Chapter Thirty

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Scott demands through gritted teeth. I stand there, stunned, as pain radiates through my head. Scott hit me right in the temple, and his fingers lashed the corner of my eye. If it swells up, I wouldn’t be surprised. Ella gasps and Scott turns on me, eyes full of rage.

“You’re nothing but the Devil’s whore,” he says, grabbing my wrist and twisting my arm up. The magic has left my fingers, and his grip on my wrist hurts.

“Scott!” Ella exclaims, jumping back. “What are you doing?”

 And then Lucas appears, seemingly out of nowhere, and grabs Scott by the throat. He draws his fangs and lifts Scott into the air several feet off the ground. Ella screams and the others in the room scatter. “You’re lucky your sister has more mercy in her little finger than most do in their whole body. If my own flesh and blood treated me this way, I would not be so kind.” Lucas raises Scott a little higher in the air and looks at me. “What should I do with him, lover?”

I’m shaking, feeling like the little girl in the hospital room all over again. I’m alone in the bed, watching my family walk away. Abby is crying, Mom has tears running down her face, but Scott…he’s smiling.

“Let him go,” I say, pushing my shoulders back. I bring my sore wrist in toward my body, holding it against my chest. “He’s not worth it.”

Lucas releases his grasp and Scott falls to the floor. He scrambles up, hands going to his neck, and then starts dramatically coughing. Lucas turns to me, putting one hand on the small of my back and bringing my body to his.

“Are you all right?”

“I am now.” I let out a ragged breath, heart still going a million miles an hour. “He caught me off guard. Thank you…thank you for defending me.” I close my eyes in a long blink and realize everyone is looking at us. “I just want to go.”

“If that is your wish.”

“It is.” I flick my hand, causing my brother to fall to the floor again. Being petty and impulsive feels so good sometimes. “Start recording,” Scott hisses to Ella, who’s scrambling to get her phone from her purse. “You all saw that!” Scott shouts. “The vampire tried to kill me!”

Lucas slowly turns away from me, zeroing his gaze in on my brother. “If I wanted to kill you, you’d be bleeding into my mouth right now. I saw you hit a woman. Your own sister at that.” He moves in Scott’s direction, causing my brother to clamber away. “I’ve walked this earth for over sixteen hundred years, and you know the one thing I’ve never been able to stand throughout all that time? Weak men like you who hit women.”

Scott cowers, eyes darting to the phone in Ella’s hand, and starts coughing again. “You all saw that, right?” Scott says, not coughing anymore. “The vampire attacked me.”

“You hit her,” a woman in the corner of the room behind us speaks out. “I-I saw you hit that girl.”

“He’s compelling you to say that!” Scott goes on. “Don’t make eye contact. Someone call the police and have this…this creature arrested!”

“Yes, call the police.” Lucas laughs, and his amusement at the situation just pisses Scott off more. “I’d love to watch you tell them how you hit a woman in the face.”

“They’ll never believe you,” Scott sneers. “I’m running for office in this city. They’ve already put their trust in me.”

Lucas points to a camera on the wall above us. “Have fun explaining the footage then.” He speeds forward, pushing my brother up against the wall. Scott tries to look away, but Lucas grabs his chin and makes him look right into his eyes. “Apologize to your sister,” he commands Scott. “She’s a goddess and you’re a lowly peasant. You’re not worthy to be in her presence. In fact, you should kiss her feet and beg for forgiveness.”

Scott’s eyes gloss over, and he nods. “I’m…I’m not worthy.” He turns his spellbound eyes on me as he crawls over, bending his head down and tries to kiss my toes. I step back before he actually makes contact. “Forgive me, goddess. Please, most gracious one, forgive me.”

“Tonight,” I start, crossing my arms over my chest, “I’ll show mercy. But cross me again and you won’t be so lucky.” I extend my hand for Lucas, and he takes it and brings it to his mouth.

“You are a goddess,” he says with a devilish smirk. “And you’re mine.” Hand in hand, we start toward the door. Scott is still on his knees, calling for me to forgive him. People move out of the way, and even though there’s music playing, you could hear a pin drop.

I hold my breath the entire way out, not exhaling until we’re on the sidewalk.

“So, my family is great, aren’t they?” I blink back tears, getting annoyed with myself for letting this get to me when there’s so much more at stake. But I’m human and I can only take so much.

“They’re awful,” he agrees. “Save for your sister, that is.”

“Yeah…and dear old dad didn’t have the balls to even show his face.”

“Are you adopted?”

I laugh and then realize Lucas is serious. “No. Why?”

“You smell different from your siblings and mother. Family members who share the same blood have a similar smell.”

I angrily wipe away a renegade tear. “Do I smell better than they do at least?”

“Very much so.”

*

Lucas opens the car door for me and offers a hand to help me out. I take it, silently rising to my feet. The drive from my sister’s was short, but I didn’t say a word the entire time.

We enter the house, and Binx and Pandora come running. I sit on a built-in hall tree to take off my heels, reaching down to pet them both.

“Turns out you were right,” I tell them. “I shouldn’t have gone to the party. Though watching Scott grovel at my feet did feel good.” I scoop up Binx and press my face against his soft fur, needing a few seconds to gather my composure. I still have to tell everyone about the demon and how I’m back to square one on how to kill it.

Leaving my purse on the hall tree, I walk through the mudroom and into the kitchen. Lucas is in there, and he wraps his strong arms around me.

“If I overstepped back there,” he starts and kisses my forehead. “Well, I’m not sorry. I held back from what I really wanted to do to him. No one lays a finger on you and gets away with it.”

“You didn’t overstep,” I say softly. “Thank you. No one’s ever defended me to them before.”

“They don’t deserve you.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “I know.” Exhaling heavily, I lean on him for support. “Naomi texted me.”

“You have a name?”

“Not exactly.” I tip my head up. “She told me her gran didn’t think it was safe to say the name of a Third Hierarchy demon.”

“Fuck,” Lucas swears, knowing how bad the situation is.

“Right? I don’t know what to do. Or what could be so wrong with me that a demon who sits in Satan’s inner circle wants to kill me?”

“Nothing is wrong with you,” Lucas says fiercely. “You’re a threat to the Devil, Callie. If anything, that makes you even more appealing to me than you were before.”

His words make me smile. “I’m a dangerous woman.”

“Yes,” he groans, lips going to my neck. “You are.” He scoops me up and carries me upstairs, but instead of going to the bedroom, he takes me to the rooftop patio, offering a small reprieve from everything going on. “It’s not as quiet as Thorne Hill, but I’ve always found it rather peaceful up here.” Lucas sits on the lounge chair, keeping me tight in his grasp.

“It is. Being up above most of the traffic makes me feel removed from society in a way.”

“Do you miss living in Chicago?”

“Not really,” I say with a shake of my head. “I’m not much of a people person. The country life is much more my style. I like the privacy, the quiet nights, and the sense of community in Thorne Hill is like something straight out of a Hallmark movie.” I look above us, unable to see any stars despite the clear sky. “Too bad there isn’t a little hole-in-the-wall bar for sale you could buy there.”

“I don’t like the distance between us either.” Lucas slides his hand along my thigh. I stretch my legs out, resituating on Lucas’s lap. It would be nice to have him in Thorne Hill with me. Our time together is limited to the night and having to travel from Chicago to Indiana takes away an hour of that precious time.

My eyes fall shut when Lucas runs his fingers through my hair. Chaos spins around us, dark and dangerous. I want to disappear into this moment, hiding away from the world in my dead lover’s arms.

We stay like that for a while, finding solace in the quiet of night. There is so much I have to do and getting up is the first step. I want to put it off as long as I can because as much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m scared.

Lucas sits up, inhaling deep. “Your sister is here. Are you sure you’re related? You smell nothing alike.”

“I’ve seen the photos of my mom when she was pregnant with me and I’m pretty sure she still has my crusty umbilical cord in a shadowbox somewhere.”

“Humans are weird.”

“Tell me about it.” I disentangle myself from Lucas and go to the railing, looking down at the street below. “Abby?”

My sister looks up, startled, and pushes the gate at the sidewalk open. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah…I’ll be right down.”

Lucas and I both go inside. He stays in while I go out, meeting Abby in the front.

“Want to come in?” I ask. Binx and Pandora slip out the open front door.

“Um, can we stay out here?” Abby pulls her sweater tighter around herself. She doesn’t want to be in the house with a vampire.

“Sure.” I close the front door behind me and sit on the bottom stone step leading to Lucas’s grand house. Binx sits next to me, flicking his tail back and forth. Pandora stays at the top step, growling at my sister.

“I don’t think they like me.” Abby shuffles back.

“They don’t trust you.” I run my hand over Binx’s head. “But don’t worry, they won’t hurt you.”

“I mean, they’re just cats, right?”

Binx tips his head, asking if he can shadow around Abby.

“Not now,” I tell him. “That goes for you too, Pandora.” I pat the spot next to me, but Abby stays rooted to her spot. “I’m sorry about your party. I really was having a nice time until…until…I’m just sorry, Abby.”

“It’s not your fault, Callie. We watched the security cameras and saw everything. Scott hit you. Hard.” Abby’s eyes fill with tears. “Dad’s freaking out you’re going to press charges and wants me to delete the footage.” She inches forward and sits on the step next to me, apprehensively looking at Binx. “Lucas was defending you, and while I can’t say I agree to his methods, I’d like to think Phil would do the same if it were me. I mean, he can’t pick someone up one-handed, but I’d hope he’d at least push Scott away or say some strongly chosen words.”

“I think he would defend you.”

“He’s kind of a wuss.” Abby sniffles as she laughs. “And he wouldn’t want to risk hurting his hands when he has surgery in the morning.” She plays with a button on her sweater. “That’s why I came here. I wanted to tell you I don’t blame you.”

“Thank you, Abby. That means a lot to me.”

“I should have told you sooner. And I don’t just mean about tonight. I meant it when I said I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Being a mom has changed me in a good way, and I…I can’t imagine treating Penny the way you were treated. I’m so ashamed of our family and I’m so, so sorry.”

“I forgive you,” I say quickly, feeling a bit uncomfortable. I’m not really an emotional person, and the last thing I ever want is pity. I reach out and take her hand. “Really, Abby. I never blamed you.”

“Well, I think you should. Just a bit at least.”

“Would that make you feel better?”

“Slightly.”

“Fine. Then I hold the smallest grudge against you and your perfect family.”

She squeezes my hand before letting go. “Thank you.” Binx stands and stretches. Purring, he rubs his head against me. Abby snatches her hand back, still scared of my black cat.

“Did you see the magic in my hand on the footage?” I ask, needing to be sure. The hand that held the magic was hidden from sight by my body, but the glow might have been picked up.

She shakes her head. “No, I didn’t.”

“Good.”

“So…Lucas…” She looks out at the street before meeting my eye again.

“He’s a vampire, yes, I know.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” I pick Binx up and set him in my lap.

“Well, because he’s…he’s…”

“A vampire.”

She drops her gaze. “Yes.”

“And I’m a witch.”

“But you’re human,” she says quietly. “Vampires kill, Callie. You know that.”

“You do realize humans are responsible for all the wars, genocide, and terrorist attacks, right? I won’t deny that vampires have killed a lot of people, but if you were to compare the numbers, humans are far more dangerous. Who’s to say a human I’m dating wouldn’t turn on me?”

“I never thought about it like that.”

“You’ve been taught to fear them. Most humans fear what they don’t understand. That’s why witches were burned. We were feared. And come on.” I playfully nudge her. “I’m sure there are plenty more politicians with questionable moral compasses than there are vampires.”

Abby’s lips curve into a small smile. “Probably.”

The front door opens, and Abby jumps off the steps.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.” Lucas extends his hand, holding out my phone. “It’s been ringing nonstop and Evander has texted you a dozen times in the last few minutes.”

I spring up, taking my phone from Lucas. I unlock it and go to my texts, sucking in a breath.

“Oh my god.” My legs threaten to buckle. “The coven is under attack.”