Queen of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  “Oh, right. You’ve been out of town and didn’t hear the news.”

  “What news?”

  “A body was found in the woods. Her heart was missing.”

  Chapter 26

  Fucking demons.

  I turn on the seat warmers in my Jeep, impatiently waiting for the news article to load on my phone. Vanessa summed everything up already, but I need to see it for myself.

  Gloria Thompson, a thirty-year-old mother of three, was found dead in a shallow grave in the woods near the state park, close to Lake Michigan and very close to where the Ley line meets the water. Markings on her wrists and ankles indicated she’d been tied up and was very much alive when her heart was carved right out of her chest. As of right now, the police have no leads.

  “That’s because they’re looking for a human and this was obviously a demon,” I tell Binx. “Fuck.” I ball my fist and toss my head back. Before we left, my familiars discovered three deer in the woods with their hearts missing.

  “Obviously, it’s connected,” I mutter and send Evander a text, telling him to get ahold of me when he can. It’s Friday, and he’s probably teaching a class. “What demons eat hearts?” I ask Binx, mind racing. “Several kinds, but tying up a victim makes me think they had to perform some sort of ritual, and lower-level demons don’t usually get that complex, right?” I scroll through the article. Gloria went missing two days before her body was found. She was from the unincorporated part of Thorne Hill, which is closer to our neighboring town of Paradise Valley on the other side of Thorne Hill from where her body was found. Her family believed she was kidnapped while walking the dog in the evening. The dog—an eighty-pound German Shepherd—never returned home either.

  “If the demon is going after women around my age who are walking dogs, then Scarlet and I—” Binx lets out a low growl. I purse my lips and let out a sigh. “Scarlet and I will not be bait because I promised not to get involved with demons.” I close the Safari app on my phone and toss my head back against the headrest. “We both know if this was a ritualistic killing, the demons will probably kill again. What am I supposed to do?” I ask Binx. “Turn this over to the police?”

  He steps into my lap, rubbing his head against me to help calm me down.

  “Thanks,” I say when he lets me know he’ll take Freya and Pandora and patrol the woods as soon as we get home. My stomach grumbles, reminding me that I need to go grocery shopping. I call Kristy on my way, and the call goes straight to voicemail.

  “She’s been spending a lot of time at the Covenstead lately,” I say out loud to Binx. I not-so-secretly want her and Evander to get together. My best friend and my older brother…sounds like a romance novel waiting to happen, I know.

  And it would be awesome.

  Evander and I started referring to each other as brother and sister only a few months after Tabatha unofficially adopted me. I never thought about the legalities of anything back then, and to this day I have no idea how William Martin went about selling me. I’m assuming he kept up the pretense I was at home, or that I had to be shipped off to some school for troubled youth, which means he lied on his taxes, claiming me as a dependent. I’m sure there’s a way to use that against him, but at this point, I’ve got bigger fish to fry.

  Demonic fish.

  And it’s going to drive me to the point of insanity to sit back and do nothing. The guilt alone is enough to make me crack, and it’s not like I’m in short supply of it already. I’m keeping too many secrets, from not letting Abby know she almost died to not cluing in any of my friends on the angel-business that’s been going on.

  And the longer I keep these things from them, the harder it’s going to be to tell them.

  “Dammit,” I mutter, slowing to a stop at a light. It’s a chilly, overcast day, yet people are out and about, walking around Thorne Hill totally clueless to what really happened days ago.

  “They didn’t kill her on Samhain,” I muse, unable to stop thinking about it. For years, this was what I did: read about a weird case like this in the paper and handle it. I know there are many, many more demonic killings than I can handle, but seeing one right in front of me, in my own fucking town, and then doing nothing goes against every fiber of my being.

  It nags at me the entire time I’m grocery shopping, and I load my cart up with extra junk food to emotionally eat later as the guilt chips away at me.

  I shut the door with my food, setting the last grocery bag on the kitchen floor. “Hey,” I call through the house. Lucas is probably in the office again, finding another multi-million-dollar property to buy so he can sell it years later and turn a huge profit. “I heard something funny while I was out.”

  I wash my hands and then start unloading the groceries. Lucas comes into the kitchen and helps me put the food away.

  “What was it?” he asks.

  “A body was found in the nature park. Missing its heart. So, not funny, but definitely demonic.”

  Lucas takes a bag of chips out of the cloth bag and waits for me to go on. He knows me well.

  “It’s probably the same demon who killed those deer and ate their hearts. And this woman—Gloria—was tied up, which usually means some sort of ritual was done prior to removing the heart.”

  “Was she sacrificed on Halloween?” he asks, careful to keep his voice level.

  “She was killed before then. Her body was found over a week ago. The police of course have no leads, because they have no idea what they’re up against." I hold up my hand, stopping Lucas before he even starts. “But I’m not getting involved. I need to stay far away from all cosmic forces, and keep the attention far, far away from me. Plus, we know it’s risky.” I lower my hand to my stomach. “And I also want to take a nap.”

  “But?”

  “But what?” I open the pantry.

  “But you want to go after the demon.”

  “Of course I do,” I tell him, seeing no point in hiding it. “I’ve been hunting demons long enough to know that when you find a demon who kills for some sort of ritual, they’ll strike again.”

  “Surely the council members from your coven will look into it.”

  I make a face. “They stay out of nonmagical affairs, and this woman was a non. If the demon started targeting witches, they’d do something, but we both know how slow to respond they are when it comes to shit like this.”

  “So, they’ll allow a demon to roam the woods?”

  I put a bag of rice into the panty. “Witches aren’t really hunters in that sense. They protect the Ley line and guard the secrets of magic and all that wizard-sounding stuff, but they don’t know how to go after and hunt demons. I’m the odd man out in my coven when it comes to tracking and killing demons. It makes sense now, given who my father is. Most other witches avoid demons as much as possible. They’re dangerous and we’re taught how to defend ourselves if need be, but not how to hunt.”

  “I can’t believe I’m suggesting this,” Lucas starts and picks up the heavy bag of dog food with ease. “But you do know demon hunters.”

  “You’re right.” I blink, feeling stupid for not thinking about it before. Easton and Melinda have been hunting demons for years, and this is exactly the type of case they’d take. “I’ll call Easton later and give him the details.”

  Lucas smiles. “See, it’s handled.”

  I nod, trying to convince myself it will be handled. This is the kind of thing Easton and Melinda have trained for. It’s what they do. They know the risks. They have the weapons. They understand demonic hunting patterns and will be able to narrow down what kind of demon we’re dealing with and how to kill it.

  Still, without having powers, I feel like they are at a very unfair disadvantage, and even the most skilled hunter faces a huge challenge when they’re up against a high-level demon. You don’t bring a gun to a magic, energy-ball-throwing, curse-your-opponent type of fight.

  “It’s not your responsibility to kill every single demon,” Lucas tells me. He’s trying t
o make me feel better, to ease the burden of guilt, but it doesn’t help.

  “I know that,” I say, not meaning to snap as much as I do. “I can’t kill every demon either. It’s not possible. But when they are right here in front of me…it feels wrong to sit back and do nothing.”

  “You’re calling Easton and having him handle it. That’s not doing nothing.”

  “The woman they found was a mother.” I shove another bag of chip in my small pantry. “Now her kids are without their mom.” Tears prick the corners of my eyes, and I don’t know what’s annoying me more right now: getting overly emotional about every fucking thing or having to put physical limitations on myself. I’m not used to either, and I feel even more guilt for being annoyed with being pregnant.

  Women are supposed to love being pregnant. They’re supposed to want to soak up every minute of it, enjoying being pampered and taking it easy. That’s not who I am, and I know it’s an adjustment I’ll get used to eventually. Missing the ability to kick demon ass doesn’t make me any less grateful to be a mother…yet the pressure I’m putting on myself to fill the role of what society has ingrained in my head is weighing on me.

  I turn around, blinking back tears, and pick up another bag full of produce. The bag isn’t particularly heavy, but it’s not light as a feather either. I get a weird twinge of pain in my abdomen when I go to stand up that feels like a period cramp but with more pressure.

  Letting the bag fall back to the ground, I slowly straighten up and put my hand on my stomach.

  “What’s wrong?” Lucas moves to my side.

  “Nothing…I think.” The pain lessens. “Just a cramp. Abby told me just today it’s normal to feel round ligament pain like this.”

  “I read about it.” Lucas nods, but his brows are still pinched together with worry. “I’ll finish putting the groceries away. Sit down, put your feet up, and I’ll bring you water.”

  “I’m fine,” I say, but then the pain comes back. Not wanting to tell Lucas and make him even more worried, I grab a glass from the cabinet, fill it with water, and go into the living room. Scarlet crowds onto the couch with me, resting her big head on my lap. Closing my eyes, I lean back and run my hand over her wiry fur.

  A minute passes and the cramp goes away. I stay perfectly still for another few seconds and then drink some water. I lean forward to set the glass on the coffee table and feel fine. It’s then I realize how fast my heart is beating. I let out a breath, calming myself down. One little twinge of pain nearly sent me into a panic, and all I did was pick up a sort-of-heavy grocery bag.

  There’s no way I can go hunt demons. I’d be too nervous, too worried, and being distracted is a good way to get hurt. Finishing the water, I get up to use the bathroom. Lucas has put the rest of the groceries away when I come back onto the kitchen.

  “I’m fine,” I tell him and get my phone from my purse. “And I’ll text Easton now to let him know there could be a case in Thorne Hill I’ll need his help with.”

  “Does that make you feel better?”

  “A little.” I grab a bag of chips and take it to the little kitchen table, eating a handful as I open a text message.

  Me: Hey…I might need some help with a demon here in Thorne Hill.

  Three little dots show up on the screen right away.

  Easton: YOU need help with a demon?

  Me: Yeah…kind of a long story that’s probably better to tell you in person. Are you in Chicago?”

  Easton: We’re on our way back. M and I went on a hunting trip to Michigan.

  I know hunting trip means they tracked or followed demons up there.

  Me: Can you meet for lunch tomorrow?

  Easton: Sure. Tell me a time and place.

  Me: I’ll find a place where I can make a reservation and will text you info. Also, do you guys want to come here for Thanksgiving dinner?

  Easton starts typing and stops three times. It’s weird, I know, given our past history, but we’ve come a long way since then. And he came to my wedding, for goodness sake. Thanksgiving dinner isn’t any weirder than that.

  Easton: Yeah, Melinda would like that. Thanks.

  I smile. Sure, Melinda will like it, but I know he would too.

  Me: Great. I’ll give you details tomorrow. Thanks, Easton.

  He responds with that stupid thumbs-up. I set the phone down and put a handful of chips on the table, trying to limit myself because I know I could easily sit here and eat half this bag. Needing to keep busy, I go into the basement after I’m done eating and am able to put together two full bags of stuff to donate. I’m not a pack rat by any means, but I hold sentimental value to a surprising amount of stuff down here, as well as suffer from the “what if I get rid of it and then need it” mentally that Lucas doesn’t understand at all, which probably comes from his ability to just go out and buy something brand-new. I got by just fine before but obviously didn’t have money to burn the way Lucas does.

  I spend another hour going through boxes and bins, and then go back upstairs to take down the minimal Halloween decor I put up before we left for Florida. Lucas helps me put everything away, and we get the bins of holiday decor all neatly organized for easy moving.

  “Are you hungry?” I ask Lucas once we’re back in the kitchen. I fill a pot with water, put it on the stove, and turn on the burner. I wait a minute for the pot to heat up and then hold my hands over it, magically bringing it to a boil. I dump in a box of noodles to make mac and cheese.

  “I ate last night,” he reminds me. “I’m fine.”

  I nod and get the butter and milk out of the fridge. My phone rings, and I know by my ringtone it’s Evander.

  “Hello,” I answer.

  “Hey, sis. Your text seemed urgent. Is everything all right?”

  Things are so far from it, and I have to go over a mental checklist of the things I haven’t told Evander yet. Fuck, I hate this.

  “Not for the woman who had her heart ripped out.”

  “Ah, you found out about that already.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You were on vacation, Callie,” he says slowly. “We both know that would have ruined your trip.”

  “Well, yeah!”

  “And then what?” Evander goes on. “You’d rush back?”

  “I don’t know.” I let out a sigh and lean against the counter. “Other than that, how have things been here?”

  “Quite good. Mother spoke to the Newport packmaster and it seems things have been smoothed over with the wolves…for now.”

  “That’s a relief.” I rub my forehead, remembering how angry I felt that night the wolf walked through our yard.

  “Yes,” Evander agrees. “Things are good, Callie. Don’t go looking for trouble.”

  I can feel Lucas’s eyes on me, silently telling me the same exact thing. As far as my friends are concerned, everything is peachy.

  But they don’t know Lucifer is here on earth, and every day I get closer and closer to being discovered by the rest of my family.

  “You know me.”

  “Hah, that I do. Enjoy the time off while you can. You’ll be wishing for quiet days once that baby is born, you know.”

  “Oh, for sure. Is anyone looking into the demon, though?” I ask, watching the water boil. “Three deer were found dead without hearts too.”

  “Ruby’s on it. I believe she’s already narrowed down the type of demon who may be behind it.”

  “Great, I’ll get the info from her. I, uh, asked Easton to help me handle it.”

  Evander pauses for a second. “That’s a good idea, actually. Might as well use the brute for the only thing he’s good for.”

  “Be nice,” I warn.

  “I don’t like him,” Evander reminds me.

  “Neither do I,” Lucas grumbles, though he knows how much Easton helped me after Abby was shot. I say my goodbyes to Evander and then finish making my food. The sun has set by the time I’m done eating, and Lucas and I go out to see the ho
use.

  “We can walk,” I tell him. “Scarlet needs some exercise.” I put on my winter coat and gloves and call for Scarlet to come to the front door. The human crew might still be wrapping up at the house, so I grab her leash to clip onto her collar once we get on property. “And I could too. I’ve been really slacking with working out and now is not the time to let myself go.”

  “You still look hot. I mean, I’d fuck you.”

  “Hah, thanks.” We go onto the porch and Lucas holds my hand as we walk down the driveway. Scarlet trots ahead, following a moth. She’s still just as doofy as she was in puppy-form, making me wonder if that’s actually her personality.

  A car comes down the road, and I call Scarlet over, resting my hand on her back to keep her near as the car passes. But instead of going by us, it slows to a stop. Red-and-blue lights flash for a moment, and then Officer Maxwell’s face comes into view.

  “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. King,” he says, and his eyes go right to Scarlet. Oh, shit. I know exactly what he’s thinking. I have a tendency to be in the right place at the wrong time, and that kid was attacked by a large dog in the woods.

  And I’m pretty sure Scarlet is the biggest dog in town.

  Chapter 27

  “Nice night, isn’t it?” I blurt, though it’s anything but. It’s even colder now, and I’m sure we’ll wake up with frost covering the earth. “Sit,” I whisper to Scarlet, knowing the word is coming out in Enochain.

  “Is this your dog?” Officer Maxwell asks.

  “I, um…I…I’m a cat person,” I blurt, internally wincing. Dammit.

  “We’re dog-sitting,” Lucas says with no hesitation. “Her owner is in Bali.”

  “Dogs need to be leashed,” Officer Maxwell says, shifting his car into park. “How long have you been watching her?”

  “Brought her home yesterday,” I say. It’s true, really.

  Officer Maxwell nods, eyes still on Scarlet, who’s sitting perfect still at my side. Lucas steps closer and I see Officer Maxwell tense, hand going to his gun.