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 businesses on this street.

“Sorry,” I say into the phone.

“Are you at Lucas’s bar again?”

“Yeah.” I lean against the outside of the building. “He’s meeting with some other vampires tonight to talk about that whole anti-assimilation issue.”

“Sounds fun. Be careful though, Callie.”

“I’m always careful,” I say, and Kristy laughs. “Okay, not always, but this time I am being careful. All I’m doing is hanging out at the bar drinking free wine.”

“Tell the truth. That’s the real reason you’re sleeping with Lucas.”

“You do know how much I love wine,” I laugh. “You’ll have to come up with me again sometime soon.”

“A girls’ night in Chicago does sound nice. Anyway, the reason I called was to tell you the good news.” She pauses, making me wait.

“And?”

“Francine Henderson can make it tomorrow after all! She’s feeling much better.”

“Yes!” I exclaim. “This has nothing to do with that health spell you did last night, does it?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kristy laughs. “I’m just glad she’ll be the one reading her book to the children and not me. It’s crazy our little event sold completely out.”

“It’s going to be great,” I tell her, knowing she’s still a bit nervous for the Story Time event we have planned at our bookstore tomorrow. The whole thing is for charity, with all the money from the tickets going to Thorne Hill’s 4H group. We have three authors coming to read their favorite children’s book to the kids participating, and then Kristy has the cutest book-themed crafts planned after that.

But the best part is that we’re all supposed to dress like our favorite book character.

“Thanks. I hope it goes smoothly.”

“It will,” I assure her. “You’ve worked so hard on this. It’s going to be amazing. Take a deep breath and leave the store.”

“How did you know I was still here?”

“I know you.” I shake my head and smile. “Now lock up and go home.”

“Fine. Leaving now. Love you, Cal.”

“Love you too.” I hang up, stick my phone in my purse, and turn around to go back in the way I came out. “Dammit,” I mutter when I realize the door locks from the inside, and I’ve accidentally locked myself out.

Which isn’t a big deal since I could just walk around to the front of the bar and go back in. But I’m a witch, and locks aren’t usually an issue for me. I step in closer to the door and raise my hand, whispering the incantation.

“So, you’re Lucas King’s latest plaything?” A voice rings out behind me as soon as I get the door unlocked.

“Excuse me?” I whirl around, eyes narrowing at the man in the alley. He’s tall, with long dark hair swept back and secured in a low ponytail. He looks like he’d fit right in with the hipsters at this bar, but he’s had that hairstyle for centuries. For he’s not a man at all, but a vampire. Magic burns at my fingertips, and I suck in a breath, tying to hold it back.

The vampire advances, moving fast and trying to startle me. I cock an eyebrow, unamused, and it pisses him off even more. He flashes his fangs, yet still doesn’t get a reaction out of me. I hold steady, curling my fingers into my fist.

“Don’t think you’ve gone unnoticed, my darling. Mr. King hasn’t taken interest in a human in well over a hundred years. What makes you so special?” He brings his hand to my neck, fingers dancing over my jugular vein. My heart skips a beat, but I swallow my fear.

I’m well aware this vampire is old. I can feel his age in the energy that’s coming off him. Seven hundred? Seven-fifty, if I’m being generous. Barely half the age of my beloved.

“Don’t you know?” I rasp, slowly bringing my hand up and twirling a blue strand of magic between my fingers. “I’m a witch.”

The vampire jerks back, eyes wide. “You’re a—”

“Any vampire worth their salt would have been able to smell the magic,” I shoot back, not entirely sure I used that phrase correctly. The magic sizzles stronger at my fingertips. “But you didn’t, did you? You have no idea how easily I could kill you right now. How I could burn you from the inside out.”

The vampire steps back, eyes flitting from my neck to the strand of magic I’m holding. “And do you have any idea how fast I could rip you to shreds?”

“You’d die trying, you undead asshole.”

“You’ve got a mouth on you. No wonder King has taken a liking to you. I’m sure you’re a fun plaything.”

“I’m his,” I sigh, hating that I pulled that line. When a vampire claims ownership over a human, it makes them off limits to other vampires.

“For now.” The vampire leans forward, inhaling deep. “You smell almost as good as you’ll taste.”

“Fuck off,” I retort, getting annoyed with him. I raise my hand, and the magic I’m holding glows brighter.

“You’re a grumpy plaything.”

I narrow my eyes. “Call me plaything one more time.”

He snarls. “Worthless plaything,” he spits.

“I warned you.” I throw my hand out, hitting him with the energy ball I’m holding in my hand. It smashes into his chest, and strands of blue light flash through his body, lighting up every vein under his skin.

Gasping, I step back, closing my eyes at the last second. The vampire before me explodes, burning from the inside out. His mouth falls open, but no sound escapes before he bursts into a puddle of smoldering goo.

Shit. I didn’t mean to do that. Well, I meant to throw an energy ball at him, but I didn’t mean to power it so strongly that it would cause him to explode.

“Callie?”

I whirl around, not having a chance to wipe the blood splatter off my face.

“Lucas, hey.” I blink, trying to get the vampire bits off my eyelashes. I fail and reach up, wiping my face and smearing the blood over my cheek. I push my shoulders out and force a smile, trying my best not to act like I didn’t just kill an ancient vampire on accident.

Lucas’s dark blue eyes meet mine and something passes through me. The world stills around us and I’m instantly calmed.

“See? She’s fine.” Eliza appears next to Lucas, with one hand on her hip.

“I’m fine,” I echo, flicking a piece of the vampire off my hand. “I’ve got everything under control.”

Lucas looks from me to the smoldering remains of the vampire and back again. “Did he hurt you?”

“Not as much as I hurt him,” I say, laughing at my bad attempt of a joke. Lucas moves forward, putting his hands on my shoulder, not caring that I’m covered in blood. He looks deep into my eyes, needing to see for himself that I’m not injured.

“What happened?”

“He, uh, he…he pissed me off, so I blew him up with magic.”

“If I could lay you down and fuck you right here, I would.”

Eliza huffs and heat creeps through me. “I should probably shower first,” I say slowly, though if Lucas really did lay me down right here in this back alley, I know I’d enjoy it, even covered in blood.

Because if there is one thing and one thing alone Lucas King is good at, it’s sex.

Lucky for me, he’s good at a bunch of other things as well, with one of them being taking damn good care of me.

“He said he wanted to taste me.” I exhale, blinking before I get lost in Lucas’s eyes.

“You’re mine,” he growls.

“I told him that, and he didn’t seem to care.”

“Typical man,” Eliza sighs. “And you know how much I hate breaking up this love fest, but we’re supposed to be meeting with that long-haired creep any minute now.”

“The vampire you’re meeting has long hair?”

“Yes,” Lucas answers.

I make a face and look at the puddle of vampire goo splattered in the alley. “There’s a slight chance he’s not going to show up for the meeting.”

“You killed him?” Eliza’s blue eyes widen, and she draws her fangs. But she doesn’t look mad, she looks scared.

“He attacked me,” I protest. “And I didn’t mean to!”

“Great, just explain to the VC that you didn’t mean to kill one of their members.” She throws out her hands as she talks. “Lucas, what are we going to do?”

“Nothing,” he says calmly, which only makes Eliza freak out even more. “If Jacob bit a human that belongs to me, I have every right to kill him.”

“But you didn’t kill him! Your little witch-whore did, and you can’t take the—”

“Enough,” Lucas booms, silencing Eliza and making me jump. “The VC will never believe a human was capable of killing a Council member. And they can’t know she’s a witch.”

I swallow hard, feeling a chill go through me. I almost forgot. Vampires and witches aren’t supposed to be together in the way Lucas and I are. The Grand Coven forbids it, and the Vampire Council doesn’t approve either. Lucas isn’t one to follow rules, but I know the VC getting involved is never a good thing.

“Get the bleach,” Lucas tells Eliza. She narrows her eyes and shakes her head but does what she’s told.

“I’m sorry.” I wipe my hands on my shirt. “The energy ball was much stronger than usual. I meant to knock him out, but I guess I was angry, and it fueled my magic or something.”

“If he so much as thought about touching you, he deserved to die. And you killed him much faster than I would have.” He steps closer, using the sleeve of his button-up shirt to wipe blood off my face. “Your powers have gotten stronger since you commanded the hellfire.”

“Maybe.” I cast my eyes down, knowing he’s right. Something changed after that night, but I can’t even begin to explain what. Because sometimes it feels like everything changed. “Are you going to get in trouble for this?”

He turns his gaze back to mine, flashing his trademark cocky grin. “Only if we’re caught.”

“Would it be bad if the VC finds out about us?”

The grin fades, and Lucas takes me in his arms. “I don’t care what the fucking VC says. I love you, and nothing is coming between us.”

“I love you too,” I whisper, and my heart flutters, both from feeling so damn much for him…and because he didn’t say he wouldn’t get in trouble if the Vampire Council found out about us.

Which means it would be bad.