“I do too,” Julian agrees, tipping his head curiously.
“To make a long story short,” I begin, “a demon possessed this guy, and when we went to question him, the demon killed himself. So Lucas buried the body for me and then we realized a resurrection spell might be all we need to get some answers. So I had Lucas un-bury the body and bring it into the woods. I didn’t know I was half angel back then, so when I did the spell to awaken the dead, I had no idea it would wake up every dead body close by. Blah blah blah, we killed the zombies and I burned their corpses in my yard. Problem solved.”
“So, there are no bodies on the property?” Melinda asks slowly.
“Uh, no?” I question, looking at Lucas. “You buried that zombie from the attic, right?”
“I did,” he says with a nod. “She’s eight feet under by the grove of pine trees.”
“Better than six,” Kristy says as she brings her glass to her lips. I laugh and look around the room once more. Fuck, I’m lucky. My life hasn’t worked out as I thought it would—not in the least. But I have an amazing team of family and friends, and as long as we’re together, we can get through anything.“Cal?”
Abby’s hand rests on my shoulder and I blink my eyes open. After eating a few cookies and polishing off that bottle of sparkling grape juice, I fell asleep on the couch, snuggled up between Lucas and Eliza. Someone was rubbing my back, lulling me to sleep, and I’m pretty sure it was Eliza since Lucas doesn’t have long nails.
And I don’t care at all if it was her.
“Are you leaving?” I ask, inhaling deep. The sun has already set, and I’m ready to go upstairs and collapse into bed. I’m finally getting used to waking up in the new room. It’s more than double the amount of space than our old room, with a large window that overlooks the backyard and a real working fireplace.
Falling asleep to the sounds and smell of a crackling fire are more soothing than I ever imagined, and when I pair that to being wrapped in Lucas’s arms, it’s easy to fall in bed and never want to get up.
“Yeah, it’s getting late and I think you’re tired.” Abby puts her hand on mine and gives it a squeeze.
“Let me walk you out.”
“It’s okay,” Abby tells me. “You need to rest.”
“No, I’m good,” I protest and struggle to get up. I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep, and now that I’m awake, everyone else says their goodbyes and leaves too. I hug my friends goodbye, sad to see them go while eager to go upstairs and fall into bed at the same time. Easton and Melinda leave along with Abby and her family, and then Kristy, Evander, and Tabatha hug me goodbye after that.
I wrap a blanket around my shoulders and go outside, letting Scarlet out. Thin clouds stretch across the sky, and the entire night is silent, promising more snow.
“Come on,” I tell Scarlet, opening the front door to let her in. I drop the blanket in the foyer and lock the door, turning around to seal it up with magic. Eliza is upstairs, and I can hear her talking on the phone with someone, no doubt asking for nudes or something of the like.
I take off my boots and pick up the blanket, going back into the living room. The fire is still going strong, and my plan is to wrap myself up tightly in blankets and lay down in front of the fire, not moving until I’m uncomfortably hot.
But then I hear Lucas and Julian’s voices coming from the kitchen. Scarlet trots ahead, going in to beg for leftovers. I move in rhythm with her, and her big paws hitting the floor cover up me sneaking through the hall.
“I didn’t want to tell Callie this,” Julian says. “There’s no need to upset her more than she’s already upset.”
“Tell her what?” Lucas asks, and I press myself against the wall, holding my breath.
“Bael doesn’t just want to rule Hell. He wants death and destruction. He wants the world to burn.”Chapter 37“Is that too hot?” Lucas stands by the fire, poker in hand. He just put another log on the fire in our room. I’m in bed, sitting up and holding the sheets over my bare breasts, watching the flames grow. I stripped out of my clothes and went right to bed, but now that I’m lying down, I’m not tired anymore.
“No, it’s perfect,” I tell Lucas, smiling at him.
“Let me know if you get too hot,” he tells me and comes into bed. Scarlet is stretched out on the floor near the fireplace, and my familiars will be joining us soon, wanting to lie by the fireplace as well.