Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Lucas looks down at his chest, annoyed more than anything else. “You missed,” he says, and I realize that he let her stab him just to mock her. He knew it would miss his heart.

“Seriously,” I hiss, watching him yank the branch out of his chest. “Scared me half to death.”

“Sorry, my love.” He holds the makeshift stake up and looks out into the woods. Lucas can see in the dark, and vampires have much better hearing than humans. He’s looking for Ruth, and it’s only a matter of time before he finds her.

And she knows it.

Binx shadows through the woods, moving so fast he’s a dark blur in the night. He’s trying to draw Ruth out and make her move. And it works. Lucas hears something I don’t, and he throws the branch through the air like a frisbee. It hits Ruth in the head, knocking her to the ground. The invisibility spell is broken and Lucas speeds forward, grabbing Ruth by the shoulders. Fangs drawn, he goes in for a deadly bite to her neck.

“Lucas, no!” I shout and run over. “I need her alive. She gave Kristy a sleeping potion and I need the antidote.”

Snarling, Lucas jerks his head back and takes both of Ruth’s wrists in one hand. He pulls something out of his pocket and slips it over Ruth’s head.

“Try your invisibility trick now,” he sneers and spins her around, holding her arms behind her back. The hagstone the vampire Dina used on me hangs from Ruth’s neck.

“Good thinking,” I tell Lucas, impressed he even thought to bring it. Then again, I did have Binx brief him on what was going on. Heart still pounding, I move around Lucas and cast the magical handcuff spell Tabatha used on my father just a few days ago.

“Ad imperium,” I say and snap my fingers together, making the two cuffs of magic that are circling Ruth’s wrist pull together. I step back and Lucas wraps one arm around me.

“You won’t get away with this.” Ruth shakes her head. “I’ll report you. Say you attacked me.”

“Go ahead,” I retort. “And I’ll tell them what really happened.”

“And you think they’ll believe you?” She narrows her eyes. “The only reason an investigation against you hasn’t been started is because I said I’d handle it myself. I told you, Callie,” she spits my name. “One look at your file and the Grand Coven will wonder what you are hiding. Add in how you fought off demonic possession by your own sheer will and they will take matters seriously.”

“You were possessed?” Lucas asks.

“For like a minute,” I tell him, giving him a look that says We’ll talk about it later. “And let them investigate me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Ruth shifts her eyes to Lucas and laughs. “Are you sure about that?”

Blue light sparks behind us and the door starts to open. “Go!” I tell Lucas. He hesitates for a second, not wanting to leave me, but speeds off. He won’t go far, I’m sure.

“Help! Help me!” Ruth starts to yell before anyone is even through the door. Ruby steps out first, followed by two members of the council and Tabatha.

Motherfucker. I know how this looks.

It’s not good.

Ruby starts forward, but stops before she gets to Ruth. She stands in between myself and Ruth, looking back and forth as if she’s trying to make sense of things.

“Help me, my child!” Ruth tries to pull her hands out of the magical cuffs. “She attacked me.”

“No, no, I didn’t,” I protest.

Tabatha holds up her hand. “Silence,” she orders. I step back, hands shaking. Binx meows and rubs against my legs. Freya and Pandora sit patiently near the door, watching and waiting to act if need be.

“Kristy?” I ask, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“She’s in the infirmary,” Tabatha says and strides over to Ruth. “She will make a full recovery.”

“She did it.” Anger floods through me again and Binx rubs his head against my legs, telling me to calm down. I clench my jaw and stare daggers at Ruth. “She gave her the potion.”

“You have no proof of that,” Ruth fires back.

Ruby flicks her eyes to Ruth for half a second. “I let you into the potion room yesterday. I didn’t think anything of it, of course, but after we found Kristy and realized what had been given, I went back and looked. You took what you’d need to make the sleeping potion.”

“I didn’t want to believe it,” Tabatha says. “But then we searched your room and found the antidote.” She extends her hand, holding out an empty potion vile. “One overlooked detail of this particular sleeping spell is how the victim is able to hear what’s going on around them. Makes it particularly terrifying to be locked in your own body, aware of what’s going on but not able to react. Kristy was able to recount everything she’s heard.”

“They’re friends!” Ruth sputters. “Of course she’d lie for her friend! Look at what she did to me! She attacked me!”

“That’s not all we found when we searched your room.” Tabatha reaches into her robe and pulls a Baphomet out of her pocket. It’s a Satanic object, not necessarily illegal to have, but it makes her look guilty of everything Kristy would have overheard.

Ruth was trying to force me to summon the Devil for her.

The council members look at Tabatha, waiting her command. Things are bad, and while I know I’m innocent, I know how this looks.

“I will deal with this the correct way,” Tabatha says, looking pained. She pushes her shoulders back. “Ruth, you are charged with use of an illegal potion, conspiring against the coven, and practice of black magic. You are to return to the Covenstead with your powers bound until the Grand Coven arrives in the morning. And Callie.” She looks me in the eye, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

“Until the Grand Coven reviews your case as well, I hereby suspend you from the coven and forbid you to step inside the Covenstead.”

I feel like I’m falling backwards into the dark. My head moves up and down on its own accord. The suspension is temporary, and I know I’ll be cleared of charges.

But what if I’m not? The coven is my family. The Covenstead is my second home. I can’t lose that.

“Return to your house,” Tabatha further orders me. “You will be contacted by a member of the council once things have been reviewed.” The council leads Ruth back through the door, and I wait, watching everyone go through. The door seals shut behind everyone, and I go to the spot where it appears in the old tree, holding my hand out and feeling for the energy. Until Tabatha lifts my suspension, I won’t be able to open the door even if I tried.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I turn and start back toward my house. My familiars walk along next to me, and we walk in silence. Lucas is on the back porch, waiting for me to return home. He speeds forward once he sees me, and pulls me into his embrace.

I close my eyes and rest my head against his chest. The lack of a beating heart used to unsettle me, but now I find comfort in the quiet.

“Are you all right?” he asks again.

“I will be.” I tip my head up. “I just want to sleep.”

Lucas nods and takes my hand, leading me up the steps. I go right for the fridge, pulling out a bottle of wine and use magic to take out the cork. Not bothering with a glass, I put the bottle of Moscato to my lips and take a few big gulps.

“That’s better.” I set the bottle down and almost immediately feel the alcohol hit me. It’s been a while since I’ve had anything to eat, I’ve been running on pure adrenaline since I was summoned to the Covenstead, and right before that Lucas drank my blood during sex. Exhaustion is going to hit me hard at any moment, and I want nothing more than to pass out and not think about anything at all.

Lucas grabs me by the waist and pulls me to him, kissing me hard. “I love you,” he whispers between kisses.

“And I love you.”

He pulls my hair to the side, moving his lips to my neck. I melt against him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. The sun is starting to come up, but thanks to a spell of my own invention, the light won’t hurt Lucas as long as he stays inside. He picks me up and carries me upstairs and into bed.

“Kristy was supposed to open the store,” I mumble, blindly reaching for my phone on my nightstand. “She won’t be able to go in.”

“You’re not going in, are you?”

“Someone has to open.”

“You’re going to run yourself ragged, Callie.”

“I know,” I agree, seeing no point in arguing. “It feels like we fought off supercharged demons days ago, but it was yesterday.” I let out a sigh. “I’ll get through a few hours until Betty comes in to take over and then I’ll be home. I’ll nap and rest and eat vitamins or something, okay?”

Lucas smiles, brushing my hair back. “Okay.”

I set an alarm, put my phone down, and snuggle up with Lucas. I fall asleep right away.

*

I wake up to the smell of bacon and coffee. Feeling like I just shut my eyes a few minutes ago, I groggily sit up and throw the covers back. I really don’t want to go to work today.

“You’re up.” Lucas walks into the room, holding a tray. “I cannot promise any of this is good.” He comes to the bed and sets the tray down. He made me bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. There’s a mug of steaming black coffee as well. “I watched YouTube videos on how to cook,” he admits with a smile. “It looks like it did in the video, but the smell of human food has no appeal to me.”

Emotion hits me and I look at him, blinking back my feelings. “Thank you. It looks wonderful.” I sit back against my pillows and dig in. There’s way too much salt on the eggs and my toast is soggy with so much butter, but this is the best damn breakfast I’ve ever had.

“Have you ever cooked?” I ask Lucas as I pile eggs onto my toast, folding it together to make a sandwich. “When you were human, I mean. Or did women do all the cooking back then?”

“I don’t know if I’d consider it actually cooking, but I provided food for myself before being captured in war. It was nothing like this, though.”

I take another bite of food and look at Lucas, finding it hard to imagine him as a human. I don’t know much about his human life, other than he was born in the 300s and fought as a Gladiator before being turned into a vampire and forced to fight all over again.

“Did you have a family?” I ask quietly. “When you were human?”

He shakes his head. “I wasn’t married.” He looks out the window, still mesmerized by the sun. “I had two younger sisters, and our father had been killed in war when we were young. I took care of them as well as our mother.”

I trade my toast for the coffee, wanting to ask more but not wanting to push Lucas. I know how painful it can be to revisit the past.  Lucas continues to look out the window. “The last time I saw them was the day I went off to war, and I haven’t thought about them in years.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a very long time ago, Callie.”

“Can I ask one more thing?” I set the coffee cup down and Lucas nods. “Did you know you were going to be turned into a vampire?”

“No. I didn’t know vampires existed until I woke up as one.” He looks at my plate. “Is the food good?”

“It is, thank you again.”

“I’d like to make you dinner, though I fear anything more complicated that putting bacon in a skillet might not turn out as well.”

“I’m not the best cook either,” I tell him with a smile. “Unless I use magic to help me out.”

“I’ll buy you dinner instead.”

“I’m not usually one to turn down a pizza.”

He gets up, kisses the top of my head, and leaves the room. I finish eating, take a fast shower, and use magic to braid my hair. It’s bright and sunny today, and will be hot like usual for this point of the summer. I go to my closet, deciding on a two-piece outfit consisting of shorts and a matching crop top. I get dressed and go down, finding Lucas putting the last of the dishes away.

“You’re not wearing black today?” he asks with a smile. My outfit is beige, with overlaid with multicolored flowers. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Ha-ha. I don’t wear black that often.” He cocks an eyebrow. “Fine, I do. But every once in a while I like to mix it up. And it’s hard to find summery clothes in black. It’s hot today and I hate being sweaty when I’m at work.”

“You never told me what happened last night.” He sets the dish towel down and strides over, pulling me to him and pressing his pelvis against mine. I bring my hands up, resting them on his firm chest. “I got suspending from the coven.”

“Fuck.”

“I know.”

“What does that exactly mean?” he asks.

“It means I can’t get through the door if I tried. It’s the step before excommunication, and anyone still active in the coven shouldn’t associate with me out of fear of being suspended too.”

“But you work with Kristy.”

“There’s some gray area. Our work isn’t magical, so we can keep professional relationships, or at least that’s what the Grand Coven would say.” I take in a breath and turn my head up to look at Lucas. “I’ll be investigated, I’m sure.” I don’t have to say it for him to know that we’re at risk for being discovered again.

“Come to Chicago tonight.” He cups my face in his hands. “We never did get to go out on another fancy date. Let me take you out tonight and then spend the rest of the week with me.” He puts his lips to mine.

“That does sound good, and I do need to lay low and go on as normal. I’m not guilty so there’s no need to act like it.”

“Should I make us a dinner reservation tonight then?”

“Don’t hate me,” I start.

“I could never hate you.”

“Remember that.” I slip my hands under his black t-shirt. “Let me figure out what’s going on with work. Kristy’s stressing already, I’m sure, about this morning. I have no way of contacting her while she’s at the Covenstead since I’m suspended. Phones don’t work and I can’t send her a message or anything.” I can’t bring myself to say the second part, that maybe Lucas should go to Chicago and leave me here alone.

The Grand Coven will be arriving at the Covenstead soon, and if they come here and find a vampire at my house then Ruth’s claims won’t look so false. Fuck, I hate this. No one should be able to tell me who I should or shouldn’t love.

Lucas makes me happy. I love him just as he loves me. We’re not hurting anyone by being together, and it’s just so fucking stupid that anyone has a problem with us.

“Call me when you’re on your way home,” Lucas starts, putting his lips to mine again. “I’ll attempt to make you something to eat again.”

“How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?”

He smirks. “You got drunk, attacked a vampire in my bar, and then I lied to and manipulated you let me drive you home.”

“Oh right. I almost forgot. So much for true love, right?”

He laughs and kisses me once more before I head out the door. Pandora comes with me today, and I run my hand over her sleek fur. In cat-form, she’s a gorgeous calico, with eyes that look almost golden in certain sunlight. She sits on the passenger seat of my Jeep Grand Cherokee on the way into the store, and trots along next to me as I stop into Curlew’s Café for a much-needed cup of coffee with double shot of espresso.

I open the store four minutes later than normal, and three angry customers come in, huffing about having to wait out in the heat.

“You could have stayed in your cars until the fucking open sign was on,” I grumble quietly so only Pandora can hear me. I love co-owning and running Novel Grounds with Kristy, but some days I really question why I went into anything that deals with the general public.

The first hour crawls by, and I finished my coffee only ten minutes in. If it weren’t for the crippling anxiety, I’d be falling asleep behind the counter. I’m getting to that point of passing out when my phone rings.

It’s Kristy, and I scramble to answer it.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she replies in a level tone. “Promise. Are you? Tabatha told me about the sentencing.”

“I’m alive and I’m not guilty. Well, I am guilty of sleeping with Lucas but whatever, right?” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You’re really okay?”

“Yes. I woke up feeling hella hungover, but I got the antidote in time. Thanks to you.”

“And you were poisoned because of me.”

“Stop blaming yourself, Cal. Ruth was blackmailing you.”

I nod, forgetting she can’t see me. “You must be home now, right?”

“Yes, I just got back to my house. Thanks for opening for me.”

“Don’t even worry about it. Rest and take care of yourself and we can smile at each other in passing.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” she scolds. “We can talk to each other at work or in any other setting that’s not the Covenstead. It sucks, but just lay low for a few days and this will be taken care of. I have a good feeling about it.”

“Right. And trust me, laying low sounds heavenly right about now. The next time I get some days off, I’m going to spend them in Chicago with Lucas doing nothing but him.”

“That does sound nice. I can take your shift tomorrow since you’re working for me today.”

“I can work tomorrow.”

“I know you can, but I also know I can too. Plus, we both know I like working more than you do.”

“You said it, not me,” I laugh. “I’ll call you later and check in. Rest, and if you need anything, send a smoke signal or something untraceable.”

“I’ll hook up that old CB radio I have in my closet instead.”

“Sounds good. Love you, Kristy.”

“Love you too, Cal.”

I end the call and get back to work, ringing up a few more customers, tidying up the shelves, and sneaking bites of a granola bar in between all that. I’m watching the clock and time is going by so fucking slow.

Pandora is sitting on the counter, soaking up all the attention she can get from customers. My cats are a little famous around the shop, and people assume I’m a total crazy cat lady who spent lots of time training them to be so well-behaved. And I’m one hundred percent fine with that rumor.

She sits up, growling, and looks at the person who just walked through the door.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I say, when I see demon—and witch—hunter, Easton Richards, walk through the door.

So much for lying low.