“And maybe I’m being optimistic here,” she says, clutching my hand. “But perhaps traveling will prevent you from being located by…” She trails off, looking up. “From your family. Thorne Hill is an area of interest, is it not?”
“I thought the same too,” I confess. Julian said he’d been assigned to this area—by Michael, of course—but it’s not raising suspicions yet. If I were to leave Thorne Hill, then the angels could investigate this space as much as they’d like and come up empty-handed.
I hope, at least.
Tabatha gives my hands a squeeze. “Trust it all will work out in the end, Callie.”
“I do,” I say, though I’m struggling to believe it.
Tabatha hugs me. “I will see you soon.” Her lips curve into a smile. “Behave yourself at your bachelorette party.”
“Now that,” I start with a smile, “is not something I can promise.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Evander laughs.
“You are getting married in a few short weeks,” Tabatha presses. “Take this time to enjoy it.”
I smile, but everything feels so contrived. “I will, I promise. And I will enjoy the next few weeks…as long as nothing else tries to kill me.”
I close and lock the door after they’ve left and turn back around, finding Lucas by the stairs.
“And now, my love, are you all right?” he asks.
I want to answer yes, that I’m fine. Or that I will be fine. But I also don’t want to lie.
“I just feel like life is playing this game with me where I say what else could go wrong and it throws something else at me. I know there’s that stupid saying about how you’re only given what you can handle, but this is…it’s so much,” I admit, letting my eyes fall shut. Part of me wants to crumple to the ground right now from the weight of everything. Another part wants to scream and yell into the night, pissed the fuck off that everything is piling up on my plate.
Does wanting a few nights of peace and quiet make me selfish?
“Whatever you’re given, Callie, you have me to help handle.” Lucas takes me in his arms, and his cool skin feels so good against mine.
I inhale deeply, and let him hold me for a moment. We’d just found a vampire was behind the Order wanting me dead before Tabatha and Evander showed up with the paperwork necessary for me to leave the coven. It’s not something we can ignore, and now I’m going back to thinking I really should have made a list, ranking everything from most deadly to slightly annoying.
“Do you think the vampire who hired the Order is the same one who had Dina try to kidnap me?” I ask Lucas, bending my elbows and raking my fingers through his hair.
“I do,” he answers with no hesitation. “Which means I’ll be questioning her again, though I still think I’ve gotten all the info from her that I can.”
I let out another deep sigh. “Why would they send vampires to kidnap me and then hire the Order to kill me? We assumed whoever Dina works for didn’t want me dead.”
Lucas runs his eyes up and down my body, and I’m about to scold him for getting distracted when he takes me in his arms. “I think whoever hired the Order was banking on them failing, which is why they paid the lump sum all up front. They called you a fang-banging whore, which means they know about our relationship.”
“Do you think that could be part of why they went after me?” I ask. “Because we’re together?
Lucas slowly shakes his head. “I don’t know. But they knew who you are, and that you are a powerful witch, well, if my theory is correct. They knew you’d be able to fight the Order members and win. More than likely, they’ve been watching you.”
“Great. Vampires and an angel are spying on me. I know why Julian lurks, but the vampires…why?”
He shakes his head. “I’m not sure. The vampires Dina worked with…they want to use you for something. I’ll figure out what,” he promises and then speeds forward and takes me in his arms. “Not tonight, though.” He runs his hands through my hair. “It is getting late and I know you need to rest.”
“It’s kind of hard to when I know there are several people out there hoping for me demise.” I get a flashback to Wyatt, and how Eliza thought I was being overdramatic. Hah. If anything, I was downplaying the danger.
“You can for the night,” Lucas tells me. “Now, am I going to have to force you into bed?”
I smile, and the knot in my chest loosens a tiny bit. “Yes. Yes, you are.”
“Well, in that case…” he picks me up and carries me upstairs and into my bedroom, tossing me down on the mattress. “We get married in a few short weeks, Callie.” He runs his hands up my legs. “And as much as I hate suggesting this…” His hands somehow manage to get up my shirt.
“Yeah?” I groan.
“The demon,” he says and his words are sobering. I slit my eyes open to stare at his handsome face.
“What about it?”
“I know you won’t rest—fully rest—until it’s gone.”
“Right. I can’t since there’s still a good chance it’s here for me.”
His face tenses, and I can tell he’s not happy with whatever he’s about to suggest. “You do know two demon hunters. What if you…you had them handle this demon? You’ve helped them out more than once just recently, and given your past history, I say they more than owe you.”
“Oh.” I blink a few times, as the thought never occurred to me. I could ask Miranda and Easton to look into this demon issue, though I know sending two humans after a high-level demon wouldn’t exactly be a fair fight.
But I could at the very least have them help me track this thing.
“I didn’t think about that,” I tell him, and Lucas undoes the top button on my dress. “I suppose I could call Easton back in the morning.”
“In the morning,” Lucas presses and moves on top of me. “Don’t think about him now.”
He slowly undresses me, and I know I won’t be thinking of anyone but Lucas for the rest of the night. He takes his time making love to me, and for a while, I forget about everything bad in the world.
All that exists is him.
My soon-to-be-husband.
The man I love more than life itself.
We take a quick shower together after we’ve finished having sex. I throw on sleeper shorts and a tank top and then brush my teeth. Lucas spoons his naked body around mine as soon as we get into bed. The heated blanket is already on, and I snuggle up with him, feeling more comfortable than I have all day.
“I like this,” I say sleepily. “Being in bed with you.”
“You know I like being in bed with you.” He gently runs his fingers over the two little scabs on my neck from where he bit me. “Soon we’ll be in bed together in our house.”
I smile, eyes fluttering shut. “I cannot wait until we move in. Is it silly to think it’s more of a big deal to be restoring the house together than if I just moved in with you?”
“No, not silly. This house is ours from the start. Not mine, not yours, but ours.”
“Yes,” I mutter, close to falling asleep. “That’s exactly it.”
Lucas kisses the side of my neck and tucks the blankets tighter around me. I lay there, comfortable in his arms, but can’t turn my mind off. It takes me a while to fall asleep, and as soon as I do, the floorboards in my room creak.
I sit up, pulling out of Lucas’s arms. I blink in the dark, trying to get my eyes to adjust. But I don’t need to see him to know he’s here.
Lucifer.
He leans against the doorframe. “Hello, Callie.”
22
I throw the blankets back and shoot out of bed.
“Easy, tiger,” Lucifer says, holding up his hands. He points back to the bed, and I turn, seeing myself still in bed, nestled in Lucas’s arms.
“I’m…I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”
“In a sense.” Lucifer pushes off the wall. He’s wearing pinstriped dress pants and a charcoal gray button-up, making him look
like he just stepped foot off a GQ photoshoot.
“What are you doing?”
“I wanted to see my favorite niece.” He opens up his arms for a hug. I stay rooted to the spot.
“Why?”
I squeeze my fists shut, digging my nails into the palms of my hands. I should wake myself up because I’m starting to think I’ve been pulled out of my body as if I’m astral projecting and not lucid dreaming.
But if I am…I want to hear what Lucifer has to say.
“We’re family,” he says and motions for me to follow him out of the bedroom.
“Family,” I say with a snort of laughter. “Family doesn’t send demons after each other.”