“Not an issue,” I tell her and go outside, letting Scarlet run around the yard as we carry in trays of food and one delicious-looking chocolate cake.
Phil is in the living room with Penny, and Abby, Kristy, and I go into the kitchen to get dinner ready. Abby turns the oven on and twists, looking me up and down.
“You’re okay?” she asks, brows furrowing. “And Lucas is okay?”
“He’s not cursed anymore,” I assure her. “He healed and is back to himself.” I glance at the clock. The sun sets around six forty-five. If he gets a vampire-safe Uber to take him back to Thorne Hill, he could be here soon-ish. If he’s driving himself, he won’t be able to even leave Chicago until the sun is down for the night.
“So it’s all over, then?” Abby goes on. I know she’s trying to understand my world and feels like she needs to make up for lost time. I don’t want to keep anything from her, and I certainly don’t want to lie, but some things are better left unsaid.
“Not quite,” I tell her and open up a bag of breadsticks. They smell amazing, and I break off the end of one, popping it in my mouth. They’re amazing even cold like this.
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Kristy says, taking over since my mouth is full, “whoever cursed Lucas is still out there.”
“Oh. Wow. It makes sense. I think.” Abby holds her hand over a tray of cheesy pasta, checking the temperature. Deciding it needs to be warmed up, she puts it in on top of the oven, waiting for it to finish heating. “So…how do you find who cursed him?”
“I’m working on it,” I say, rubbing my forehead. “I’m sure they’ll go after him—or me—again, and that might work in my favor, actually. You can reverse-lookup curses, so to speak, but it’s not easy.”
Abby slowly shakes her head, eyeing the bottle of wine on the counter. I pour her a glass, and she takes a big drink.
“But Lucas is okay?”
“Yes,” I tell her. “He’ll be here soon. He had to go to Chicago to deal with some work stuff. It’s not like he eats anyway.”
Abby smiles. “True.” She gets the rest of the food out of the bags and opens the fridge to put the salad away until dinner. She pauses, holding the salad in one hand, and blinks a few times. Thinking there’s not enough room, I get up to help her shuffle things around.
And then I realize she’s staring at a bag of blood Eliza stole from the blood bank.
“Oops,” I say and take the bag from the fridge.
Abby looks at the blood and then at me, blinking.
“It’s not my blood, if that makes it any better,” I tell her.
“Whose blood is it?” she asks slowly.
“I actually don’t know.”
“Yeah…that, uh, makes it worse.” She puts the salad in the fridge and closes the door. “It fits now, at least.”
“Good.” I smile. “Thanks for coming over and doing all this.”
Abby smiles back. “I’m glad I was able to. I have a lot of birthdays to make up for.”
“Well, then I do, too.”
“You always sent me a card on my birthday,” she says quietly. “I would have sent one back if I knew how to.”
I wave my hand in the air. “It’s fine. You’re here now, Abby, and that’s what matters.” I pick up her glass of wine and give it to her. “Want to sit outside and drink while we wait for dinner to heat up?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Abby, Kristy, and I go onto the back porch, talking as we sip our wine. Scarlet runs around the yard, and my familiars lazily stretch out on the porch steps, enjoying the remaining warmth of the day.
I lean against the porch railing with my back to the woods. The sun is getting lower in the sky, and soon it will be chilly but not cold. It’s the perfect night for a bonfire. I’m out of firewood, though.
Too bad I don’t have any bodies to burn.
“You have a really nice view,” Abby says, looking out at the forest. “It’s so peaceful out here.”
“It is,” I agree, turning to look at the trees. My heart lurches in my chest, remembering all over again how I won’t be walking through those woods to get to the door anymore. I’m about to turn back when something catches my eye.
Something is coming out of the woods.
My familiars shadow forward, and I narrow my eyes, watching her emerge from the trees.
You have got to be fucking kidding me.Chapter 20“What the hell are you doing here?” I set my glass of wine down so hard it sloshes all over the porch railing.
“You know why I’m here,” Ruby says, stopping at the edge of my warding. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”