Flames suddenly rise from the forest floor a few feet in front of us. I conjure strings of magic and my familiars shadow over. Lucas whirls around, looking behind us. He’s the only one who thought this could be a distraction, and he was right.
Ruth throws a magically charged branch through the air, broken with a sharp tip.
“Lucas!” I scream and throw up my hand to stop the branch. I’m not fast enough, and the tip of the branch plunges right into Lucas’s chest.
Chapter 6
Lucas looks down at his chest, annoyed more than anything else. “You missed,” he says, and I realize that he let her stab him just to mock her. He knew it would miss his heart.
“Seriously,” I hiss, watching him yank the branch out of his chest. “Scared me half to death.”
“Sorry, my love.” He holds the makeshift stake up and looks out into the woods. Lucas can see in the dark, and vampires have much better hearing than humans. He’s looking for Ruth, and it’s only a matter of time before he finds her.
And she knows it.
Binx shadows through the woods, moving so fast he’s a dark blur in the night. He’s trying to draw Ruth out and make her move. And it works. Lucas hears something I don’t, and he throws the branch through the air like a frisbee. It hits Ruth in the head, knocking her to the ground. The invisibility spell is broken and Lucas speeds forward, grabbing Ruth by the shoulders. Fangs drawn, he goes in for a deadly bite to her neck.
“Lucas, no!” I shout and run over. “I need her alive. She gave Kristy a sleeping potion and I need the antidote.”
Snarling, Lucas jerks his head back and takes both of Ruth’s wrists in one hand. He pulls something out of his pocket and slips it over Ruth’s head.
“Try your invisibility trick now,” he sneers and spins her around, holding her arms behind her back. The hagstone the vampire Dina used on me hangs from Ruth’s neck.
“Good thinking,” I tell Lucas, impressed he even thought to bring it. Then again, I did have Binx brief him on what was going on. Heart still pounding, I move around Lucas and cast the magical handcuff spell Tabatha used on my father just a few days ago.
“Ad imperium,” I say and snap my fingers together, making the two cuffs of magic that are circling Ruth’s wrist pull together. I step back and Lucas wraps one arm around me.
“You won’t get away with this.” Ruth shakes her head. “I’ll report you. Say you attacked me.”
“Go ahead,” I retort. “And I’ll tell them what really happened.”
“And you think they’ll believe you?” She narrows her eyes. “The only reason an investigation against you hasn’t been started is because I said I’d handle it myself. I told you, Callie,” she spits my name. “One look at your file and the Grand Coven will wonder what you are hiding. Add in how you fought off demonic possession by your own sheer will and they will take matters seriously.”
“You were possessed?” Lucas asks.
“For like a minute,” I tell him, giving him a look that says We’ll talk about it later. “And let them investigate me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Ruth shifts her eyes to Lucas and laughs. “Are you sure about that?”
Blue light sparks behind us and the door starts to open. “Go!” I tell Lucas. He hesitates for a second, not wanting to leave me, but speeds off. He won’t go far, I’m sure.
“Help! Help me!” Ruth starts to yell before anyone is even through the door. Ruby steps out first, followed by two members of the council and Tabatha.
Motherfucker. I know how this looks.
It’s not good.
Ruby starts forward, but stops before she gets to Ruth. She stands in between myself and Ruth, looking back and forth as if she’s trying to make sense of things.
“Help me, my child!” Ruth tries to pull her hands out of the magical cuffs. “She attacked me.”
“No, no, I didn’t,” I protest.
Tabatha holds up her hand. “Silence,” she orders. I step back, hands shaking. Binx meows and rubs against my legs. Freya and Pandora sit patiently near the door, watching and waiting to act if need be.
“Kristy?” I ask, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“She’s in the infirmary,” Tabatha says and strides over to Ruth. “She will make a full recovery.”
“She did it.” Anger floods through me again and Binx rubs his head against my legs, telling me to calm down. I clench my jaw and stare daggers at Ruth. “She gave her the potion.”
“You have no proof of that,” Ruth fires back.
Ruby flicks her eyes to Ruth for half a second. “I let you into the potion room yesterday. I didn’t think anything of it, of course, but after we found Kristy and realized what had been given, I went back and looked. You took what you’d need to make the sleeping potion.”
“I didn’t want to believe it,” Tabatha says. “But then we searched your room and found the antidote.” She extends her hand, holding out an empty potion vile. “One overlooked detail of this particular sleeping spell is how the victim is able to hear what’s going on around them. Makes it particularly terrifying to be locked in your own body, aware of what’s going on but not able to react. Kristy was able to recount everything she’s heard.”
“They’re friends!” Ruth sputters. “Of course she’d lie for her friend! Look at what she did to me! She attacked me!”
“That’s not all we found when we searched your room.” Tabatha reaches into her robe and pulls a Baphomet out of her pocket. It’s a Satanic object, not necessarily illegal to have, but it makes her look guilty of everything Kristy would have overheard.
Ruth was trying to force me to summon the Devil for her.
The council members look at Tabatha, waiting her command. Things are bad, and while I know I’m innocent, I know how this looks.
“I will deal with this the correct way,” Tabatha says, looking pained. She pushes her shoulders back. “Ruth, you are charged with use of an illegal potion, conspiring against the coven, and practice of black magic. You are to return to the Covenstead with your powers bound until the Grand Coven arrives in the morning. And Callie.” She looks me in the eye, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.
“Until the Grand Coven reviews your case as well, I hereby suspend you from the coven and forbid you to step inside the Covenstead.”
I feel like I’m falling backwards into the dark. My head moves up and down on its own accord. The suspension is temporary, and I know I’ll be cleared of charges.
But what if I’m not? The coven is my family. The Covenstead is my second home. I can’t lose that.
“Return to your house,” Tabatha further orders me. “You will be contacted by a member of the council once things have been reviewed.” The council leads Ruth back through the door, and I wait, watching everyone go through. The door seals shut behind everyone, and I go to the spot where it appears in the old tree, holding my hand out and feeling for the energy. Until Tabatha lifts my suspension, I won’t be able to open the door even if I tried.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I turn and start back toward my house. My familiars walk along next to me, and we walk in silence. Lucas is on the back porch, waiting for me to return home. He speeds forward once he sees me, and pulls me into his embrace.
I close my eyes and rest my head against his chest. The lack of a beating heart used to unsettle me, but now I find comfort in the quiet.
“Are you all right?” he asks again.
“I will be.” I tip my head up. “I just want to sleep.”
Lucas nods and takes my hand, leading me up the steps. I go right for the fridge, pulling out a bottle of wine and use magic to take out the cork. Not bothering with a glass, I put the bottle of Moscato to my lips and take a few big gulps.
“That’s better.” I set the bottle down and almost immediately feel the alcohol hit me. It’s been a while since I’ve had anything to eat, I’ve been running on pure adrenaline since I was summoned to the Covenstead, and right b
efore that Lucas drank my blood during sex. Exhaustion is going to hit me hard at any moment, and I want nothing more than to pass out and not think about anything at all.
Lucas grabs me by the waist and pulls me to him, kissing me hard. “I love you,” he whispers between kisses.
“And I love you.”
He pulls my hair to the side, moving his lips to my neck. I melt against him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. The sun is starting to come up, but thanks to a spell of my own invention, the light won’t hurt Lucas as long as he stays inside. He picks me up and carries me upstairs and into bed.
“Kristy was supposed to open the store,” I mumble, blindly reaching for my phone on my nightstand. “She won’t be able to go in.”
“You’re not going in, are you?”
“Someone has to open.”
“You’re going to run yourself ragged, Callie.”
“I know,” I agree, seeing no point in arguing. “It feels like we fought off supercharged demons days ago, but it was yesterday.” I let out a sigh. “I’ll get through a few hours until Betty comes in to take over and then I’ll be home. I’ll nap and rest and eat vitamins or something, okay?”
Lucas smiles, brushing my hair back. “Okay.”