I set an alarm, put my phone down, and snuggle up with Lucas. I fall asleep right away.
I wake up to the smell of bacon and coffee. Feeling like I just shut my eyes a few minutes ago, I groggily sit up and throw the covers back. I really don’t want to go to work today.
“You’re up.” Lucas walks into the room, holding a tray. “I cannot promise any of this is good.” He comes to the bed and sets the tray down. He made me bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. There’s a mug of steaming black coffee as well. “I watched YouTube videos on how to cook,” he admits with a smile. “It looks like it did in the video, but the smell of human food has no appeal to me.”
Emotion hits me and I look at him, blinking back my feelings. “Thank you. It looks wonderful.” I sit back against my pillows and dig in. There’s way too much salt on the eggs and my toast is soggy with so much butter, but this is the best damn breakfast I’ve ever had.
“Have you ever cooked?” I ask Lucas as I pile eggs onto my toast, folding it together to make a sandwich. “When you were human, I mean. Or did women do all the cooking back then?”
“I don’t know if I’d consider it actually cooking, but I provided food for myself before being captured in war. It was nothing like this, though.”
I take another bite of food and look at Lucas, finding it hard to imagine him as a human. I don’t know much about his human life, other than he was born in the 300s and fought as a Gladiator before being turned into a vampire and forced to fight all over again.
“Did you have a family?” I ask quietly. “When you were human?”
He shakes his head. “I wasn’t married.” He looks out the window, still mesmerized by the sun. “I had two younger sisters, and our father had been killed in war when we were young. I took care of them as well as our mother.”
I trade my toast for the coffee, wanting to ask more but not wanting to push Lucas. I know how painful it can be to revisit the past. Lucas continues to look out the window. “The last time I saw them was the day I went off to war, and I haven’t thought about them in years.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was a very long time ago, Callie.”
“Can I ask one more thing?” I set the coffee cup down and Lucas nods. “Did you know you were going to be turned into a vampire?”
“No. I didn’t know vampires existed until I woke up as one.” He looks at my plate. “Is the food good?”
“It is, thank you again.”
“I’d like to make you dinner, though I fear anything more complicated that putting bacon in a skillet might not turn out as well.”
“I’m not the best cook either,” I tell him with a smile. “Unless I use magic to help me out.”
“I’ll buy you dinner instead.”
“I’m not usually one to turn down a pizza.”
He gets up, kisses the top of my head, and leaves the room. I finish eating, take a fast shower, and use magic to braid my hair. It’s bright and sunny today, and will be hot like usual for this point of the summer. I go to my closet, deciding on a two-piece outfit consisting of shorts and a matching crop top. I get dressed and go down, finding Lucas putting the last of the dishes away.
“You’re not wearing black today?” he asks with a smile. My outfit is beige, with overlaid with multicolored flowers. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“Ha-ha. I don’t wear black that often.” He cocks an eyebrow. “Fine, I do. But every once in a while I like to mix it up. And it’s hard to find summery clothes in black. It’s hot today and I hate being sweaty when I’m at work.”
“You never told me what happened last night.” He sets the dish towel down and strides over, pulling me to him and pressing his pelvis against mine. I bring my hands up, resting them on his firm chest. “I got suspending from the coven.”
“Fuck.”
“I know.”
“What does that exactly mean?” he asks.
“It means I can’t get through the door if I tried. It’s the step before excommunication, and anyone still active in the coven shouldn’t associate with me out of fear of being suspended too.”
“But you work with Kristy.”
“There’s some gray area. Our work isn’t magical, so we can keep professional relationships, or at least that’s what the Grand Coven would say.” I take in a breath and turn my head up to look at Lucas. “I’ll be investigated, I’m sure.” I don’t have to say it for him to know that we’re at risk for being discovered again.
“Come to Chicago tonight.” He cups my face in his hands. “We never did get to go out on another fancy date. Let me take you out tonight and then spend the rest of the week with me.” He puts his lips to mine.
“That does sound good, and I do need to lay low and go on as normal. I’m not guilty so there’s no need to act like it.”
“Should I make us a dinner reservation tonight then?”
“Don’t hate me,” I start.
“I could never hate you.”
“Remember that.” I slip my hands under his black t-shirt. “Let me figure out what’s going on with work. Kristy’s stressing already, I’m sure, about this morning. I have no way of contacting her while she’s at the Covenstead since I’m suspended. Phones don’t work and I can’t send her a message or anything.” I can’t bring myself to say the second part, that maybe Lucas should go to Chicago and leave me here alone.
The Grand Coven will be arriving at the Covenstead soon, and if they come here and find a vampire at my house then Ruth’s claims won’t look so false. Fuck, I hate this. No one should be able to tell me who I should or shouldn’t love.
Lucas makes me happy. I love him just as he loves me. We’re not hurting anyone by being together, and it’s just so fucking stupid that anyone has a problem with us.
“Call me when you’re on your way home,” Lucas starts, putting his lips to mine again. “I’ll attempt to make you something to eat again.”
“How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?”
He smirks. “You got drunk, attacked a vampire in my bar, and then I lied to and manipulated you let me drive you home.”
“Oh right. I almost forgot. So much for true love, right?”
He laughs and kisses me once more before I head out the door. Pandora comes with me today, and I run my hand over her sleek fur. In cat-form, she’s a gorgeous calico, with eyes that look almost golden in certain sunlight. She sits on the passenger seat of my Jeep Grand Cherokee on the way into the store, and trots along next to me as I stop into Curlew’s Café for a much-needed cup of coffee with double shot of espresso.
I open the store four minutes later than normal, and three angry customers come in, huffing about having to wait out in the heat.
&n
bsp; “You could have stayed in your cars until the fucking open sign was on,” I grumble quietly so only Pandora can hear me. I love co-owning and running Novel Grounds with Kristy, but some days I really question why I went into anything that deals with the general public.
The first hour crawls by, and I finished my coffee only ten minutes in. If it weren’t for the crippling anxiety, I’d be falling asleep behind the counter. I’m getting to that point of passing out when my phone rings.
It’s Kristy, and I scramble to answer it.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she replies in a level tone. “Promise. Are you? Tabatha told me about the sentencing.”
“I’m alive and I’m not guilty. Well, I am guilty of sleeping with Lucas but whatever, right?” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You’re really okay?”
“Yes. I woke up feeling hella hungover, but I got the antidote in time. Thanks to you.”
“And you were poisoned because of me.”
“Stop blaming yourself, Cal. Ruth was blackmailing you.”
I nod, forgetting she can’t see me. “You must be home now, right?”
“Yes, I just got back to my house. Thanks for opening for me.”
“Don’t even worry about it. Rest and take care of yourself and we can smile at each other in passing.”
“Stop being so dramatic,” she scolds. “We can talk to each other at work or in any other setting that’s not the Covenstead. It sucks, but just lay low for a few days and this will be taken care of. I have a good feeling about it.”
“Right. And trust me, laying low sounds heavenly right about now. The next time I get some days off, I’m going to spend them in Chicago with Lucas doing nothing but him.”
“That does sound nice. I can take your shift tomorrow since you’re working for me today.”
“I can work tomorrow.”
“I know you can, but I also know I can too. Plus, we both know I like working more than you do.”