“Me too.” Abby slowly shakes her head. “She cried for a good twenty minutes when we got here. She’s a fussy little thing when she’s afraid of missing out.”
“Did she finally cry herself to sleep?” I take off my shoes and hang my purse on the decorative post at the bottom of the stairs.
“No, actually. Binx brought her this, and it calmed her down.” Abby holds up a stuffed black cat. The sight of it startles me. “I didn’t know you still had it.”
“And I didn’t know you’d still remember it.”
“I gave this to you for your tenth birthday when you were…you were…”
“I know,” I finish and walk through the small foyer and into the living room. My house is a century old Italianate farmhouse. I’ve invested a lot in restoring it over the years, and while it’s on the small side, it suits me well, and I’m quite proud of it.
“I haven’t laid eyes on it in years. It’s been in my closet, and I’ve never been able to bring myself to get rid of it.” I sit on the couch next to Abby and look at the stuffed cat, not sure if I want to touch it or not. The feel of the soft fake fur, worn off in some parts, might take me back, and after the dream I had last night, there’s only so much I can take before I break.
“It kind of looks like him.” Abby moves her gaze from the stuffed cat to Binx, who’s lounging in the love seat across from us.
“I think it’s part of why he picked that form.”
“Form?” Abby questions.
“You know Binx isn’t really a cat, right?”
“Yeah, you said that, but I don’t really understand.” She sets the stuffed cat on the coffee table.
“He’s a spirit.”
“Like a ghost?”
I shake my head. “Not at all. He was never a person.”
“And your other cats?”
“Familiars too.” Binx slinks off the love seat and comes over to me, lazily jumping into my lap. “They’ve been with me for a few years now. We’re all one big family.” I run my hand over Binx’s head, and he starts to loudly purr.
“Are you going back to Chicago tonight?” Abby asks.
“No, Lucas is coming here. He’ll be here around sunset.”
“So you go back and forth between here and Chicago?”
“Yeah,” I say and wrinkle my nose. “It kinda sucks, but it’s what we have to do. I have the store here, and Lucas has vampire business in the city.”
“You’re really not scared of them at all?”
“I’m aware vampires are faster and stronger than humans. I can be caught off guard just like anyone, and even another human can pose a threat to me. I mean, I’m not bulletproof. But I’m far from defenseless. Lucas will never hurt me, and if another vampire even tried to touch me, Lucas would rip them to shreds.”
“You really love him, don’t you?”
“I do.” I can’t help but smile. “He knows who I am and not only accepts it but likes it. He was human at one point, you know, and all those qualities you like in a man are still there.”
“It’s weird to think about them as human,” Abby admits. “I feel bad saying that because you’re right. They were human, and maybe not all of them wanted to become a vampire.”
“I don’t think Lucas did. He hasn’t spoken much about his human life, but I get the feeling he was turned against his will.”
Abby readjusts Penny in her arms. “You said he was sixteen-hundred?”
“And then some.”
She slowly shakes her head. “So, he was born in the 300s. Man, that’s crazy.”
“It is. I never thought I’d fall for someone like him, but I did. And he makes me really happy.”
“I’m glad.” She reaches over and pats my hand, smiling. I don’t need the power of telepathy to know what she’s thinking.
Yeah, I’m happy now, but how is this going to end?
He’s a vampire.
I’m human.
He won’t age.
I’ll get old.
He’ll live forever.
I’ll die.
We love each other, but is love enough?
Chapter 6
I slow, gravel crunching under my feet, and stretch my arms up over my head. Sweat rolls down my back, and I’m dying for a cool shower.
“Anything?” I ask Binx, looking over at his shadowy figure. He accompanied me on another run, and we went the same way we did the other day when I swear I felt the Ley line buzzing with an influx of energy.
“Nothing unusual,” he says.
Exhaling and swatting away mosquitoes, we start back down the road. The sun is getting lower in the sky, which means Lucas will be arriving soon. I’m tired and want to eat dinner, watch mindless reality TV, and crash in bed together.
But Lucas is just starting his day.
Being on opposite schedules is hard enough, but adding the hour of travel it usually takes to get to each other’s houses makes it even harder. It would be different if I lived in Chicago with him and we got to spend time together during the day. Granted, we’d be confined to the house, but just being together would be so fucking nice.
“What’s going on here?” I ask Binx after we make it another mile down the road. A silver Lexus pulls into the newly cleared driveway to the big white abandoned house, followed by a large black van. A woman is driving the Lexus, and I think it’s Natalie Daniels, a realtor here in Thorne Hill.
My heart sinks even though I had a pretty good idea someone was interested in the property when I saw the driveway being cleared. The house sits on twelve acres, which is a lot for one residence to have, but not really enough to develop into a subdivision. I think. I hope. I can’t handle that many people living around me.
One, because I just don’t want them around me. And two, it’s in everyone’s best interest not to live close to me. If I hear about plans to cram a bunch of houses on the property, well, I’ll just say I’m not against using my powers to make anyone who shows up to work think the property is extremely haunted.
I slow to a walk when I get to my driveway, wiping sweat off my forehead. Binx shadows past me into the house, going right for something to eat. I stretch for a few minutes and then head inside, getting into the shower. My mind goes back to the white house, and part of me regrets not using magic to acquire it when I was in the market for a house to buy.
Money spells never work out in the long run, and doing a spell to get the bank to sell this place to me for a thousand bucks would only get me so far. I’m not the kind of witch who will cheat or scam the workers needed to put that place back in order.
Oh well. I can’t dwell over it. Not when there are much bigger things to worry about.
“Starting without me?”
I jump, almost slipping and falling in the shower. “Seven Devils, Lucas!” I pull back the shower curtain and glare at him. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
He chuckles. “I thought you were witch enough to sense me.”
“I’m plenty witch enough,” I snap and close the shower curtain, moving back into the water to rinse the conditioner out of my hair. “I have half a dozen protection spells on the house to keep the unwanted away. And three familiars who would eat you for breakfast. Wait no, dinner. Or is the phrase breakfast? You get the point.”
He just laughs again. “Are you almost done, or should I help you get the hard to reach places?”
“Almost done. Sorry to disappoint.”
“I’m not disappointed. We’ll be showering again later after I’ve thoroughly fucked you.”
“I don’t know how you can be so revolting and yet romantic at the same time.”
“It’s a gift.”
I run my hands through my hair, feeling for any remaining conditioner. I give myself one good rinse and then shut off the water.
“You are beautiful,” Lucas says, admiring my naked body as soon as I step out of the shower and reach for my towel. “I might have to fuck you now.” He draws his fangs and rushes over, taki
ng me in his arms. My wet hair drips all over his shirt. Pressing his forehead to mine, he closes his eyes and gently cups my face in his large hands.
“You’re so warm,” he says quietly, almost as if he’s talking out loud to himself.
“I like hot showers.”
“I know.”
“I like them better when they’re with you.”
He smiles. “Now we’ll have to find a reason to get dirty tonight. Have any more bodies to bury?”
“God, no,” I laugh. “Why, do you?”
“Not today.”
“Good.”