the half breed.”

I let out a sigh. “You’re not the first demon to tell me that.”

I summoned my familiars as we left the club, and I can sense them enter the building.

“But I’ll be the last,” the demon goes on, and I think everyone in the room collectively rolls our eyes. “You’ll make such a fine gift for our new King. When I break free, you will be mine.”

“Look around,” Lucas says right as my three familiars shadow into the room. “You’re outnumbered. You’re not breaking free. You’re not leaving here alive. Tell us what we want, and when we have no more use for you, you’ll get a swift death. And if not, we have a well and a binding spell. We can keep you locked up for eternity.”

“I’m not talking,” the demon spits.

Lucas smirks, showing off his fangs. “Oh, you are, isn’t he, my love?”