My purse falls from my lap as I get up, sprinting back up the stairs.“Lucas,” I call, using magic to throw open the master bedroom doors. “Monica knows I’m a witch.”Lucas gets out of bed and speeds over, putting his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes. “She does.” His face tenses, and he speeds away again, getting his phone. He calls Eliza, but she doesn’t answer. Ending the call, he throws his phone down on the bed and draws his fangs.“What’s wrong?”“Dominic is at the bar with Eliza and the prisoners.”Dominic is Monica’s boyfriend, and if he had anything to do with this…shit. “Do you trust him?”“No,” Lucas says with no hesitation. “I trust Eliza and you. That’s it.”I swallow hard. “I’m going to the bar.”“It’s too dangerous.”“I won’t be alone.” I motion to Binx. “And I won’t let my guard down this time. If Dominic is the one who put the bounty on my head, we need to know.”Lucas curls his fingers into fists, and he turns, seething with anger. “Eliza is there with them
“Oh my God.” I squeeze my eyes shut and spin around, stepping back through the door. I’m never going to unsee Eliza bent over the desk while a dark-haired vampire plows into her. I’m so stunned I just stand there in the hall, not able to concentrate enough to pull myself back into my body.The office door flies open, and Eliza stands in the threshold, zipping up her dress and glaring at me.“What the fuck are you doing?”“Funny you should ask,” I say with a nervous laugh. “I came to check on you. But you seem to be doing just fine.”“She really is a witch.” The other vampire, who I assume to be Dominic, pulls up his pants. “I didn’t think Monica knew what she was talking about.” He steps forward and waves his hand through me.“Hey.” I jerk back. “Don’t do that. That’s…weird.”Dominic tips his head, staring at me. “I’ll be damned. I’ve never seen this before.”“What do you mean you came to check on me?” Eliza puts her hands on her hips and flashes her fangs.“Lucas called and you didn’
“What are you going to do with that?” Lucas asks, taking his eyes off the road for a second and looking at the hagstone in my hand. The sun just set, and we’re heading back to Thorne Hill.“Keep it. These are hard to come by.” I flip the stone, feeling the etchings with my thumb. “Binding spells are effective but take time and concentration. You just slip this baby around someone’s neck and bye-bye powers.”“Is it dangerous to keep in your house? Someone could use it against you.”“No more dangerous than a human owning a gun. And I’ll keep it safe, don’t worry. I’m good at concealment charms.” Yawning, I wrap the leather cord around the stone and put it in my purse.“Close your eyes,” Lucas tells me, reaching over and placing his hand on my thigh. “Get some rest before we get to your house.”“I have a hard time sleeping in cars,” I tell him, though I do feel like I could lean my seat back a bit and take a nap. “But closing my eyes sounds nice.”“Do you want to get food before we get t
“Run!” I tell Lucas, and he picks me up, moving at vampire speed through the woods. He’s faster than the wendigo, but with it being hopped up on demonic energy, there’s no telling if we can outrun it or not. I tuck my head against him and mentally call for my familiars, warning them against the wendigo.Lucas slows to a stop, and I look up. We’re at the house—our house—and there’s no warding here. Lucas jumps onto the front porch. I push out of his arms and go down the steps, holding out my hands.“Elementals vocationem ore exíbit gládis acútus: hanc domun praesidio! Custodrie moneia malo!” I spread my hands apart, setting a line of magic around the house. The wendigo barrels out of the woods, sprinting right at us. Lucas leaps in front of me, putting himself in the line of fire.The wendigo runs into the warding and bounces off, roaring in frustration. It leans in, coming as close as it can to the warding without getting zapped.“I thought wendigos were extinct.” Lucas takes a step b
My heart aches, and my stomach twists with worry. Lucas is strong. He’s fast. He’ll be able to get to the house before the wendigo can catch him…and honestly, I don’t even know if a wendigo would go after a vampire.They eat the living. Vampires are dead.I close the door and turn around, coming face to face with all the hunters. My familiars stand in front of me, sitting tall and swishing their tails, letting everyone in the room know they will shift into shadow form and fuck shit up if they have to.“What’s going on out there?” Melinda asks, gritting her teeth and pushing up against the stairs. “You said it was…was something.”“It is something.” I go to the window, wiping away dust, and look out. The Ley line is pulsing again, and I hope each burst of energy doesn’t further fuel the demons. “What are you doing here? Coming into Thorne Hill is suicide.” I whirl around, cocking an eyebrow. “The Grand Coven was just here. Consider yourself lucky I’m the one who ran into you.”“Why? So
“The wendigo,” Lucas starts. “It came out of Hell.”“It makes sense. You said it yourself, they’re thought to be extinct, and even if they aren’t, none were ever spotted around here.” My chest tightens even more, and I have to tell myself to pull it together. It’s not just demons flocking to the energy leaking out of the Ley line. Demons long since vanquished and banished are coming back, crawling their way out of the depths of Hell. Like moths to a flame, all sorts of supernaturals are attracted to the Ley line.Becoming assholes is the least of the people of Thorne Hill’s worries. They’re about to become the feast of a demonic army.“How do we close it?” I ask Evander, but the only response I get is a blank stare.“I haven’t the slightest clue,” he finally says. The banshee circles again, screaming so loud it echoes inside our heads, rattling the glass windows of the house.“Get inside,” Lucas shouts over the screech of the banshee. He’s wincing in pain but is fighting through it. H
Lucas dusts off a creaky old chair and turns it around. He sits down, joining Evander and I at a breakfast table left here from the previous owners.“Our best bet is to leave the hunters here and go back to my house,” I say. “We need supplies to kill the banshee and to set some sort of trap for the wendigo that’ll hold it still long enough for Lucas to cut out its heart.”“And then figure out how to close the rift in the earth,” Evander adds ruefully.I nod. “Once we’re back at the house, one of us should astral project to the Academy and alert the coven. Someone there might know something, or at the very least we can cast a collective circle around the area and that will hopefully keep anything else from coming out.”“You do realize what that means?” Evander leans forward. “Only a few of us know how powerful that demon was, Callie. By telling the whole coven there is a crack from Hell leading to the Ley line, they’re going to know the gates of Hell were opened.”“And they’ll know you
“Evander?” I repeat. “Hey…talk to me.”He jerks his head up, and his chocolate brown eyes are jet black.“Evander?” I shake my head. “No, no, no…” His hand is still on the ground. I didn’t notice it before but now I feel it. The pulsing of the Ley line, traveling through the ground. I jump back, staring at the ground. I can’t see the energy, but it’s there…and it infected Evander.The banshee screams again, but Evander doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t react at all. Slowly, he gets to his feet.“Can you hear me?” I ask, heart racing. Binx snaps the neck of the scrapper he’s fighting and comes over, getting a read on Evander’s energy. Evander looks Binx up and charges at me. Binx knocks him to the ground and Evander jumps up, holding out his hands to cast a curse on me.“Stop!” I yell at Evander. “You’re still in there! You don’t want to do this!”Binx shadows around Evander, and I take a few steps back, looking behind me as the banshee’s screams ring out again. Two more scrappers drop, and F