Immortal Night

by Emily Goodwin

“It goes with everything,” she says, brushing off the compliment. “Ready?”

  “Always.” I speed over to her. She grabs her purse and we head out the door. The black cat comes with us, jumping off the porch and shifting into what looks like a black shadow. Huh. So that’s what he really looks like when he’s not posing at a cat.

  “You got a new car?” Callie asks, looking at the black Range Rover in her driveway.

  “I’ve had that one for about a year now.” I unlock it and open the door for Callie. “I almost forgot I had it. I’ve acquired a great deal of material items over the years.”

  “Makes sense. Sixteen hundred years is a long time to have to, uh, collect and save.”

  I passed by the restaurant and my way here and don’t need directions to get there. This town is small, and easy to navigate. It’s late—for humans that is—and we’re seated right away. Callie puts in her order and the waitress is too busy eyeing me to realize it’s odd for a human to decline food. She’s walking away from the table when she pauses, looking back at me and wondering if I’m a vampire.

  “And now she’s wondering if you’re a vampire,” Callie says with a half smile. I reach across the table and take her hand in mine. She’s so warm and her skin is so soft. I gently turn her wrist over and trace the blue veins with my finger.

  “Do I smell different?” she asks. “Because I’m a witch?”

  Witch blood smells like human blood. It’s the magic we can sense, and there’s something more than witchcraft coming from Callie. “No. You smell different for another reason.”

  “Well, as long as it’s not bad, I’m fine with it.”

  Slowly, I run my fingers from her wrist to the palm of her hand. A shiver works its way through her. “Why were you at my bar last night?” I let go of her hand and look back into her eyes.

  “I was in the area.”

  “But why?”

  She looks down at the table, and I can see the conflicting emotions playing out on her face. “I wanted to see what it would feel like to go back. I told you, I hadn’t been there in years.”

  “You did tell me, but you never said why you left.”

  “I did.” She looks back into my eyes. “I needed to get away.”

  “You said you wanted a change.”

  “Yeah, and that’s, uh, that’s what I meant.” Turning her head back down, she tenses. Whatever she had to get away from still upsets her. It’s causing not only her heart to beat faster, but her blood pressure rise. I don’t like seeing her like this, upset from a memory.

  Or upset at all.

  It hits me again that I’d do anything to make her smile. But…why?

  Chapter 10

  I can add this to the list of things I’ve never before done in my entire afterlife.

  Unable to stand seeing Callie look so dejected, I asked her about that movie, she was talking about yesterday. And it turns out Mean Girls isn’t so bad. Callie made popcorn and ate it all during the movie. We’re sitting on her couch in her living room, and this is the longest I’ve been around a human woman like this without having sex. All three of her familiars are around us, watching and making sure I don’t decide to sink my fangs into Callie’s neck.

  I won’t, well, not until she wants me to.

  “And humans fear vampires. When really, teenage girls seem to be much more cruel,” I say.

  Callie laughs and puts the popcorn bowl on the coffee table. “Teenage girls can be vicious.”

  “Were you vicious?” I ask.

  She angles her body toward mine, bringing her legs up onto the couch. We’re close, and I know she’s trying hard to fight off her attraction toward me, and it’s like she has to work to remind herself I’m not just some guy she’s hanging out with.

  I’m a vampire.

  “I was, but not like that. I cared more about finding demons to vanquish than being popular.”

  “Are there still schools for witches?” I ask, knowing there were in the past, but the witch population has gone down rapidly over the last several decades.

  “Yes. I’m surprised you don’t much about witches. I took a whole class about vampires, you know.”

  “I’ve made it a point to avoid witches. Your kind always seems to have a flare for drama.”

  She raises her eyebrows “Flare for drama? Is that a low-key way of saying you don’t want to get your asses handed to you again?”

  The War of Light and Dark isn’t something to joke about. Another war could spark any day, and many lives would be lost. Again. “It means I don’t want to get caught in a witch’s affairs.”

  “Right.” She yawns and leans away. It’s almost two AM, which is probably late for her. She’ll be wanting to go to bed soon. I stand, trying to find it in myself to leave.

  But I don’t want to.

  I spin and rush over to Callie, pushing her back down on the couch. I move on top of her, drawing my fangs. Callie stares back into my eyes, heart pounding but not from fear.

  “You’re really not scared of me, are you?”

  She shakes her head. “Is that weird for you?”

  “Yes,” I admit. “When someone isn’t scared of me, they either have a death wish or are stupid. You’re not stupid and you certainly don’t want to die.” Inhaling her sweet scent, I move my head down to her neck. My fangs brush over her flesh but don’t puncture through it. Not yet.

  Callie shudders with desire. “I don’t think you’ll hurt me,” she breathes, widening her legs for me. I move between them and it’s like we were made to be together like this. I press my hardening cock against her.

  “What makes you so sure?” I growl and lash my tongue against her skin.

  “If you wanted to hurt me, you would have already.”

  “Maybe I have fun taking my time.” I put my mouth back over her neck, pressing my fangs against her skin as hard as I can without breaking through the surface. I can feel her pulse bounding through her jugular vein right under my teeth. It would be easy to bite down and make her bleed.

  “Maybe I am too,” she says, voice all breathy. She brings her hand to my back and traces her fingers up my spine. Fuck, just that little touch feels good. “Because even if you bite me, I’ll bite back. You’re stronger than me, but you’re outnumbered.”

  I lift my head, needing to look her in the eye. Incredible isn’t enough to describe her. She’s so much more. She inhales deeply and her breasts crush against my chest. Her heart beats against mine, and for a split second, I can feel mine beating too.

  Her lips part on their own accord, and she bends her legs up. Her dress is all bunched up around her waist and the heat coming from her pussy is turning me on so fucking much.

  She knows I can sense it. Hell, she wants me to know how hot she is right now. We shouldn’t be together, not like this, and it’s making us both want it even more. She slides her hand down and grabs the hem of my shirt, ready to pull it over my head.

  I want her, and she wants me. I let my eyes fall shut, relishing in the warmth of her skin. She flattens her hand over my back and rocks her hips so she can feel my cock against her.

  I open my eyes and look right at her, knowing that she feels the emptiness too. That she’s desperate for a way to fill it but knows that not anything can. Not anyone either.

  I don’t know why she fills the darkness with light.

  I don’t know why I’d do anything to protect her.

  I don’t believe in destiny. In fated mates.

  But maybe I was wrong.

  Maybe we were meant to find each other.

  I can’t hold back any longer. I bring my head down and kiss her. Her lips are warm and soft, and taste sweet. She wraps her arms around me, holding me tight against her body as I push my tongue into her mouth, kissing her as hard as I can. I retract my fangs, not wanting to cut her, and deepen the kiss.

  She runs one of her hands around my waist to the zipper of my jeans. She slides the other to my chest, and magic sparks from her fingertips
. It burns right through my shirt and chars my flesh.

  “Getting excited?” The wound is already healing when I look down at it. Fuck, seeing her do magic like that makes my cock even harder.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I wrap her in my embrace. “Don’t be. Don’t hold back, Callie.”

  Pushing me away, she gets to her knees and shoves me down on the couch.

  “I won’t.”

  I fall back against the cushions and she climbs onto me, straddling my lap and rolling her hips over mine, rubbing her pussy against my cock. Her eyes fall shut and she’s getting wetter by the second. She wants me to fuck her, and I won’t disappoint.

  I reach up, hands settling on her slender waist. Her phone rings and she groans.

  “Dammit. I’ll silence that.” She holds out her hand, using magic to bring her phone off the coffee table. She tenses when she sees the name of the caller.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  She turns the phone around. “It’s the hospital.”

  Chapter 11

  “Betty?” Callie asks, looking down at the mousy woman who works at the bookstore with her. She’s lying a hospital bed and is fighting to wake up. I can smell the drugs inside her blood.

  We just arrived at the hospital, and Callie was the only person the staff was able to get a hold of. She’s dangerous, takes no shit, and now I’m seeing a different side of her. She’s worried about her friend.

  “It’s Callie. Can you hear me?”

  “She’s been drugged,” I tell her. “I can smell it in her blood. I’ve seen this before.” I go to Callie’s side an look at the woman she called Betty. Her lip is cut, looking like it’s from her own teeth, probably from when she passed out and fell. “And it’s not from vampires.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Callie ask but a nurse comes in before I can explain. “Oh,” the nurse says, startled. “I didn’t know Ms. Jones had visitors. And you are?”

  “Callie. I was called as her emergency contact.”

  “Yes. I was the one that spoke to you. She’s lucky someone found her and called an ambulance.” The nurse comes into the room to do an assessment.

  “Is she okay?” Callie asks.

  “She’s stable. Once her blood screen comes back we’ll know more.”

  “She was drugged,” Callie says. “I mean, look at her.”

  “It’s one possibility.” The nurse snaps on gloves.

  “Does the blood screen look for rohypnol?” I ask.

  “It looks for a wide variety of things. It’s one we’re looking for.”

  “Was she raped?” Callie asks, voice tight.

  “You were the only contact we were able to get off her,” the nurse starts, “but that doesn’t mean I can disclose all information with you.”

  “Hey,” Callie says sharply and the lights flicker. She goes over to the nurse and grabs her wrist. The nurse jerks back but Callie slides her fingers down, finding the pulse point. She did the same thing to that woman at the bar the other night.

  “What happened to her?” Callie asks, looking right into the nurse’s eyes.

  “She was found in an alley behind Bob’s Bar and Grill. Unconscious but fully clothed. The cops think someone might have intended to harm her but got scared of getting caught and left. The people who found her thought they saw someone running away as the approached.”

  Callie lets go and looks at me. “Distract her, please.”

  Flashing my fangs, I rush over to the nurse, holding her spellbound while Callie goes to her friend.

  “Ostende mihi faciem praeterita,” Callie chants, but I don’t look away to see what she’s doing. I have to hold the nurse spellbound or she’ll start screaming again. “Revelare faciem reus.”

  A minute passes before Callie speaks again. “I know what happened. Don’t worry. He won’t get away with it,” she promises her friend. She steps back. “Let’s go,” she tells me.

  I push my control deeper into the nurse’s mind. “We were never here. You never saw us. No one came into this room.” I break my hold and the nurse blinks a few times, mind adjusting to the new reality. The lights flicker above us again, and Callie leads the way out of the ER room.

  “I have to take care of something,” Callie says when we emerge into the parking lot “If you don’t want to come, that’s fine. You can go.”

  She looks pissed as hell and watching her get her revenge is going to be good. “The sun doesn’t rise until five-thirty. I have time.”

  I stand a few feet down in the hall, watching as Callie knocks on the door to an apartment. On the way here, she told me what she saw when she did the spell in the ER room. The asshole who lives in this apartment slipped drugs in Betty’s drink and then left her passed out in the parking lot behind the bar they were at.

  Men who take advantage of women enraged me when I was human and it still does now. Few things remained the same about me after I died and woke up as a vampire, but that is one of them. I’d get revenge on the fucker myself if Callie wasn’t so…so capable.

  I can hear four people inside the apartment, saying they don’t want to answer the door in case it’s the police. The asshole knows he’s guilty. Callie doesn’t wait; she throws her hand out and telekinetically opens the door. That’s my girl. It was Callie’s idea to go in alone, and normally I would have refused to let anyone walk into a room full of assholes like that by themselves.

  But Callie isn’t anyone.

  She doesn’t need me to protect her from danger. She can protect herself, and it’s not something I’m used to, but I really fucking like it.

  “Mike Miller,” she says, anger palpable. “Sorry to interrupt the sausage fest, boys, but I need to have a work with your boy Mike here.”

  “Who the fuck are you?” a man, presumably Mike, spits out.

  “I’m here on behalf of Betty Jones, and what you did is not okay.”

  “Are you like a lawyer or something?”

  “Or something,” Callie says and I smile.

  “Listen, lady,” another male says. “You better get the fuck out or I’m calling the cops.”

  “Go ahead,” Callie replies and I move into the doorway. “Call the cops. And them Mikey here can confess what he did.”

  “That’s it,” one of the guys says. He smells like whiskey and comes at Callie. She doesn’t miss a beat and holds out her hand, flicking her wrist. The guy flies back into the wall.

  She’s sassy. Cares about her friends. I can tell she’s a good person who wants to do the right thing

  But she takes no shit. She’s not afraid to cross over into the darkness. Maybe there’s hope for us after all.

  Another guy slowly makes a move toward her, also shitfaced but not so far gone to realize that there’s something otherworldly about Callie.

  “Ah-ah-ah,” she coos. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  “What do you want?” another asks, close to bursting into tears.

  “First,” she says. “I want you to invite my friend in.”

  The guys look at me, realizing for the first time that I’m standing there. Their heart’s sky rocket. I’m not ashamed in the least to admit the joy it brings knowing just the sight of me scars humans shitless. “No fucking way! It’s a fucking vampire.”

  Callie raises her hand, sending the guy who has to be Mike sliding up the wall. He kicks his legs, trying to break out of the telekinetic hold, and another one of the guys looks at me.

  Right in the eyes.

  He’s spellbound in a second flat. “I’d really like it if you’d invite me in,” I say. The others try and get to the guy I’m holding spellbound to break my gaze. Using magic, Callie shoves them back.

  “You boys really need to learn to listen,” she warns.

  “Come in,” the man I’m holding spellbound says, head slowly moving up and down.

  “This…this isn’t going to hold up in court,” Mike grumbles. “I’ll tell my lawyer and he’ll get you thrown out
.”

  “Spoken like a true entitled white asshole,” Callie retorts. “But the thing is, I’m not a lawyer. You messed with one of my friends. So now I’m here to mess with you. So tell me. What exactly were you trying to accomplish when you slipped Betty Jones date-rape drugs? I want to hear you say it. To admit how pathetic you are.” Callie inches closer and all four men tense.

  She can command a room and it’s so fucking hot.

  “I…I…I didn’t…” Mike rambles, holding out his hands defensively. “Whatever you think happened. It…it didn’t. We’ve been here all night. And you…you’re trespassing. And assault. Yeah, you’re assaulting us!”

  “Mh-mh.” Callie looks over her shoulder at me. “Bite him. Tell me if he tastes like bullshit. Because that’s what he smells like.”

  Fangs bared, I jerk forward. The guys yell and Mike steps back, tripping and falling to the ground.

  “Fuck!” one yells, voice quivering. I straighten up, smiling. Eliza will be sad to know she missed out on the fun.

  “Get up,” Callie demands, eyes narrowing as she glares at Mike.

  “You can’t do this. My dad…my dad’s a lawyer…he’ll have you arrested.”

  “No, he won’t.” She holds out her hand, palm up, and brings her fingers in, like she’s holding an invisible ball. I don’t know what she’s doing, and for a second, I think she’s trying and failing to conjure an energy ball.

  But then Mike whimpers and brings his hands down to his waist and I realize she’s put some sort of magical clamp around this asshole’s balls. Just when I think she couldn’t get any better…

  “Now, give me one good reason I shouldn’t castrate you right here and right now.” Her voice is cold as ice.

  “I…I…I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

  “Really? You didn’t mean to hurt her, but you drugged her and left her in an alley. She’s in the hospital right now with blood on her face. But that’s okay, because you didn’t mean to hurt her.”

  “That’s not what happened!”

  “Bullshit.”

  I step closer to Callie, moving fast, and the others scream again.