“Don’t doubt yourself,” Lucas says softly. “I know I’m not the one carrying our baby, but I’m here, Callie. You’re not going through this alone, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
I tip my head up and press my lips to his. “I know.” And he will. He’d fight to the very end if it meant keeping me—and now our child—safe. And I fear that end might come sooner than either of us think.Chapter 17I rake my fingers through my hair, untangling a knot. “I’m almost ready,” I tell Ruby, who’s sitting on my bed, flipping through my Book of Shadows. “Sorry I’m taking forever.”
“It’s fine. It gave me a chance to be nosey and go through your stuff. This is the spell you used to break the curse Ruth cast on Lucas?”
I glance over at the open page. “Yeah.”
“It’s genius.”
“I can’t take credit. Remember Felix from the Academy? He was a year above us.”
Ruby closes the book. “Yeah. You dated him, didn’t you?”
“I did.” Lucas is downstairs, but I know he can hear our conversation. Vampires are jealous and possessive in nature, and while Lucas doesn’t get stupid with jealousy, he still shows some of the typical vampire behavior.
Which I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find flattering. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want a man who controls me—and Lucas knows he can’t even fucking try to tell me what to do—but knowing he’d do anything for me is a turn-on.
“He’s the one who came up with the spell. Evander called him as a favor, and he came and helped us lift the curse. I kinda made him swear not to tell anyone he was helping a vampire.”
“Wow. I wondered why he randomly showed up in town only to rush back to the Academy where he teaches.”
“Curse breaking is his thing. He was fascinated to try the spell.”
“Sure, that’s the only reason he came running back here,” Ruby teases.
“Hah, but no. We had our fun and things ended mutually. He’s a good guy but we both knew things weren’t going to work between us. There was never that spark.” I open my jewelry box and put on the simple silver bracelet that belonged to my mother. “And he was always bothered that I scored higher than him in pretty much every subject.”
“Men,” she huffs. “They have such fragile egos.”
“Right? Like god forbid my defensive charms are more effective than yours. Sorry for not being helpless.”
“Oh, but you should be sorry. Because if you can defend yourself, how will a man prove he’s stronger than you?”
I laugh. “Back when Kristy and I would go out to bars, we’d play this game where we’d pretend not to understand really simple things and let guys explain things to us. It was more fun than it sounds, trust me, and we’d compete to see who could get the guy we were talking with to mansplain something so super simple it was laughable.”
“Let me guess: no one ever called you out on it?”
“One guy did, and it turned out he was gay and was trying to hit on Evander and not us.” I shove my feet in my favorite pair of combat boots and squeeze into my tiny and very overstuffed closet to get my red velvet cloak from the back. The lining is a shimmery black satin, and the embroidery along the hem is a gorgeous and complicated Celtic design. This cloak is reserved for special occasions like tonight.
I tie it around my shoulders, taking one last look at my reflection. I’m wearing a black dress with lace sleeves. It’s low cut and curve hugging, and in a few weeks, I probably won’t fit into it anymore. Lucas bought this for me on our honeymoon, and I put it on with the intention of wearing it to dinner.
Lucas ravished me the second I came down the stairs, and we ended up missing our dinner reservation because we made love on the back patio, under the light of the moon. I ordered Chinese takeout instead and ate it in the hot tub, looking out at the vineyard.
Fuck, I miss California. And being able to go in hot tubs.
“That dress brings back memories,” Lucas says when we go down the stairs. He’s in the living room watching TV, and Scarlet is curled up in his lap. “If I remember correctly, you didn’t have it on very long.”
I flash a coy smile. “You’re going to have to wait a few hours at least before you take it off me this time.”
“Gross,” Ruby grumbles and I laugh. Lucas moves Scarlet to the spot next to him and gets up, speeding over.
“Can I walk you to the door?” he asks, not sure if he should stay away or not. The coven recognized him as an ally to witches, but we don’t want to push our luck or start any sort of unnecessary drama.