Heir of Night (The Thorne Hill)

Nodding, I relax and slowly run my fingers up and down Lucas’s muscular arm until I fall asleep.

Chapter 15

“Callie, you’re having a nightmare.” Lucas’s large hand lands on my shoulder, gently shaking me awake. I open my eyes, feeling the clutches of my dream. I’m in our bed, and the familiar surrounds of the room bring comfort.

“I know,” I pant as I sit up. “I dreamed we went to the hospital because I was in labor, and when they took me into a room, it was the research lab.”

“That’s not going to happen. I wouldn’t allow it.” He takes me in his arms, and I feel better already. It was just a stupid dream…with a deeper meaning.

“What if I go into labor during the day?”

Lucas moves one hand to my stomach, gently rubbing it. Elena must be sleeping because she’s nice and calm in there right now. “Kristy said she would drive you, and Tabatha will meet you at the hospital no matter what time of the day,” he reminds me.

“I need you to be honest with me.” I lean against Lucas, resting a hand on top of his. “Is it a pipe dream to think I’ll have a smooth birth in the hospital with drugs to keep me comfortable and nurses to check on the baby?”

“We’ll find a way to make it happen,” he says with no hesitation.

“I’m not fully human, and we’ve seen what happens when I’m medically treated like one.”

“Getting around the standard protocols will be a challenge,” he admits. “Luckily, your husband has a way of making people do what he wants, and the rest of your support system has magic. And not to mention your sister is a doctor.”

“That is reassuring. The coven midwife has done hundreds of home births. I do like the idea of having you with me and not worrying if you’ll make it in time before the sun goes down.”

“We have time to think about it.” He kisses my neck. “And we will find a way, Callie. Whatever you want, we will find a way to make it happen.”

I close my eyes and get a vision from my dream again. “Elena isn’t going to be fully human, either. I’m scared they’ll take her away and sell her to—”

“That’s not happening, either,” Lucas says in a calm voice.

“I hate hospitals,” I say, though Lucas is aware. The scars from my childhood trauma cut deep, and being a patient freaks me the fuck out.

“You’re not going into labor tonight.” Lucas lays us back down and helps me get comfortable. “We can make two plans in the morning. One for a home birth and one for a hospital birth. Even if you were dead set on giving birth in a hospital, labor can progress so fast you don’t make it in time.”

“Have you been reading pregnancy blogs again?”

“Maybe.” His lips are against my neck, and I can feel him smile. “I never paid attention to humans procreating before. Now that I have a reason to, it’s quite fascinating. What your body goes through—”

“Is freaky.”

“I suppose.” He chuckles. “Though I was going to say impressive.” He kisses my neck. “Try to go back to sleep. It’s only been an hour since we laid down.”

“I’ll try.” I close my eyes and snuggle up with Lucas. Physically, I’m comfortable, but I can’t shut off my damn mind, making me long for the days when I could go downstairs, pour myself a glass of sweet wine, and turn on the TV while I drank to calm my nerves.

Scarlet is walking up and down the hall, nails clicking on the hardwood floor. She’s patrolling, not happy a demon came into the house yesterday and she wasn’t allowed to tear it apart. She was literally made for murder, and not killing anything is making her stir crazy. Don’t worry, Scar. I’m sure there will be something to kill sooner rather than later.

I sip my coffee, looking out at the front yard. It’s much colder today than it was yesterday, and I’m sitting on the porch swing as I wait for the pool crew to arrive. I’d forgotten about it until Lucas reminded me they were coming today to mark off buried wires and the area where the pool is going in. Along with a pool, we’re getting a patio put in around it, with a hot tub and a little cabana area that will have a built-in grill, a wet bar, and a small bathroom for people to use when they’re soaking wet from the pool.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d have something like this in my very own backyard. I’d imagined myself buying and slowly renovating this huge house a hundred times and felt tempted more than once to use magic to get the bank to sell me this place for only a dollar. It would be wrong, but mostly I never did that because the repairs on this place were astronomical.