Lucas laces his fingers through mine. “Everything is perfect.”
“It really is,” I agree. “It’s been an adjustment, but just the fact we get to go through these struggles…it’s not something we thought was possible.” I look away for a minute, trying to keep myself from getting stupidly emotional again. I can’t blame it on hormones, though, because things really are perfect in the most not-perfect way.
We have each other—our family—and that’s more than enough.
“Two more minutes, sweetheart,” Lucas tells Juliet. We’re lying on the floor with her in the living room, trying to keep her from crying and face-planting into her play mat again during tummy time. We got home from dinner only a bit ago. We gave Juliet a bath, which perked her up instead of relaxing her, and are doing some extra exercises with her on her stomach in hopes she’ll sleep for a good three or four hours before waking up to be fed.
I scoot back so I can take photos with both Lucas and our daughter together. I send one to Tabatha and Kristy in a group chat. We’re not hiding the fact that I gave birth, but we’re not eager to announce it, either, in fear demons would try to use Juliet against me somehow.
Juliet starts to cry, head going back down on the mat. It takes everything we have not to scoop her up right away. She lifts her head back up, and we cheer like she just won a gold medal at the Olympics.
Lucas leans in, beaming, and then picks her up. We move to the couch, snuggling up together. I feed Juliet and adjust her on my chest once she’s done nursing. Lucas wraps his arm around me and rests the other on Juliet’s back.
“I love you,” he whispers to me.
“I love you too,” I whisper back and let my eyes fall shut. I don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep until Lucas nudges me awake.
Startled, my mind immediately goes to me falling asleep with the baby in my arms and suffocating her in my sleep. Heart in my throat, I look at my sleeping daughter. She’s exactly where she was before, and Lucas’s arm is still under her, supporting her and keeping her in my embrace.
“What is it?” I ask.
“You don’t hear it, do you?”
“No.” I shake my head. “What do you hear?”
“A pen on paper, like someone is writing.”
Eliza, who is probably still sexting a vampire she met a few days ago, puts her phone down. She can hear it too. Brows furrowing, Lucas gets to his feet. I cradle Juliet against me and follow Lucas into the library, Eliza in tow. We stop at the desk, looking down at the blank piece of paper Julian wanted me to give to Lucifer. I’ve been unsuccessful, obviously.
Words appear on the paper, and then the ink quickly absorbs into the page.
“Can you read that?” Lucas asks me.
“No, wait—” Words and symbols flash in front of me. Some must be in Enochian because I can read what it’s saying, though everything is disjointed. I see a word I know followed by a jumble of symbols.
“Midnight,” I whisper. “Full moon.” The words start to appear and disappear faster and faster. “Blood and…and…hellfire…and upholding what’s been spoken, whatever that means.”
The words are at the bottom of the page now, moving down as if someone is really writing this in real time. A drop of blood appears on the page, smearing itself into some sort of symbol before getting absorbed into the paper as well.
And then the writing stops. We all stand there, staring at the paper, waiting for the rest of the message to come through and tell us what it’s saying. A beat passes, and Lucas picks it up, bringing the paper to his nose so he can smell it.
“The blood,” he starts. “It’s fresh.”
All of the sudden, the paper bursts into flames and is swallowed by blue hellfire. Lucas drops the paper, and it’s nothing but a tiny pile of ash before it hits the floor. I thought we were stunned before, yet here we are, not blinking, not moving, and not breathing.
Then I remember something Abby said at dinner tonight, and my heart plummets to the floor. It’s a full moon. I’m so glad I’m not working in the ER tonight.
“What time is it?” I rush out.
“Now you care about the baby’s routine?” Eliza huffs. “She should have been in bed long ago.”
“What time is it?” I repeat.
“Almost midnight,” Lucas answers, and though he couldn’t read the words, his mind goes exactly where mine is.
“What’s wrong?” Eliza demands, looking from Lucas to me.
“There’s a full moon tonight,” Lucas tells her and goes to the window, pulling the curtains back so he can look outside. A few thin clouds stretch across the sky, and the light of the full moon shines down on us.