“Oh, I love the trees! Phil and I always go, but he gets bored, and I’d rather not take Penny, so if you have time to go, let me know when!”
“I’m trying to take it easy, so I’m pretty much free whenever. What’s your work schedule like next week?”
“I have Wednesday off, but Phil will be in surgery. I can see if Mom—I mean, Nancy—can watch Penny.”
“That should work. What time?”
“Ten?”
“What about eleven? Or noon? I’m an hour away.”
“Oh, right. Eleven is fine, noon too if you want to sleep in. I know how exhausting the first trimester is. Call me when you’re on your way, how’s that? Do you want to meet there or here? You’ll drive past the museum on your way to Lincoln Park, I know.”
“We can drive together. That way we only have to deal with finding one parking spot.”
“Sounds good. I’m excited!”
“Me too. Give Penny a kiss for me.”
“I will. Take care, Callie.”
“You too. Bye.” I end the call and put my phone down, pulling the blanket up over me. I’m still so chilled from walking through the woods.
“Do you want a fire?” Lucas asks, sitting on the couch. He slips his hand under the blanket, and I shy away from his cold skin. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I can’t get warm.”
“I’ll be right back.” He speeds out of the room, returning soon after with an electric blanket. I learned quickly that sleeping next to someone who is room temperate can be quite chilly. A heated blanket solved that issue, and we have several now, kept around the house. It’s weird, I suppose, but it works and keeps me comfortable. Vampire don’t really feel hot or cold, unless exposed to extreme temperatures. Even still, their bodies wouldn’t react the same way a human’s would.
“I turned it on high just to warm you up,” Lucas says, running the cord over the couch. We had the wiring updated to code with multiple outlets in every room. “A few minutes should be fine.” He spreads the blanket over me and disappears again, coming back with an armload of firewood. “Another delivery is coming tomorrow,” he tells me as he puts the logs in the fire. In my previous house, I’d light a fire occasionally at night in the winter, and it would warm up my little living room in no time. This house is so big, with much taller ceilings. We need to have fires going all day to keep it warmed up in the winter. Luckily, there’s a tree-trimming company that serves the whole county, and they have a delivery service. The benefits of the modern world, right?
“I didn’t realize how much wood we’d go through.”
“This is nothing compared to how it used to be. While we weren’t so concerned about staying warm, you didn’t want your house getting too cold and damaging your possessions. Eliza had quite a lot when she was first turned.”
“Someday I want you both to sit down and tell me your different sides to that story.”
“Of her being turned?”
“Yeah.”
Lucas stacks the wood on the metal rack in the fireplace. “It’s not that interesting.”
“You revenge killed her, left her in the ground, and then were forced back due to a bond forged by murder and black magic. It’s super interesting.”
“It didn’t happen quite like that.”
“Then tell me how it did happen.” I sit up when Lucas goes to get the lighter from where we have it stashed on the mantle. “And I got this today.” I hold out my hand, wait for him to take a step back, and use magic to start the fire. Lucas moves the metal screen in front of the fire and joins me on the couch. The blanket isn’t warm yet, and I do my best not to shiver from his cool skin. This is our first winter together, and I’m perpetually cold from December through April. I heal fast, don’t really gain weight, have a very high tolerance for alcohol, and can get by on little sleep, but I’m still affected by the weather.
“You know why I turned Eliza,” he starts, and I snuggle up with him, pulling the electric blanket over us both. He turned her to get revenge on her father, who was some sort of sergeant or general in the British Army. He’d ordered attacks on a nest of sleeping vampires, killing most of them with sunlight. I don’t think Lucas was particularly fond of any of the vampires but wanted revenge on someone for killing dozens of his kind.
“I do. She was the prettiest out of all her sisters.”
“Yes, and set to marry a wealthy man.”
“She mentioned that before.”
“I turned her, left once I knew the change had taken, and came back soon after.”
“Why did you go back?” I ask, starting to feel really sleepy now that the fire is going and the blanket is starting to warm up.