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 and start washing off the goo. It’s itchy when it dries. I stay in the shower after I’m clean, hoping to still be in when Lucas comes home. We both quite enjoy sex in the shower.

Turning the temp of the water up, I close my eyes and tip my head, letting it run down my body.

“I could get used to this view,” Lucas growls. Smiling, I keep my eyes closed and run my hands over my breasts, not stopping until one hand is between my legs.

“Is this one even better?”

Lucas rips his shirt off, fangs coming down, and he watches me touch myself. He moves toward the shower, reaching for the glass door and stops, turning his head.

“Someone is at the door.”

“Is it someone from the VC?” I ask, heart skipping a beat.

“No,” he says but doesn’t sound convinced. “Stay here. I’ll tell whoever it is to fuck off.”

I nod and watch him speed out of the room, expecting him to be back in a minute. But one minute passes and he’s not back. I wait another. And another. I turn off the water and get out, wrapping a towel around myself but not taking the time to dry off. Heart hammering, I tiptoe out of the bathroom and into the hall.

Light from the foyer spills up the stairs, along with a voice. A female voice. A familiar one at that.

“Abby?” I whisper to myself, eyes narrowing. Why is my sister here? I creep closer to the balcony that overlooks the entryway. Abby is standing near the door, clutching her purse with one hand and holding her car keys in the other. Her shoulders are tense, and I know she’s uncomfortable standing there before Lucas, especially because he’s shirtless and looks like a sex god.

“She loves you and she’d die to protect you. You don’t deserve that, you know,” Lucas tells her. I suck in a breath, watching him talk to my sister. She’s looking into his eyes. Is he holding her spellbound? She turns her head down.

“I know I don’t,” she says.

No, she’s not spellbound at all. And she just agreed with Lucas.

“I should have done more. But we were young and I…I was scared. Not of Callie but of our father and the things he said. I knew Callie wouldn’t hurt me.” She wipes a tear out of her eye. “Did she ever tell you about the time at the park?”

“No, I don’t think she did,” Lucas says.

“Callie was seven and I was ten. We were there with our mother, but she was too distracted to actually watch us. Callie and I were playing hide and seek with some of the other kids there. I ran off to hide behind a utility shed, away from the others.”

Abby closes her eyes in a long blink, and a fat tear rolls down her cheek. “There was a man…and, well, you can guess where this is going. He grabbed me, told me if I screamed, he’d kill me, and started dragging me away. I don’t know how Callie knew, but somehow, she did. She came over and held out her hand. The man thought he’d gotten lucky, that he had two of us away from our parents’ view.”

“But he didn’t know who Callie was,” Lucas supplies.

“Exactly.” Abby shudders at the memory she’s reliving. “He started undoing his pants when Callie pulled his belt off. And I don’t mean she went up and touched it. She stood there, several feet back and used her magic. She took that belt and wrapped it around his neck, pulling it tighter and tighter until the man passed out. I got away, and we went running to our mother.”

“Did the man die?”

“No,” Abby says. “He was unconscious. Our mother never reported it because she didn’t want anyone knowing what Callie did. There’s a man out there, walking free. A man who wants to hurt children.” Tears fill Abby’s eyes. “Oh my God. I have a child. And this man…he just got away with it all because our mother would rather him be free than anyone know Callie…Callie saved me.” She’s crying now, and I bite my own lip, fighting back my emotions. I remember that day well. I remember the rage I felt when I saw someone trying to hurt my sister. I didn’t hesitate. I knew I could do it.

And then I did.

I thought our mother would be proud. I saved Abby. I stopped the bad guy. Obviously, things didn’t go as planned. I let out a shaky breath and Lucas looks up the stairs at me. Abby follows his gaze and sees me.

“Callie.” She wipes her eyes again. “Hey.”

“Hey. What are you doing here?”

“I was on my way home from work and thought I saw you come inside. You haven’t called me back so I hoped we could talk.”

“We can.” I tighten the towel around myself. “I’m going to get dressed and I’ll be right down.”

Abby smiles and then looks at Lucas again. “Sorry if I, uh, interrupted something.”

“Nothing we won’t do later.” Lucas smirks and speeds up the stairs, stopping to kiss me. I follow him back into the bedroom. I take my towel off and wrap it around my hair.

“You’re good to talk to her?” Lucas asks, taking off his pants so he can get in the shower. There are little flecks of blood on his face from scrubbing down the alley.

“Yeah. I just took down a member of the VC. I can handle one tiny ER doctor.”

“Physically,” Lucas starts, “there’s not much you can’t handle. But that’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”

I open the middle drawer of the dresser and pull out silky black pajama shorts with a matching tank top. I get dressed and grab a robe to cover up with. The pajamas I keep at Lucas’s house are rather revealing for a reason.

“I’m here if you need me.” Lucas puts his lips to mine.

“I know,” I whisper, eyes falling shut. “Thank you.”

He kisses me again and goes into the bathroom, turning on the shower. I put on the robe as I walk, going back downstairs and finding Abby in the foyer, in the same spot she was in before.

“Hey, sorry for just dropping by.” Abby relaxes a bit now that Lucas is upstairs. “I drove by really slow a few times last week but didn’t have the balls to actually stop. So, I told myself I was doing it, and I did.”

“I’m glad you did. It’s good to see you.”

“If it’s good to see me, then why haven’t you called me back?”

“I did call you back.” I take a few steps toward my sister. Her hair is pulled back in a tight French braid and she’s wearing scrubs. “The first few times.”

“That was like a month ago.”

“I don’t have a good answer,” I admit. “I don’t want to complicate your life. You have a good one, and we both saw what me showing up to Penny’s party did.”

“Scott’s an asshole,” she spits with venom. I’ve never heard my sister openly insult our brother like this. “We both know it. He’s the one who complicates things, not you.”

“I know.” I offer a smile, knowing that’s not the only reason I haven’t called Abby back. She wants answers, and I don’t blame her. The last time I saw her, Lucas and I took off running to Thorne Hill to fight a demon who wanted nothing more than to kill me.

I don’t know how I survived. I don’t know how I commanded hellfire. Abby wants answers, but I don’t have them. And not having them frustrates the hell out of me. The fact that this demon was so hellbent on killing me is scary too. So, me being me, I’d rather repress and deal with this at an extremely inconvenient time later.

“Are you hungry?” I ask and motion for her to follow me to the kitchen. “I just had groceries delivered a few hours ago.”

“I’m starving, actually. Didn’t get a break at work. Crazy day in the ER.”

“I don’t know how you do it.”

“Please. It’s nothing compared to what you do.”

“I am pretty awesome,” I tease, smiling as I lead Abby into the kitchen.

“This place is incredible.” Abby looks around the large kitchen in awe. “That stove!” Her eyebrows go up. “I looked at that same one during our remodel. That thing cost nearly twenty grand.”

“Damn. If I’m paying twenty grand for a stove it better make my food for me and clean up after.”

Abby laughs. “It has some cool features but not that cool.”

I open the fridge and pull out a bottle of wine. “At least it’s getting some use now. It’s kind of funny to think Lucas has this big fancy kitchen and never uses it.”

“Right. I didn’t think of it like that. So, do you guys live together?”

“I guess. We go back and forth between here and my house. We’re in Thorne Hill more than Chicago, but Lucas had business stuff to do tonight.”

I pour two glasses of red Moscato and go back to the food. I’m really wishing the expensive-as-fuck oven had a self-cooking option right about now. Going with a childhood favorite, I get out bread, butter, and cheese.

“I haven’t had grilled cheese in forever.” Abby’s eyes gloss over as she watches me cook.

“I make it every now and then. It’s easy.”

“It is.”

I put the top on the sandwich, turn down the burner, and grab my wine. “So,” I start and take a sip. “What did you want to talk about?”

Abby reaches for her wine but doesn’t drink. “I have so many questions.”

Of course she does. I take another gulp. “Ask away.”

“Something tried to kill you.”

I shrug. “It happens every now and then.”

“But why? Is it because you’re a witch?”

“That’s part of it. Not all witches have the…the…” I hold up my hand and conjure a blue string of magic. “The powers I do.”

“So, these things that want to kill you want your power?”

“Some do.”

“But the one that wanted you dead the night of the party…it’s gone?”

I nod. “Yes.”

Abby’s eyes fill with fear. “Are you sure? Even Lucas seemed freaked out and he’s a…a vampire. It’s not going to come back and try to kill you again?”

“I burned it to death, so that particular one probably won’t come back, but one of its buddies might.”

Abby takes a sip of her wine. “And you’re just okay with this?”

“I mean, I’d rather not die, but this is who I am.”

“So, your friends…they’re all witches too?”

“My close friends are.”

“And you do magic every day?”

I flip the grilled cheese over. “It’s who I am, Abby,” I repeat. “I don’t even think about it, really.” I hold out my hand and telekinetically bring my wine glass to me. “It makes life easier, that’s for sure.”

“What about that family…the one who…who…”

“Saved me?” I finish and then feel bad. It’s not Abby’s fault I was left to rot for over a year. “What about them?”

“Do you still talk to them?”

“Yes. Tabatha is High Priestess of our coven now, and Evander is a professor and assistant headmaster at the Academy.”

Abby takes a long drink of wine, and then slowly shakes her head. “There’s a whole other world out there.”

“There’s a lot of other worlds out there. You just have to know where to look.”

Abby zones out for a few seconds, then shakes her head and takes another sip of wine. “Can I ask about Lucas?”

“Sure.”

“Does he drink your blood?”

“Yes,” I tell her, sure she can see the bite marks on my neck from last night. They’re fading fast thanks to Kristy’s healing balm, but they’re still visible.

“Does he only drink your blood?”

“He has since we’ve been together.”

“How?” Abby’s eyes widen as she looks at me with concern. “I’ve seen a few people come through the ER doors with vampire-bite injuries and all needed to be given blood. Aren’t you afraid of being drained?”

I flip the sandwich over again. “You work in the ER, so of course the only bites you’d see are bad. People wouldn’t come in if it wasn’t,” I start, feeling like I’m doing a terrible job at explaining this to my sister. “Lucas isn’t going to lose control. He won’t hurt me or drink too much. And,” I go on, knowing she’s going to ask, “he told me he can sense where to bite. He won’t puncture an artery.”

“Is it cold sleeping next to him?”

“Yes,” I answer honestly.

“Does it bother you?” she fires off another question.

“No. I’ve actually been turning on an electric blanket with his side on high. It makes his skin warm.”

“Doesn’t it make him hot?”

I shake my head and check the grilled cheese. “No, vampires don’t feel hot or cold unless they’re in extreme temperatures. My turn for a question.”

“You don’t have one, do you?”

“No, I don’t. Well, now I do. How’s Penny?”

“She’s really good.” Abby smiles. “She’s walking now. Do you want to come over and see her sometime?”

I grab a plate from the cabinet. “I’d love to.” I put Abby’s sandwich on the plate and cut it in half diagonally. “I don’t know if you feel like driving all the way out to Thorne Hill, but we’re putting on a children’s event at the bookstore tomorrow. You can dress like a fictional character, and we have authors coming to read books to the kids.”

“What time?”

“It starts at noon.”

Abby smiles. “We’ll be there.”