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Chapter Thirty-two
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Dark of Night Chapter One
Dark of NightCopyright 2019Emily GoodwinChapter One“What do you see when you look at this one?” The doctor holds up a card, showcasing an ink splotch that’s twisted and creepy, with eyes that follow you no matter where you go.I look at it, heart hammering away inside my chest. The mess of ink on the white paper reminds me of the monster that lurks in Nana and Papa’s basement, the one that tried to get Abby and Scott to go downstairs with it. The one I stopped from attacking my siblings by throwing a ball of light at it.But even at the young age of ten I know I can’t say that. I look at the card, remembering Abby’s screams like it was yesterday. Feeling Scott clutch my hand, eyes full of fear.I swallow hard and shift my eyes to the man in the white coat. “The tree in our backyard,” I tell him.He doesn’t react, doesn’t show the slightest of emotion. He puts the card down and picks up another. This one resembles a house, with a star-like drawing at the center. My heart lurches,
Dark of Night Chapter Two
Chapter Two“Hey, Rene.” I slide onto a barstool, smiling at a pretty red-headed vampire.“Hey, Callie,” she replies cheerfully. “Red or white tonight?”“I’m in the mood for red.”Rene smiles, flashing her fangs. She keeps them drawn most of the time while she works, saying it helps with tips. “Same.” She winks and turns, grabbing a wine glass and a bottle from the fridge under the bar.The Taproom is busy tonight, as it usually is. For a hipster bar located in one of the more expensive parts of Lincoln Park, this place does very well for itself.“Thanks,” I say, taking the wine from her. Rene tends to other customers while I sip my wine. I pull my phone from my purse and scroll through social media, not looking for anything in particular but keeping myself entertained enough while Lucas talks with Eliza in the office.Kristy calls, and I finish my wine and answer. It’s too loud to hear her, so I tell her to hang on and slip out the back and into a little alley that runs behind the bu
Dark of Night Chapter Three
“This is not going to come out, is it?” I look down at my shirt. “Of all the nights I didn’t wear black.” Grimacing, I pull my shirt over my head, trying not to get blood on my face. “I guess I’ll just toss it.” I roll my shirt up the best I can, keeping the blood and guts on the inside, and put it in the kitchen garbage, tying the bag shut and putting it in another to make sure the smell of blood isn’t detectable.My pants come off next, and I think these are salvageable. I take them to the laundry room and rinse them in the utility tub before throwing them in the washing machine. Wearing only my bra and panties, I pad my way upstairs and into the bathroom.Lucas is still at the bar, cleaning up my mess. I wanted to stay and help, but he reminded me how suspicious it would look if someone else from the VC showed up and I was covered in vampire blood. It’s a good point, but I still felt bad leaving. He should be here soon, thanks to handy vampire speed.I get in the oversized shower a
Dark of Night Chapter Four
“I take it everything went well with your sister.” Lucas looks up from his computer. He’s in his office, hair damp from the shower I unfortunately didn’t get to take with him. Abby stayed for nearly an hour, eating another grilled cheese while we talked.“Very.” I cross the room, and he pushes away from his desk, scooting his chair back enough for me to sit on his lap. He’s only wearing gray sweatpants, which is sexy as fuck to me for some reason. “She’s bringing Penny to our book event at the store tomorrow.”Lucas smiles and runs his hand through my messy hair, brushing it to the side and exposing my neck. “They’ll both have fun.”I wrap my hands around his shoulders. “I think so.”“She’s been trying hard the last few weeks to reconnect with you.”“I know,” I sigh, picking up on his unspoken question. “I’d like to stay in touch with her. She is my sister, after all, and there aren’t many people who know me or the shit that—” I cut off, realizing what I’m about to say.“I don’t know
Dark of Night Chapter Five
I step away from the door, jaw clenched tight. The Grand Coven doesn’t approve of witch-vampire relationships, but hearing how the VC wants to deal with witches…it’s unnerving. They’ve been so focused on assimilation, ordering anyone other than vampires to death is extreme. Many witches lead fairly normal lives outside the coven and look like ordinary humans. The VC must really hate us to be willing to risk a vampire murdering a human in cold blood.Lucas has made it clear that he only follows the laws put in place for vampires because he saw it as beneficial to himself to be able to put his businesses and properties in his name instead of having a human proxy. He’s a rules-don’t-apply-to-me kind of guy and wouldn’t stop seeing me just because the VC told him to, even if he didn’t care about me as much as he does.Which happens to be a lot. A take-a-demon-blade-through-the-heart lot. And I love him.More than anyone I’ve ever loved before.More than I thought possible.Because for a w
Dark of Night Chapter Six
I slow, gravel crunching under my feet, and stretch my arms up over my head. Sweat rolls down my back, and I’m dying for a cool shower.“Anything?” I ask Binx, looking over at his shadowy figure. He accompanied me on another run, and we went the same way we did the other day when I swear I felt the Ley line buzzing with an influx of energy.“Nothing unusual,” he says.Exhaling and swatting away mosquitoes, we start back down the road. The sun is getting lower in the sky, which means Lucas will be arriving soon. I’m tired and want to eat dinner, watch mindless reality TV, and crash in bed together.But Lucas is just starting his day.Being on opposite schedules is hard enough, but adding the hour of travel it usually takes to get to each other’s houses makes it even harder. It would be different if I lived in Chicago with him and we got to spend time together during the day. Granted, we’d be confined to the house, but just being together would be so fucking nice.“What’s going on here?
Dark of Night Chapter Seven
“Lucas bought you a house?”“Kind of.” I set two cups of to-go coffee from Curlew’s Café on the counter. Kristy opened this morning, and I came in a little while later, after stopping for coffee of course.“How do you kind of buy a house? You either do or don’t.”“He knew I liked it, and neither of us like the long-distance relationship thing, especially since we’re limited to the night to do anything together. This way he can make the house vampire friendly, and we can have more time together.”Kristy blows on her hot latte to cool it down. “So you’re moving in with him?”“Yeah,” I say but sound unsure of myself. “It all seems so soon to move in together.” I pop the lid off my coffee and watch steam billow up from the cup. “And Lucas didn’t say anything, but I can tell time bothers him.”“Time?”“He’s going to live forever unless he’s murdered, basically. And I won’t.” I bite my lip. “A lifetime for me isn’t that long for him.”“That would have to be hard,” Kristy says without thinki
Dark of Night Chapter Eight
“What do you mean again?” Kristy asks, taking her plate into the dining room. “Something was messing with it before?”“I’m not sure,” I confess, looking at Binx. “We went for a run and it felt weird. But then it went back to normal, and I had all three of my familiars canvas the woods. They found nothing, making me think it was an influx of power from the recent Solstice.”Binx meows, reminding me that he, Freya, and Pandora have continued to patrol the woods and paid extra attention to the Ley line since then and haven’t felt anything weird since.“You know how the Ley line ebbs and flows. Sometimes it gets a little extra power and you can feel it in the air.”“It’s been rather calm for a while.” Naomi stabs her fork through a piece of broccoli. “We’re due for a little influx, actually. I should have brought my crystals to charge. The Ley line runs right through your downtown, doesn’t it?”“Yeah, almost directly under the main road,” Kristy answers. “Which at first was done to keep n
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