Alyssa gives me a bewildered look. “Who…who are you?”
“Callie King,” I say with a cheeky grin. “Just your friendly, neighborhood witch.”
Chapter 10
I push my plate back and sigh. “It’s been the longest fucking day in the history of long fucking days.”
“And to think I missed the most exciting part of it.” Evander slices off another piece of cake with his fork. We’re in the kitchen, and I just finished my fourth plate of pasta. Kristy and Tabatha are in the library with the werewolves, setting things up for them for the night. It’s late, and we’re all exhausted. “I cannot believe you went to Hell without me, sister.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Next time, I’ll take you and give you the grand tour. Though I only saw a fraction of it.” I finish the rest of my cranberry juice. “It does make me wonder what the other hell dimensions look like.”
“Not another word.” Evander waves his fork in the air. “From now until the morning, you’re off demon-duty.”
“I know, and you don’t need to tell me how much I need a break. We all need breaks. It’s just hard to go upstairs, tuck myself in, and get a restful night of sleep knowing what’s going on below.”
“I’m happy to cast a sleeping spell on you.”
“I might take you up on that offer,” I grumble and get up, putting my dishes in the sink. Thanks to Eliza, the house is sparkling clean. Even the library has been tidied up. She genuinely wanted to help, but by slowly restocking the books that fell off the shelves, she was able to curiously watch the wolves. Lucas kept them both away from other supernatural beings, for their own safety and to avoid unnecessary drama. I’m the first witch she had much interaction with, and I’m sure she’s never been allowed to cross paths with wolves before. “You guys are sure you don’t want me to come down in a few hours and help?”
“I am sure.” Evander gives me a no-nonsense look. “You’re six months pregnant, Callie. Growing a human takes energy, and you need to sleep. Plus, we’re all a little worried still from you getting knocked on your ass.”
“It’s insulting when you say it like that,” I sass, but Evander doesn’t crack a smile.
“I can’t say I know what it’s like to be superhuman most of the time. I can only imagine how hard it is to go from never getting sick, drinking bottles of wine in one sitting, and healing twice as fast as anyone else to being, well, normal. But right now, Callie, that’s more or less what you are. Normal, and pregnant. Take care of yourself and your baby so she can grow up knowing how totally awesome her uncle Evander is.”
His words make me smile and make the weight of the truth sit heavily on my shoulders. “You’re right.”
“What’s that?” Evander puts his hand to his ear.
“You’re right,” I repeat ruefully. “I am going to bed.”
“Shower first. You smell like brimstone.”
“Really?” I sniff my arm, and Evander chuckles. “Asshole.”
Yawning, I go up the back staircase and into the master bedroom. Eliza moved all the gifts into the sitting area of the room, and the Oh, baby! sign that was hanging above the dessert table is taped to the window.
“I always knew there was something seriously wrong with you,” Eliza starts, handing me a large box wrapped in pretty pink paper. “Orchestrating an escape to Hell just to avoid opening gifts in front of people only proves my point.”
Laughing, I take the box from her. “You caught me.”
“Next time, give me a heads-up and I’ll make the carbon monoxide detectors go off. Subtlety isn’t your strong suit.”
“Shocking, isn’t it?”
She pushes my hair back and smiles. “I kinda like that about you. Open mine first.” She zooms out of the room, closing the doors behind her. I put the box on the bed and join Lucas in the bathroom. He started the shower, warming up the water for me. Silently, I strip out of my clothes and get in with him.
My eyes fall shut as the warm water washes over me. Lucas gently shampoos my hair for me, knowing that I’m just spent. After we’re out and dried off, Lucas brings me into bed.
“Do you want to open one or two?” he asks, looking at the gifts.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I do.”
My eyes slowly flutter open, and I pause before getting up. Lucas isn’t in bed with me. Scarlet took his spot, and Pandora is stretched out on my pillow above my head. The house is quiet, and the energy is still. I fell asleep quite literally in the middle of opening presents last night. We made it through about half of the gifts, and Lucas organized what we opened in the sitting area of our room.