“You said it, not me,” I laugh. “I’ll call you later and check in. Rest, and if you need anything, send a smoke signal or something untraceable.”
“I’ll hook up that old CB radio I have in my closet instead.”
“Sounds good. Love you, Kristy.”
“Love you too, Cal.”
I end the call and get back to work, ringing up a few more customers, tidying up the shelves, and sneaking bites of a granola bar in between all that. I’m watching the clock and time is going by so fucking slow.
Pandora is sitting on the counter, soaking up all the attention she can get from customers. My cats are a little famous around the shop, and people assume I’m a total crazy cat lady who spent lots of time training them to be so well-behaved. And I’m one hundred percent fine with that rumor.
She sits up, growling, and looks at the person who just walked through the door.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I say, when I see demon—and witch—hunter, Easton Richards, walk through the door.
So much for lying low.
Chapter 7
“What are you doing here?” I close the book I was skimming and stand up, eyes darting around the store. There are a handful of other customers in here and I am not in the mood to get into anything with Easton right now.
Easton holds up his hands. “I just want to talk, I swear.”
“Fine,” I sigh, too tired to argue. Easton looks tired too, and though it feels like the fight in the woods happened ages ago, it was just last night. “How’s Melinda?”
“She’s going to make a complete recovery, thanks to you.”
“And Lucas,” I add pointedly, and Easton does a good job ignoring what I just said. “That’s good to hear, though. You know I always liked your sister.”
“I know. Which is why I wanted to thank you in person for everything.”
“Thank me?” My eyebrows go up. “That’s a first.”
“Come on, Callie.” Easton plows a hand through his hair. He’s only two years older than me but looks much older. The life of a hunter is tiring, stressful, and isn’t always filled with the healthiest choices. “I mean it. What you did—”
“Just me?” Some may say I’m being petty, but the guy did pretend to date me only so he could get close and kill me. He failed, obviously. But not before my teenage heart fell for him and I let him take my virginity.
“And that vampire,” he mutters. “You both helped us last night and we want to thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I say and mean it. “I’m glad you all made it out unscathed last night.” The bell above the door dings as more customers come in. “Really, I am.”
He moves closer to the counter, nervously looking at Pandora. “How did you kill all the demons?” he asks in a hushed voice. “We were only gone a few hours and when I came back, they were all gone.”
“Magic,” I supply, knowing that’s not a good answer.
“Really?” He rests his hands on the counter and leans in, hazel eyes meeting mine. He’s always been attractive, and it was one of the things that pulled me in when we first met. “I know you’re powerful, Callie, but it was like last night never happened.”
“Oh, if only,” I sigh. “Look…just don’t worry about it. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“What?”
“It’s an old proverb that means be thankful for what you’ve been given.”
“I’ve heard the proverb,” he says. “But what are you telling me?”
“Nothing,” I say, tension rising. “Nothing that concerns you.” A line starts to form at the counter, and I hope Easton will leave in the time it takes to ring up everyone. But he doesn’t. He’s hanging around like a fungus, and I’m going to need an extra dose of medication to get rid of him once and for all.
I ring up the last customer and slip out around the counter, finding Easton in the self-help section. Too bad he’s not reading any of the books.
“Look,” I start, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the back of the store and away from any more customers. “I was powerful when we met, but that was a decade ago. I’m much more powerful now, with powerful friends. This whole town is full of us, and if you were smart at all, you’d avoid Thorne Hill. Forever.” I let out a breath, not wanting to hold onto a ten-year-old grudge. “There are a lot of witches in this town, and we’re obviously able to take care of shit ourselves. There’s no need to spill any blood. Get out while you can.”
“Why does it sound like you’re threatening me?”
“You are impossible.” I roll my eyes and start to walk back to the counter. “I’m not, and you need to get your head out of your ass. Yes, you’re a big bad hunter, but I’m an even bigger and badder witch, okay? Historically, we have a shitty track record, and I’m not just talking about you and me. You’re a hunter in a town of witches. It’s not smart to be here.”
“We didn’t come here to cause trouble,” he says. “I swear it.”
“I believe you. The demons led you here, and everyone likes to blame demons, right?”
“Right,” he chuckles. “They are easy to blame, after all.”
Betty comes in, smiling as she makes her way to the counter. She curiously looks at Easton and then at me.
“Hey, Betty. You’re early.” I look at the clock. She’s not supposed to be here for another hour.
“I know.” She wrinkles her nose. “I really need to find a new place to live. I love my mom, but she is driving me crazy.” Betty comes around the counter and puts her to-go cup of coffee under the register.
“Oh, right. I forgot you lived at home.”
Betty just nods, blinking rapidly. After being drugged in an attempted assault by her neighbor, Betty moved out of her apartment and back home with her parents. Thorne Hill is a small town and there aren’t too many places to cheaply rent around here.
“And Kristy called you,” I add, mostly to change the subject. “Didn’t she?”
“Guilty. She said you guys both ate bad takeout and she wasn’t sure how you were doing.”
“I’m a little tired, but I’m fine. Thanks for coming in early.”
“It’s no problem,” she assures me. “I’d much rather be here than listening to my mom go on and on about how I should join her Bible study to meet nice boys.”
“I would rather be here too.”
Betty looks at Easton again. He doesn’t look like our typical client, as he’s dressed in jeans, hiking books and a button up-flannel shirt worn over a gray t-shirt. It’s way too hot to be dressed like that, but it’s the typical garb of a hunter, who always want to be prepared for a fight with a demon or a chase through the woods.
“So you’re done for the day?” Easton asks, walking down along the register.
“Yeah, I’ll leave here in a bit once I get things all settled.”
He runs his hand through his hair again, messing it up even more than it was before. “I was going to grab lunch and take it up to Melinda. What’s good around here?”
“There’s a diner two streets over that has the best burgers and fries. The milkshakes are good too, but they’d melt before you got to the hospital.”
“What, you don’t have a magic trick for that?”
“I’m not Elsa,” I laugh. “But I might have a way to pull energy away from objects that does result in a lower temperature in the general area.”
“Want to come with? Mel would love to see you.”
I shouldn’t spend another second with a witch hunter, but it would be nice to have a chat with Melinda…and have her promise me that they’ll stay far away from Thorne Hill. Plus, she and I were kind of friends. She was the first person outside the Academy who I could talk to about magic and demons without feeling like a freak.
“Yeah. I, uh, I’ll drive up behind you.”
“What? Don’t want to get in a car with me?” That stupid smile comes back to Easton’s face.
“No, I actually don’t, and it doesn�
��t make sense to drive in and out of town. I had a really, really, really long night that didn’t end until, well, this morning. So I’m going home after visiting Melinda.”
“Fair enough. Should I go put in an order for lunch then?”
“Yeah, give me about ten minutes to wrap things up here and make sure Betty’s good to take over. I want a cheeseburger with—”
“Extra pickles, no mustard, and double the cheese?”
“Yeah. I guess I haven’t changed that much over the years.”
He slowly shakes his head. “You have changed. A lot.”
“In a good way, right?”
“You’re not telekinetically throwing shit every time you get pissed off.”
I cock an eyebrow. “I don’t have to be pissed off to throw shit. But yes, I’m much better at controlling my, uh…my…temper,” I say, trailing off when a customer comes up to the register. Easton leaves to go to the diner, and I get everything ready for a shift change. Vanessa is coming in later to help Betty close, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kristy showed up after all either.
Easton is sitting in his car outside the dinner when I pull up, and signals for me to follow him to the hospital. The nurse has Melinda up for a shower, so Easton and I sit in the waiting room, eating our food while we wait.
“So, you’re dating a vampire.”
I take another bite of my burger and glare at him. “Really?”
“What?”
Shaking my head, I just take another bite and stare straight ahead. I’m too tired to get into this right now.
“You’re telling me you think it’s a good idea to date a fucking vampire?”
“If you wanted to watch me telekinetically throw things around you could have just asked.”
Easton puts his burger back in the wrapper and turns in his seat to face me. “Sore subject? I’m not the only one who thinks you shouldn’t be with him then.”
“Are you for fucking real right now?”
“I am. I know we had our issues, Callie, but I’m worried about you. That fucker is old and powerful. He’s a killer.”
“So are you.”
Easton swallows hard, making his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “That’s different.”
“Why?” Anger surges through me and it’s all I can do not to blow the glass right out of the windows. I am so sick of people telling me that I shouldn’t be with Lucas simply because of what he is. “Because the people you killed were different from you enough to justify their murders?”
“People will hear you.” Easton grabs my wrist.
I yank my arm back. “Good. Killing is killing, and you can’t justify it. I promise you half the people Lucas killed deserved it at least, which is more than I can say for you. You slaughtered a pack of weres.”
“Werewolves, Callie. They were fucking werewolves.”
“They owned a bakery!” I whisper-yell. “Vegan bakers and that was before being vegan was trendy. And you and your cult of ignorant, judgmental, sexist and backwoods hunters killed them in their sleep. Then they sent you after me. A teenage girl who didn’t even know witch hunters still existed.”
“If there’s one thing I regret—”
“Save it.” I ball up the rest of my burger, having lost my appetite. “You’re no different than him, you know.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
Easton doesn’t object for once.
I close my eyes, forcing myself to take in a breath and calm down. “Lucas knows exactly who I am. He knows what I’m capable of and he loves me for it. He doesn’t look at me like I’m a freak. He’s not scared of me. Doesn’t think I should find a way to strip myself of my powers. He loves me for me. And I love him for the same reasons.” I open my eyes and look right at Easton. “I’ve spent too much of my life being angry at people like you, people who fear what they don’t understand, who’d rather repress and deny me of my basic rights as a human-fucking-being. But you know what? I’m not mad anymore. I just feel sorry for you. Because no matter what, you’ll never be free. You live with so much hatred in your heart…”
I bring my hand to my chest. “I can’t even imagine the weight you must feel. So know this. As you’re lying down to sleep tonight, heart racing and mind whirling with all your hateful thoughts, body unable to relax and let go because you’re so angry about things you can’t control…I’ll be in bed with my vampire. After he drank my blood during sex, of course. Oh, and that sex is always amazing because he’s had a very long to perfect his methods and because I love him.”
The lights flicker above me, and I take it as my cue to leave. I let out another breath, feeling lighter already. I’ve told off my father, my brother, and Easton all within a week. I just need to check Doctor Howard off the list and I might be on my way to making a full mental recovery from my childhood trauma.
Hah.
“Tell Melinda I hope she feels better.” I stand and hold my hands to my side, not caring that blue magic is sparking around my fingers. “And stay out of Thorne Hill.”
All I want is a big glass of wine and my bed. Preferably with Lucas in it, naked and next to me, of course. Though I’m too tired for sex right now. But just having him next to me makes everything better.
Seeing a truck with an Anderson Construction sticker on the door is the last thing I want to see when I pull into my driveway. All three of my familiars are on the porch, sunbathing like regular cats. They hold up the pretense well, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the nons close to me were suspicious, especially Betty.
She seemed concerned when Pandora and I left to go to the hospital. It’s not like I can take a cat inside with me, and it’s way too hot to leave a pet in the car. Really, Pandora just shadowed home, faster than anyone could notice. It’s not like I could tell that to Betty, and sometimes I feel bad lying to her.
“What the hell is this?” I grumble, trying hard not to take my bad mood out on anyone who doesn’t deserve it. I park in the dry grass of my side yard, leaving enough room for the trucks to pull out of the driveway.
Binx lets me know Lucas is in the dining room, sitting around the table with the construction workers. They don’t know he’s a vampire, and I’ll have to open and close the back door quickly in order to keep his cover.
“Thanks,” I tell him and hurry up the back-porch steps. I’m sweating already in the short time it took for me to go from my Jeep to the house, and I dodge in as fast as I can, hitting myself with the door in my rapid attempt to slam it shut before sunlight burns my beloved.
He’d heal immediately, but then everyone in the room would know he’s a vampire. Which really wouldn’t be a big deal since both Lucas and I have the ability to change memories. Though I really don’t feel like dealing with anything like that today.
“Ah, sweetheart,” Lucas says, standing from the table when I step into the dining room. “You’re just in time.”
Three men sit around the table, and blueprints of the house Lucas just bought for us are laid out in front of them. Lucas comes over and puts one hand on the small of my back. He pulls me in for a quick kiss and pushes my hair back over my shoulder.
“Are you all right?” he asks quietly.
“I will be,” I huff, obviously struggling to let go of my anger. “What’s going on in here?”
“We were going over the structural damage of the house.”
“Is it bad?”
Lucas pulls out a chair for me to sit in. “Not as bad as I anticipated.”
I sit down and look at the blueprints, remembering that we left a headless zombie in the attic. It probably stinks to high heavens with this heat right now. “That sounds promising.”
“It is,” Lucas says with a smile. He bought me the house as a surprise after I rather casually mentioning that buying and fixing it up was a dream of mine. We had plans to meet with contractors and builders who specialized in restoring historic homes. I could have sworn we weren’t supposed to meet today, but I’m sure Lucas mov
ed up the meeting to try and make me happy, to try and offer a distraction from the shitstorm that is my life.
But all I want to do right now is drink myself into a stupor and pass out after watching 90s made-for-TV movies about witches.
The contractors start explaining the plan of action to me, and it doesn’t take long before I’m getting excited and start thinking about the future.
About Christmas together and how I’ll finally have my twelve-foot Christmas tree.
About the parties we can have in the summer, sitting outside on our patio at night with our friends before taking a midnight dip in our in-ground pool.
About waking up day after day—or night after night—together.
Forever.
Only…my forever will end.
Lucas will live on past that.
Alone.
Forever.
Chapter 8
“Would you like me to make you something to eat?” Lucas slips his arms around me and pulls me to his chest. The builders just left, and we’re sitting on the couch in the living room.
“Maybe in a little bit.” I pull my legs up and wiggle closer to him. “Can we just sit here first?”
He nods and presses his lips to mine before laying us down. My eyes fall shut and exhaustion takes over. And then I remember the zombie in the attic.
“Dammit,” I mutter.
“What’s wrong, my love?” Lucas runs his fingers through my hair.
“The builders are going to the house and we never took that body out of the attic.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Last night when I was waiting for you to come back. I couldn’t exactly sit still and do nothing.”
I lift my head up and look at his handsome face. “So you buried a body?”
“Call it my therapy.”
I rest my head back down against him. “I love you, Lucas.”
He pulls a blanket off the back of the couch and covers us up. “I love you too. Get some rest, Callie.”
Nodding, I close my eyes and readjust the way I’m lying so I can run my fingers through Lucas’s hair since I know he likes it. We both end up falling asleep, and I wake up six hours later needing to use the bathroom. Lucas is literal dead weight when he sleeps, and it takes a bit of maneuvering to get out of his embrace without waking him up. The sun has set by now, and while those six hours of sleep felt wonderful, I want to crawl back under the blanket and snuggle up with Lucas again, sleeping soundly the rest of the night.
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