Queen of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  It’s not the first time I’ve seen the light flash like this, but it’s almost just as startling.

  “Julian,” I gasp, turning and rushing over to him. He’s standing right in front of the porch, and he’s not bleeding this time, thank god.

  “Callie,” he starts, brows pinched together. “Come with me. I fear you are in grave danger.”

  “Son of a bitch,” I huff. So much for a fucking night off.

  Chapter 8

  “Slow down,” I say, pulling my hand from his before he has a chance to fly us out of here. “What are you talking about?”

  Julian, who’s actually dressed in a different outfit than the last time I saw him, looks around nervously. “I may have been followed.”

  “Followed?” Lucas echoes. “Why the fuck would you come here if you were being followed?”

  “I wanted to get here before they did,” Julian replies and holds out his hand, conjuring his angel-dagger.

  “Who?” I ask, though I already know the answers.

  “Demons.”

  Lucas protectively moves behind me, wrapping his arm around my middle so his large palm is splayed over my stomach.

  “I intercepted a dark prophet,” Julian goes on. “Who predicted a surge in the cosmic energy, and the surge originated in this area. It’s not uncommon for Ley lines to put off unusual amounts of energy from time to time, but if they come looking…”

  “They might find me.”

  “Yes, and your powers extend far beyond those of a typical witch.” Julian’s face turns sullen. “And that’s not all. I have news, and maybe you should sit down for this.”

  “Are you going to tell us that Lucifer is free?”

  Julian’s lips part and his blue eyes go from me to Lucas and back again. “You…you know?”

  “Yeah. He paid me a little visit.” A chill goes through me from my own words, and Lucas holds me a little tighter. Eliza quietly inches forward, arms crossed across her chest.

  “What?” Julian shakes his head in disbelief. “What happened? Tell me everything.”

  I nod and take in a breath. “The hunter who was hired by some rich old vampire figured out I spelled him and came looking for me wanting revenge. But Abby got shot instead of me, and I called for you and my dad to come help, but Lucifer showed up instead. He healed her and took the body of the hunter away.” I say that all very quickly, not easing the incredulous look on Julian’s face.

  “He…he just showed up?” Julian asks slowly.

  “Yeah. He said he could hear me and came to help.” Tears prick the corners of my eyes, and I look up at the starry sky, blinking them away. “I asked him if he wanted anything in return. He said no, and then looked at my stomach and said maybe I do. So now I’m scared he wants our baby.”

  Julian doesn’t counter me, doesn’t tell me a baby is the last thing Lucifer would want. Instead, he swallows hard, tightening his grip on the dagger. A few painful seconds tick by, filled only by the sounds of the night.

  “Let’s back up,” Julian finally says. “What makes you think he wants your baby?”

  “The way he looked at me,” I answer. “And I know he doesn’t do favors for free.”

  “No, he doesn’t. He requires payment, typically your soul. You didn’t sign a contract, right?”

  “Right.” I blink and remember Abby lying on her foyer floor, seconds away from death. “I had no choice. It was either let him heal Abby or watch her die before my eyes.”

  “I don’t think you made a bad decision,” Julian tells me, somehow knowing how badly I need to hear it right now. “Without a contract—verbal or written—I don’t think there is any ground to stand on. He doesn’t own you.”

  “Own me?” My eyes widen with abhorrence. “Nobody owns me, and they never fucking will. I don’t belong to Lucifer. I am not his puppet on a string.” The porch lights start to flicker, and I close my eyes, trying to get my powers in check.

  “Maybe he doesn’t want anything from you,” Julian rushes out. “Maybe…maybe he’s afraid of you.”

  “The fucking devil is scared of Callie?” Eliza scoffs.

  Julian cocks his head, looking at me as if he can see the very fibers that make up my soul. “Lucifer is an archangel. He has several brothers and sisters who have similar power as he does. It’s long been said Michael is the only archangel who can easily oppose Lucifer. Michael is Callie’s father, and her mother was a natural witch by birth.”

  “Half witch, half angel,” Lucas says softly. “But together, you have more power than either.”

  “More power, and different power,” Julian goes on. “Witchcraft differs from what I am able to do as an angel. And when you consider the dark arts…”

  “Your nightmares will be my daydream,” I finish, remembering a line from an old pagan fairytale Tabatha used to read to Evander and me at bedtime, putting the fear of God into us, keeping us from going all dark side.

  “Yes,” Julian says seriously. “And I was going to say, with all of Heaven looking for Lucifer, it could be a good distraction from the rumors of the Nephilim.”

  “Lucifer already came to Callie once,” Lucas starts. “What if he comes again and alerts the others to her presence?”

  Julian considers his question for a minute. “You still have the dagger I brought you, correct?”

  “The one that kills angels? Yeah.” My head bobs up and down. “We put it somewhere safe.”

  “That might be our best option,” Julian says gravely.

  “I can’t tough it though, right?”

  “The hilt is safe to touch. But if any of the metal comes in contact with your flesh…well, it will be incredibly painful. I don’t know what it would do to your human side, either. No humans have ever used or been stabbed with that dagger. It was created strictly for killing angels.”

  “Great,” I sigh. “Just when I thought there couldn’t possibly be even more bad news tonight.” I lean back against Lucas, letting my eyes fall shut as I exhale. Slowly, I take in air, holding it for a few seconds, and then breathing out again.

  There. I’m fine. It’s all the time I can afford to pull myself together. “We were just about to go out to eat,” I say and straighten up. “Want to come with? I’ll be the only one eating again, so why not add another to our table?”

  Julian’s eyes narrow. “You want to go out and get food? After what we just discussed?”

  “I have to eat,” I say. “And I really want a milkshake. And Cheerios, for some reason. Oh, maybe that’s my first weird craving. Though it’s not really weird.” I shrug. “We can continue our talk about Lucifer and demons as we eat. And if you don’t get your butts in gear and come with me, I won’t be ashamed to pull the pregnancy card. You don’t want my blood sugar dropping, do you?”

  I’m fairly certain I’ve had perfect blood sugar my whole life, surprising since I drink a shit ton of sweet wine and have a bad habit of skipping meals when I’m busy fighting demons.

  “You do need to eat,” Julian slowly agrees. “And I don’t think the demons who may or may not have followed will attack in a crowded venue. They’ve spent the last few centuries hiding in one of the less favorable circles of Hell.”

  “There are worse circles than others?” I take a step toward the Range Rover. “The more ya know.”

  I get in the passenger seat. Lucas speeds around to the other side, and Julian climbs in the back next to Eliza. “Seatbelts,” I say when I realize I’m the only one who pulled mine over my body. “Stop showing off your immortality.”

  I say it as a joke, but my word are rather sobering. Because out of the four of us in the car, I’m the only one who can’t heal. Who still ages. I’m the only one with a legitimate expiration date.

  But I’m also the only one who could be the devil’s worst nightmare.

  Chapter 9

  “Oh my god,” I moan, tipping my head back and closing my eyes. “So fucking good.”

  “Do you and your fries need to get a fu
cking room?”

  I open my eyes to see Eliza staring at me with one eyebrow raised.

  “As a matter of fact, I’d like that,” I snap and pick up another French fry, dipping it in my vanilla milkshake. I stop right before I put the fry in my mouth and pick up the salt shaker, covering my milkshake-covered fry in salt.

  “I don’t eat, but even I know that’s just wrong.” Eliza slowly shakes her head. “And disgusting.”

  “It’s so good,” I say, stuffing the fry in my mouth.

  “I think it’s safe to say this is your first weird craving,” Lucas says, unable to keep the smile off his face. He’s so excited to be a father, to enjoy every single part of pregnancy—from the outside looking in, that is.

  “Imagine every time you drank any blood, you either threw it back up or felt like you were right on the verge of puking,” I tell Eliza as I put more salt on my fries. “And on top of that, you couldn’t drink the type of blood you drink when you’re stressed.” I dip another salty fry in my milkshake.

  “And then you could finally eat again.”

  “I’m not following this analogy,” Eliza says.

  “I suppose it doesn’t matter.” My eyes light up when the waitress brings over the chicken tenders I wanted once I saw someone else get them two tables over. I’m going to come out of this pregnancy a hundred pounds heavier…if I come out of it at all.

  “Thank you,” I tell the waitress, who nervously eyes Lucas, Julian, and Eliza. Lucas, with his insane good looks and overall intimidating air, is an obvious vampire. Eliza is so perfectly pretty you might mistake her for a fairy princess, though it’s safe to say most nons don’t believe in fairies.

  Julian, though…I have no idea what you’d classify him as.

  He breathes, chest rising and falling. He has color in his cheeks and looks alive, much more so than Eliza or Lucas. Yet he’s sitting here with us, no food or drink in front of him, and has this aloofness that is honestly just confusing.

  “And that’s all for this table?” the waitress asks, trying to figure out exactly who she’s serving.

  “I think I’m good, thank you,” I say.

  “For now,” Eliza huffs under her breath.

  “Okay.” The waitress smiles, eyes lingering on Julian, and then walks away.

  “She’s praying you don’t get eaten tonight,” Julian says, able to hear the waitress's prayers.

  “She’s not wrong about you getting eaten tonight,” Lucas says. “Again.”

  I just shake my head and pick up a chicken tender, tearing it in half so it’ll cool faster and I can eat it.

  “And he thinks you’re in a weird sex-cult with three vampires and is worried about your soul and thinks you’ve damned yourself to Hell,” Julian goes on. “The understanding of what sends someone to Heaven or Hell has become lost on so many humans.”

  “Tell that to some of these holy rollers,” I grumble, getting too impatient to wait for my chicken tender to cool. I dip it in barbecue sauce and take a bite. It’s hot but tastes so good. “If I knew pregnancy would make food this much more enjoyable, I would have cursed you myself like the day after we met.”

  Lucas laughs. “You hated me the day after we met.”

  “That is true.”

  “Though I knew you wanted to fuck me the second you laid eyes on me.”

  “Lucas! Don’t say that so loud and in public!”

  “It’s not like it’s a shock,” he goes on.

  “Nearly everyone wants to fuck him,” Eliza says, picking a fry up off my plate and looking at it curiously.

  “I don’t want to fuck him,” Julian says seriously.

  “I’m glad,” I reply, laughing. “Because I don’t want to have to fight you for him.” I pat Lucas’s thigh. “He’s all mine, and he’s very okay with that.”

  “I am,” Lucas agrees, nodding. “Because you are mine.”

  “Gross.” Eliza drops the fry back onto my plate and rolls her eyes. “I’d rather be discussing demons than listening to you two profess your love. It was bad enough to sit through it at your wedding.”

  “The wedding you had a lot of fun planning.”

  “Fun? I had to throw together an elegant wedding in days. That was not my definition of fun. Though I do enjoy a challenge.”

  “We should be discussing demons,” Julian says, somber as usual.

  “Right. You think the dark prophets might be looking for me.” I dip a fry in my milkshake and then sandwich it between two pieces of my chicken. It’s weird, I know. Thanks, baby. “What is a dark prophet?”

  “A prophet who is evil.”

  “That doesn’t help,” I say and eat my chicken tender and fry sandwich. It’s even better than I imagined. “Prophets see the future, right?”

  “In a sense,” Julian explains. “They are humans who are able to hear divine messages. Sometimes they simply need to record them so the word can spread. Other times, it might come as a warning. Centuries ago, demons kidnapped six prophets from all over the world and sacrificed their souls to Lucifer in exchange for their powers and immortality. The demons possessed the prophets, and have remained inside the same vessels ever since, with the keen ability to detect anything in the cosmos.”

  “Lovely.” I reach for my milkshake and take a drink. “So, these dark prophets were reading the energy, detected a surge, and then what's their plan?”

  “To try and harness the surge,” Julian answers. “One thing is certain with all demons: they want more power and are willing to do anything to get it.”

  “Like make me their child bride and kick my uncle off the throne.”

  “You’re too old to be a child bride,” Eliza tells me. “And now you’re pregnant so you can’t even pretend to be a virgin bride.”

  “That doesn’t matter to the demons,” Julian tells her, brows furrowing.

  “She was joking,” I explain. Julian doesn’t always grasp sarcasm. He’s spent years studying humans from afar, but his actual interactions with them have been minimal, and it’s obvious. Endearing, but so fucking obvious. “How do I kill them? Will my little hand-trick work?”

  “Hand-trick?” Julian asks.

  I hold my hands out in front of me, curling my fingers in slightly toward my palm.

  “Lucifer taught it to me, actually.”

  “The devil taught you a trick to do with your hands?” Eliza purses her lips. “Oh, the jokes I could make with that one.”

  I give her a look but go on. “It’s a spell, and the last time I used it on a demon, they went poof, like an instant exorcism. The body remained, unfortunately, but the demon was gone.”

  “Lucifer taught you that?”

  I nod and lower my hands, feeling a little full yet still starving at the same time. “Yeah. It’s, uh, the only way I would have survived when I was attacked by the demon the day before our wedding. It’s why he sent me Scarlet. He knew I’d need her.”

  Julian gazes at me curiously, and I think back to the conversation I had with Lucifer. I asked him why he allows demons to attack me when he’s the King of Hell and can command them. He explained his hands are tied—literally—while he was bound to Hell. He had no way of stopping the demons on earth, which is why he sent a hellhound who is obedient to me and me alone.

  “I suppose that spell will work,” Julian says. “They are demons, but much stronger than any you’ve encountered before.”

  “I’ll decapitate them, you perform the exorcisms,” Lucas says, and I smile, wrinkling up my nose.

  “We work so well together.” I rest my head on his shoulder and he kisses me. My heart flutters, and I’m reminded yet again how fucking grateful I am for this vampire…which makes me all the more terrified our future together is dark.

  “Do you think he’s going to take our baby?” I ask, question tumbling out of my mouth. I need to hear him say no. Lucifer doesn’t want a baby. Then I can get back to my regularly scheduled programming of hiding bad things from my friends and fighting demons or
evil witches who want to kill me.

  “I don’t know,” Julian says apologetically, eyeing me from across the table. “It won’t come to that. We will protect you.”

  “Told you,” Eliza mumbles, and Lucas puts his arm around my shoulders.

  “Would it be possible for me to talk to my dad?” I ask, telling myself not to get my hopes up.

  “Possible, yes. He’ll want to know what happened, and if Lucifer has taken any sort of interest in you, he will protect you himself. Your father loves you, Callie.”

  And now I’m all teary-eyed again. Throat tight, I nod and go back to my food.

  “I have to report back,” Julian says. “And I will find Michael. He will come if it’s safe.”

  “Will you be back too?”

  “Yes, when I can. I shouldn’t have stayed a long as I did, but I needed to warn you about the dark prophets.”

  “I’ll be ready. If they can hold off attacking until after the Blood Moon, I’ll be able to make a strong vanquishing potion.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Julian tells me and reaches out, resting his hand on top of mine. “I will come back as soon as I can.”

  “Don’t keep me waiting too long. I worry.”

  Julian smiles softly. “Okay.”

  I roll over, angrily fluffing my pillow. I’m tired all fucking day, and now that it’s night and I’m in bed, I can’t sleep. Lucas is next to me, lying perfectly still. Since he’s not consuming as much blood as usual, he needs a few hours of sleep tonight, and I might be feeling a little bitter about how easily he was able to slip into a dead sleep.

  Unable to turn off my mind, I slowly get out of bed and tiptoe downstairs so I don’t wake Lucas. I keep going over it in my head, replaying the scene of Abby getting shot and Lucifer showing up. I want so badly to believe he cares like he said he does. That him taking the baby wouldn’t make sense.

  But the more I thought about it, the more I made things worse in my own damn mind. Lucifer knows I’m Michael’s daughter. He knows his brothers and sister would kill me with no hesitation and then would probably turn on Michael, knowing he betrayed and lied to them.