Chapter Five

“Tell them to go away,” I groan when someone knocks on the front door. I pull the sheet up over my head. Muted sunlight filters through my open window and the cheerful chirping of birds fills the room. Normally, I love this sound and the feeling of waking up to a fresh day.

But right now, I’m still tired and still angry at Lucas. Pandora jumps from the bed to the window, looking down at the porch. She lets out a low growl, but it’s one of annoyance, not one to threaten.

“I’m right there with you, Dors,” I grumble. Pandora is perpetually grumpy and doesn’t trust humans. Not that I blame her. Her last witch was killed in cold blood by a human she thought she could trust.

A dark shadow moves through my open bedroom door, lunging at me. Freya lands softly on the bed, purring. She nuzzles her head against me for a few seconds before nipping at my chin.

“I know, I know. You guys want food anyway.”

Throwing the blankets back, I get out of bed and grimace at my reflection in the mirror. It’s not the messy hair or the smeared eyeliner that’s off-putting. It’s the very sight of me, of my green eyes. Those green eyes that looked at an old-as-fuck vampire and decided it was a good idea to let him take me home, to repay a made-up debt.

Undead prick.

I’m not sure what I’m more pissed about: the fact that he lied to me or the fact that he knew another vampire was feeding off a human in his bar and did nothing about it. Though he did straight out tell me he does what he wants when he wants. I’m sure it’s been that way for a while given that he’s at least a thousand years old.

Running my hand through my hair, I go down the stairs, finding each creak of the old hardwood comforting. Binx is already by the door, waiting patiently. I pick him up and wave my hand over the lock, unsealing the magic that bars the door shut at night. I mutter an incantation, breaking the circle, and pull open the door.

“Hey!” a woman says cheerfully. Too cheerfully. She’s pretty, with wavy strawberry blonde hair and perfectly applied makeup. She’s not quite as tall as I am but is lean with impressive muscle definition in her arms. “You’re Callie, right?”

Looking past her, I see my Jeep in the driveway. Another car waits behind it, with someone in the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, I am. I’m guessing Lucas sent you.”

“Right.” She gives me another bright, white smile. “I’m Monica.” She holds out her hand.

“Nice to meet you,” I say and shake her hand. I set Binx down, and he circles Monica’s feet. Smiling again, she bends down and pets him. He rubs against her, taking a few seconds to sniff her. He turns back to me, meets my eyes, and moves his head in a curt nod. Yep. This girl is one-hundred percent human. “So, are you a friend of Lucas or something?”

“Or something,” she laughs and hands me my keys. “My boyfriend is a vampire and he and Lucas are friends, I guess. Well, as friends as anyone can be with that guy, right?”

“Sure. Have you known him long?”

“I met Dominic two years ago and it was love at first sight.” She lets out a breath, getting a dreamy look in her eyes. “He was the first vampire I’d ever met, you know, but as I got to know him, I realized that not all vampires are terrible, bloodsucking creatures like the way the media portrays them.”

“Right,” I say, not wanting to get into it. For one of my final projects back at the Academy, I had to take part in a debate on the morality of other magical creatures. Not all vampires are evil, no, and many were turned against their will.

But they’re still dead, and part of their humanity died with them.

“Do you work for Lucas then?”

She adjusts her purse up on her shoulder and glances into the house, curious to see inside. “I suppose you could call it that. I run errands for him and Dom during the day. I love my Dom, of course, but Lucas, as grumpy as he may be, sometimes feels like a big brother to me. Other times I dream about staking him. Repeatedly.”

“I’m kind of with you on that.”

Her eyebrows go up. “Really? I’ve never heard anyone say that after a night with—”

“We didn’t sleep together,” I interrupt. “He brought me home because I’d had a little too much to drink.” And the bloodsucker manipulated me.

“Did you drink his blood?”

“Gross. No.”

“Did he drink your blood?” she asks.

“It’ll take more than one date for anyone to get a taste of my blood. Even though I don’t even consider last night a date.” I rub my forehead. “Thanks again for bringing my Jeep back. It’s a long drive from Chicago.”

“I don’t mind,” she says cheerfully, and I believe her. I wonder how much her mind has been altered by her vampire lover. Being held spellbound over and over can mess with your memory and your overall brain processing. Once memories have been altered too many times…the damage is permanent.

“I’d invite you in for coffee or something, but it looks like you have a ride waiting.” I motion to the car in the driveway.

“Yeah, I’ve got to get back to the city. Maybe I’ll see you again.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I watch her jog down the sidewalk and get into the car. It backs out of the gravel driveway onto the country road that runs by my house. Once they’re out of sight, I go inside and close the door, locking it with magic again. It’s daytime, but a witch can never be too careful.

*

“You know you’re off tonight, right?” Kristy says, looking up from her Kindle when I walk into the bookshop.

“I know. I have gossip for you.” I set two coffees on the counter and carry the third to Betty, one of the other employees we have working here at the shop. She’s in the back, unboxing a new shipment of indie books.

“Oh,” I coo, sitting down on the floor next to Betty and looking into the box of books. “I’ve been dying to read this one.” I pick up a paperback with a beautiful cover of a couple kissing in front of a mountain.

“It looks so good in person. I read the e-book as soon as it came out. Kristen Mayer is one of my favorite authors now.” She runs her finger down the spine, looking at the book lovingly. She’s a non but loves books just as much as Kristy and I do. I’m sure she suspects something unusual is up with us, but she hasn’t said anything, and I don’t think she will. She’s a typical bookworm and would rather deal with fictional issues than real ones, and this job is perfect for her.

“I might have to take it for myself,” I only half joke. I set it down and take another book from the box. “I know I did the ordering, but it’s like Christmas morning every time we get a new shipment in.”

“I know!” she agrees, and I spend another few minutes looking through the books before I go back to the front of the store. I need to talk to Kristy while Betty is distracted anyway.

“Thanks for the coffee,” Kristy tells me. “And the gossip is about yourself, isn’t it?”

“Your intuition has always been impressive.” I go behind the counter and lean against the wall, sipping my black coffee. “And yeah, I was hoping to talk to you about something.”

“Anything. Wait.” She takes another drink of coffee and raises her eyebrows. “Do you need help burying a body again? Because I did not wear the right shoes for that today.”

“No, not this time.”

“Good.”

“I…I kind of took a vampire home from a bar with me last night.”

Kristy almost chokes on her coffee. “What? You slept with a…a…vampire?” she whispers the word “vampire” just in case anyone is listening. Humans and vampires are free to date each other, and vamp-human marriage is legal in seven states so far, but it’s still very much taboo.

“No, I didn’t sleep with him. It’s a weird story, and trust me, the next time I see this asshole, I’m staking him.” I motion to my purse. “I brought my favorite stake.”

Kristy looks at me for a good few seconds, unblinking. “The fact that you have a favorite stake is a whole other issue, you know.”

“It’s the sharpest and has that cool blood stain that looks like a star and—okay, yeah, it’s weird.” I let out a breath, grab my coffee, and tell Kristy what happened. I love having a best friend like her. Someone I trust with everything, someone who does her best not to judge anything I do unless I need her judgment and someone who won’t bullshit me.

“Wait, Abby came here?” she asks when I finish telling her the story. “When? How is she? Still married to that penis doctor?”

“The urologist,” I laugh. “And yes. And I’m pretty sure he still hates me.”

Kristy reaches out and punches my arm.

“Ouch,” I say, rubbing where she hit me.

“You should have called me the second she walked in!”

I give her a guilty smile. “You were shopping, and I didn’t want to upset you or make you turn around. I really needed that Dead Man’s Blood.”

She purses her lips and shakes her head. “I could have talked to you. Kept you from doing something impulsive like stalking your sister, getting into a fight, and taking a vampire home.”

“I know.” I pick at the label on my coffee cup. “I just wanted to see where she lived, ya know? See how everyone else is getting along. But I shouldn’t have. I’ve moved on. I’m happy here. I have the store, you, the coven…I have a life and I like it.”

“They’re your family. Even with all the shit they put you through…that doesn’t change who they are.”

“It makes it worse.”

Kristy sets her coffee down and gives me a hug. “Okay, so let’s revisit this vision. You don’t think it was a premonition or something, do you?”

“No, I don’t have the powers of foresight. It was more like a message.”

“But a half-breed? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe because my parents aren’t magical?”

“How would that make you a half-breed, though? Half-breed is usually reserved for someone who has two different magical parents, like a witch and a shifter. Your parents are neither.”

“Yeah, I have no idea.” I pop the lid off my coffee and move my finger in a slow circle over it, magically stirring the hot liquid. “And who knows? Maybe it was something tapping into a subconscious fear. I was kind of intoxicated.”

“Kind of?” She rolls her eyes and moves to the register to ring up a customer. The store gets pretty busy as the evening goes on, and I stay, helping manage the lines and just talking with Kristy and Betty.

The store is still pretty crowded when the sun starts to set. We’re open for another couple hours, so I offer to go pick up takeout for the three of us to eat. On nights when the store is packed, we stay open an extra half-hour or so, not wanting to miss sales.

Our store is on the main street in the quiet town of Thorne Hill. It’s far from a big city, but not quite small-town territory. It’s more of the latter, but being close to Lake Michigan has made it an ideal place to lay down roots.

Plus, a Ley line runs through here, which contributes to how the town got its name. Twisted thorn bushes grew all over, spreading like weeds, in a natural attempt to keep the living away from the power buried deep underground. But humans are relentless beings, and not long after the first settlers moved into the area, covens of witches moved in as well, making sure the Ley line was protected.

And now I belong to one of those covens.

Non-magical people are drawn to this place and they don’t even know why. The Ley line does that, pulsing addictive energy into the air. So far, it’s worked out in our favor, keeping people generally happy. But if tainted, if demons ever got their hands on the line, it could cause mass chaos.

Our downtown has several blocks of stores and restaurants, and the sense of community is big here. We have festivals and celebrations year-round. There are three vampires who live here, and so far, they’ve kept to themselves and have been model citizens. They’re on the younger side, having only been vampires for about ten years, which is just enough time to move out of the impulsive murdering state—well, for some vampires, that is.

I get noodles and sushi from my favorite Japanese place just a block away and head back to the bookshop.

“Good evening, Callie,” another store owner says as she sweeps off the welcome mat leading into her antique store.

“Hi, Mrs. Bishop. How are you?”

“I’m good, honey. Working late again?”

“Nah, it’s not too late.”

She casts her eyes to the setting sun. A few business owners shut down right around sunset to avoid vampires. Mrs. Bishop is one of them, though it’s not like the antique store is a happening place after hours. She’s about half an hour too late to completely avoid vampires, but I can’t exactly explain to her that the older, more powerful vampires are able to come out at dusk on cloudy nights like this.

“Take care, honey,” she says and sweeps the last bit of dust off her welcome mat. I hurry back to the bookstore, stomach grumbling. Binx is sitting outside the door and lets out a loud meow as soon as I draw near.

“Hey, Mr. Prickle Paws,” I tell him. “Whatcha doing here?”

He lifts his head, sniffing the bag of takeout, more interested in snagging a bite to eat than the reason he came all the way into town.

“Yes,” I tell him before he has a chance to ask. “I’ll share with you.” I push open the door, letting him in first. I only get one foot in the store before I know why Binx showed up.

Lucas is here.