“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I blink several times and stand up, smiling at my best friend. “They cleared my name. I’m not going to burn to death.”
“Yeah but they also…”
“Forbid me from seeing Lucas?”
“Yes.” Her face falls. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“But you…Are you sure you’re okay?”
I start down the stairs. “I’m fine. Really.”
“Bottling up your emotions isn’t good.”
“I’m not bottling up anything. I’m fine. I just want to go home and be with my boyfriend now.”
“But you can’t.”
“I couldn’t before, either. It’s a stupid fucking law. How can a legal system tell me who I should or shouldn’t love? What does the fucking law fucking know about fucking love?”
Kristy loops her arm through mine. “There’s that anger I was waiting for. I agree. It’s stupid. Really stupid and old-fashioned and wrong. Vamps and witches were at war a thousand years ago and it’s time to let the past go. Hell, even the US and Germany are allies now.”
“Right? It’s just so fucking stupid and I’m going to do something about it. I just…I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.”
“Start with doing Lucas.” Her lips pull up into a half smile. “That seems to put you in a good mood.”
“It does.” We slow, not wanting to be within earshot of anyone ahead of us. “Do you think it’s wrong we’re together?”
“No, not at all. I used to think it was weird, but then I saw how much he cares for you and makes you happy. He gets you, almost as well as I do. You’ve been my best friend for fifteen years, Cal. No one will ever be good enough for you, but Lucas…he comes pretty close to checking all the boxes. I do have to take a few points away because he can’t take you to Disney World. I know how much you love Splash Mountain.”
“We could always go at night.”
“Good point. I’ll give him some points back then.”
I rest my head against hers. “Thank you for being my best friend. Has it really been fifteen years? We’re getting so old.”
“Tell me about it. Though you don’t look like you’ve aged a day since your last birthday.”
“I’m telling you, it’s all the wine I drink. And probably the exercising. I do run a lot. Not lately, though. It’s too fucking hot outside.”
It’s late and I’m tired, feeling the strain on my emotions from the trial. Meeting at the witching hour is typical for us even though most of the members of the coven hold regular jobs with daytime hours.
“Who’s opening tomorrow?” I ask as we step behind another group of witches to step through the door.
“Me,” Kristy groans.
“I’m off probation now. I can come back to work.”
“I kind of gave all your shifts to Dani, the new girl, for the rest of the summer. It was the only way I could get a temporary replacement. She wanted hours so she’d have as much money as possible before leaving for college this fall. Stay home, day drink and enjoy your sugar daddy.”
“Oh, I plan to.” We step through the door and I’m greeted by my familiars.
“Your plan to get four-wheelers to ride to your house isn’t a bad one,” Kirsty says after we’ve hiked half a mile through the woods.
“Right? Once the temps drop, we’ll be saying that even more.”
“You’ll be even farther from the door when you get into the new house, won’t you?” she asks.
“Yeah, so I really will need to invest in a four-wheeler or a team of horses.”
“Ohhh, get horses! You know how much I love them.”
“I already causally mentioned to Lucas that having horses would be cool, so don’t be surprised when he builds me a barn.”
“I’m trying really hard not to be jealous, but I’m a little jealous,” Kristy laughs.
“Don’t be. I can be your sugar-friend, mooching off her own sugar daddy.”
“I like the sound of that.” We keep walking through the woods until we get to my house. Kristy usually parks here and walks through the woods with me instead of going through the forest the way most of the other witches do, who are coming from town.
“Be careful, Callie. I can’t…I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t,” I promise. “Lucas and I have always been forbidden, so it’s like nothing changed. But what I do want to know…” I let out a breath and feel a chill come over me. “Is how Ruth found out about us in the first place. Tabatha never mentioned Lucas when she told the Grand Coven about that night.”
“You’re right. I wonder how she knew.”
“Someone had to have tipped her off. But I don’t know why. I’m not really that involved in the coven, and Lucas—”
“What?”
“The vampire bounty hunters. They knew we were together too.”
“You don’t think Ruth was working with them, do you?”
“No, or at least probably not. It doesn’t really make sense. The only reason she brought up the vampire stuff was to blackmail me into getting her onto Satan’s good side.” I let out a breath. “I’m too tired to think about this and I slept in this morning.”
“Go inside, enjoy your naked vampire, and rest. But please, Callie, be careful.”
I’m on my second glass of wine when Lucas pulls into the driveway. He parks his black Mercedes in the driveway and gets out, moving with vampire speed up to the front porch.
“What’s that smell?” he asks, making a face.
“Lavender, lemon, and eucalyptus oil.” I motion to the diffuser I have on the porch next to me. “It keeps mosquitoes away. You don’t like it?”
“It’s very strong.”
I look into my wine glass for bugs. I don’t see any, and I’m getting tipsy enough not to care as long as I drink them down fast enough. Finishing the last bit of wine, I set my glass down and get up. “Who has a stronger sense of smell: a vampire or a German Shepherd.”
“The dog, thankfully.”
“Really?”
“Yes, though really, I’m glad. The world smells enough as it is.”
“True, and I’m glad too because I do human thin
gs in the bathroom occasionally.”
Lucas laughs. “I know you’re alive, my love.” He picks me up and kisses me, pressing my back against the front door. I called him when the trial was over, letting him know to come over and not to worry about finding BBQ Callie in the yard. Then I hung up and started drinking away my problems.
It’s a terrible coping mechanism, and one that I started way too young. We all have our vices, and I know this will catch up to me sooner or later.
“How drunk do I have to be for you to get drunk too?” I ask between kisses.
“It depends.” Lucas draws his fangs and grazes them over my flesh.
“On what?”
“On how much I take from you.” He stops kissing me and looks in my eyes. “I won’t take too much. I love you, Callie Martin, and I will never hurt you.”
“Anne.”
“Anne?”
“It’s my middle name. Callista Anne Martin.”
“Martin is your father’s last name.”
“I know.” I feel like I weigh nothing at all as Lucas easily holds me up. “But it’s mine too.”
“For now.” Lucas doesn’t give me a second to think. He kisses me hard again, tongue entering my mouth. Heat rushes through me and I don’t have time to process what he just said.
“Let’s go inside.” I grab the hem of his shirt and inch it up. No one from the coven has reason to go by my house tonight, and it’s far enough away from the road it would be impossible to sense that Lucas was a vampire even if someone did drive by. Still…fuck. I hate this.
Moving with vampire speed, Lucas carries me in and lays me down on the couch. I curl my legs up around him and we go right back to where we left off.
“I should…” I start, trailing off as Lucas bunches up my dress. “Put an extra—ohhh.” He slides his hand up my thigh and sweeps his fingers over my clit. “Wa..warding on…on…the house.”
“Are you expecting more demons?” His fingers slip under my panties. “I’ll kill them just for interrupting us.”
“Not demons, but witches.”
Lucas stops stroking me. “Why are you warding against witches?”
My eyes fall shut and suddenly I can’t breathe. Lucas moves off of me and I get up, going into the kitchen for more wine.