Queen of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  “What the hell?” I mutter, running my thumb over my fingers, but am unable to conjure any magic. Something still feels off, and every step is difficult, as if I’m wading through frozen water. I close my eyes and feel Lucas next to me. The heated blanket on high, and I’m uncomfortably hot. I open my eyes and look through the dark forest.

  I’m either dreaming or on some sort of astral plane. Whatever it is, I’m only here mentally but not physically. Did Lucifer bring me here so we can talk? Nothing about this place looks or feels right. He always appears in my house, in the exact location my body is.

  And this place…I look around. The trees are dead or dying, and dark red sap drips from their gnarled limbs.

  “Hello?” I call out. Someone brought me here, and the sooner we have it out, the sooner I can get back to my body.

  “Callie,” a voice in the dark rings out. I whirl around, eyes narrowed as I try to look through the gray forest.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I mumble. “It’s not polite to keep a girl waiting.”

  “Very well,” a deep voice rumbles, and Bael steps out of the shadows.

  “I know what you want,” I state, pushing my shoulders back and refusing to look scared. He shouldn’t be able to hurt me here, which also means I can’t hurt him. “And you’re wasting your time. I’ll kill you before I agree to be your wingman for taking over Hell.”

  “The light in you,” he says, inching closer. Spiders crawl out of the sleeves of his robe, and the strong scent of sulfur nearly chokes me. “It will be fun to snuff out.” He moves in a flash, appearing behind me. “For centuries I have searched for the one the prophecy speaks of, and now you are here.”

  I whirl around, trying—and failing—to conjure an energy ball. Wake up! Wake up! I close my eyes again and try to move my fingers, scraping them on the mattress. Lucas will hear and will shake me awake, pulling me out of this place.

  “There’s only one thing I can’t figure out,” Bael goes on, hoarse voice shaking me to my very core.

  “How not to be a pain in my ass?” I shoot back, crossing my arms over my chest. “Because you are.”

  Bael ignores me and reaches his hand out. His fingers go right through me yet send a shiver down my spine. “He’s concealed you well,” Bael notes, appearing to be talking to himself and not caring that I can hear.

  “Who has?”

  Bael’s thin lips curve into a smile. “That’s what I would like to know.” He lunges forward, face right up in mine. “Tell me, Callie, who is your father?”

  “I’m not telling you,” I spit out, shaking my head. Wake up, dammit! Binx, can you hear me? Wake me up!

  “The prophecy will unfold in time.” Bael reaches out again, and this time a cold finger sweeps across my cheek. “And then you’ll see. The whole world will see.”

  Chapter 33

  I bring my cup of coffee to my lips and take a sip. Big snowflakes slowly fall to the ground. Scarlet runs around, jumping and biting at the snow. She was excited to wake up and find a few inches of snow on the ground, and given that she’s a hellhound and is usual in Hell, I’m guessing she’s never seen snow before.

  It’s only ten-thirty in the morning and I’m on my second cup of coffee already. It’s half decaf, so I won’t go over my caffeine limit for the day, but I need the buzz. It’s been over a week since the creepy dream in the ash forest, and in that week, nothing has happened.

  Nothing demonic, at least.

  The snow starts to fall harder, and I pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders. The first snow is always the prettiest, and it’s going to be cold the next few days. I’ll be able to enjoy the snow-covered branches in the woods behind the house for a few days before it melts. I take another few sips of my coffee then start to feel bad about the extra caffeine.

  “Come on,” I call to Scarlet and stand, blanket slipping from my shoulders. I pick it up and wait for her to bound up the back porch steps. She shakes the snow from her fur and then goes inside. I pour the rest of the coffee down the drain and put the mug in the sink. My footsteps echo through the kitchen as I make my way into the living room.

  The house is pretty much empty. We will officially be in the new house as of tonight, and it’s more bittersweet than I imagined. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so excited to move into the new house. It’s been a long time coming, being under restoration for months now. There’s still a lot of exterior work to do, and if we didn’t have a human crew and a vampire crew working on it, we’d still be many months out before being able to move in. Having super speed helped the vampires move things along much faster than normal as well.

  “Fine, I’ll feed you,” I tell Scarlet, who went right over to her bowl. She eats what’s typical for her size, and now that she’s a dozen times bigger than her puppy form, I’m going through food like crazy. I put a scoop of kibble into her bowl, and she looks at me, waiting for more.

  “I’m not cooking chicken again. I already shared my eggs and bacon with you and my familiars this morning,” I say. Lucas is upstairs cleaning the now-empty guest room. Packing, moving, and then decorating the new house has kept me sane this last week, taking my mind off the shitstorm that’s brewing. It’ll erupt soon enough, and having that ticking time bomb hanging over my head makes me so fucking anxious.

  Going upstairs, I take a look around our bedroom. All that’s left are my nightstands, dresser, and TV, all of which Betty asked to keep. It makes moving a lot easier to leave some of that behind, and the house still holds onto a bit of its old self.

  I double-check the closet, making sure I’ve gotten everything out before Betty moves in tomorrow. I haven’t decided what to do with the warding on the house yet, and I’m a little worried someone—or something—will show up here looking for me. Keeping lines of protective magic drawn around a house isn’t a bad thing.

  Better safe than sorry, right?

  I check the rest of the house, ending my search in the kitchen. I’ve cleared out everything, donated most of the imperishable goods in my pantry instead of having to move them and now am regretting that. The fridge is pretty much empty too, and it sounded like a good idea at the time to start fresh. I let Lucas know I’m going to make a grocery run, taking the food to the new house. My friends are meeting me there in a few hours, to take a tour as well as just hang out.

  We haven’t sat around talking about anything noncritical in way too long. Several large crates of wine from Lucas’s vineyard arrived yesterday, and the wine cellar is nearly stocked now. I wistfully watch my friends drink and low-key keep checking the countdown on my phone until my due date. I didn’t have any ultrasound or belly pictures to select as my background, so I snapped a photo of the wine cellar and am currently using that.

  Classy, I know.

  Kristy comes over every year and helps me decorate my Christmas tree. Lucas already set up the big tree in the foyer for me. The box said it required a team to assemble it, and I would have struggled, that’s for sure, but it was no issue for Lucas. It was his idea for Kristy and me to go holiday decor shopping, and I know part of his encouragement was to distract me, and it helped.

  This afternoon, the tradition of putting up the tree with Kristy will continue, but with the twins, Ruby, and Evander. I’m looking forward to just hanging out, as well as show them the house.

  Most of our new furniture arrived, and so far, the front sitting room, the living room, Lucas’s office, the dining room, kitchen, the master bedroom, and two guest rooms upstairs have been professionally decorated by our interior designer.

  The yards and yards of garland I ordered last week will be coming soon, and obsessively checking the shipping status has given me something else to focus on other than Bael and the stupid prophecy, which we have no idea what it even is. There have been a handful of prophecies over the centuries involving Nephilim, and each have different meanings depending on how you interpret it.

  Bottom line, though, we know what Bael wants with me and I
hate being a pawn in his game, especially when it puts other people at risk.

  I brush snow off my Jeep, happy I won’t have to do this for much longer. The detached garage won’t be done by the time we move in, though. I remember to go back inside to get my cloth grocery bags before I even pull my seatbelt over my lap this time, and I crank up the heat and dash back in, taking my time before going back out to give the Jeep a minute or two to warm up.

  My road is one of the last to be plowed since I live on the outskirts of town. My Jeep handles it just fine, and I actually find it kind of fun to put it in snow-mode and plow through snow drifts. I’m a very careful driver when I get into town, however. I don’t want to slip or drift into someone, and I worry about the other drivers, who for some reason act like they’ve never driven in snow before, even though we get snow every single year.

  And also typical of the first snow, the grocery store is packed full of people rushing out to get bread, milk, and eggs, thinking we might get snowed in and not be able to leave our house for days on end. Someone just happens to pull out of a parking spot right up front, and I’m able to snag it. Normally, I never drive around and look for a close parking spot. I’m more than capable of walking. Though when it’s cold and snowing like this, a close spot is much appreciated.

  I’ve made it to the produce section when a weird feeling of unease starts to come over me. I turn, looking around. Nothing looks out of the ordinary, and I recognize a few of the other shoppers. I don’t know them by name, but I’ve seen them around before, and a handful shop at the bookstore at least once a month.

  Wrapping my fingers around the handle of the cart, I park it to the side and grab a plastic bag to fill with tomatoes, trying to shake the feeling, but it just gets stronger.

  Caallliiieeee.

  I whirl around, startling an old lady who was behind me.

  “Sorry,” I tell her and rush around, putting the bag of tomatoes in my cart. Someone called my name, I’m sure of it. Shifting my gaze back and forth from everyone around me, I quickly get the rest of the produce I need.

  Callie.

  It’s Bael’s voice, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. Is he here? Or is he calling to me from an astral plane again. If he’s here, even in astral form, everyone is in danger. Shit. The store is full of unsuspecting people, and it will be a mad house if they all run out, desperate to get out of the store because a demon attacked.

  “Whatever you want, leave them alone,” I say through gritted teeth. “No one else needs to get hurt.”

  “I, uh, just wanted some watermelon,” a man says, slowly inching his cart back.

  “This one looks good.” I blindly pick up a watermelon from the display and thrust it into the man’s arms.

  “Thanks,” he says and hurries away. I shake my head and look around the store. Bael takes on a human form. If he ditched the crown and robe, he’d blend in. He could be anywhere. On edge and ready to throw an energy ball at the first creepy old man I see, I move through the store.

  Callie, he calls again, and the smell of sulfur wafts through the air. Callie, come to me.

  “Will you stop it?” I spin around, eyes wide. The lights flash throughout the whole store, and bags of chips come flying off the shelves. “Not here,” I say through gritted teeth and walk out into the next aisle, grabbing what I need as fast as I can.

  There’s a long line at the checkout. “Fuck,” I mutter to myself. I need to get out of here before Bael shows up and attacks. Just being here, surrounded by all these people, puts them at risk. I’m not human, yet I live among them. I never thought it was wrong before, but what if I really don’t belong here?

  Finally, I get to the register. A sharp pain hits me right between my eyes, just like it did the last time Bael appeared.

  “Are you alright?” the cashier asks, seeing me be all jumpy.

  “Yeah,” I pant, looking around for Bael. What the fuck will I do if he shows up? I can’t throw energy balls at him. One, it does no good, and two, I can’t throw energy balls in the middle of the grocery store.

  I help the bagger get my groceries in my cloth bags, needing to get the fuck out of here. Walking at warp speed, I slip on an icy patch on the sidewalk and catch myself with the cart.

  “I’m leaving, asshole,” I whisper. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.” The pain immediately intensifies, feeling like a red-hot piece of metal is slowly being drilled into my forehead. Sucking in a breath and gritting my teeth, I make it to my Jeep.

  “Fuck,” I pant, and open the tailgate. Nausea rises in my stomach, making my throat feel thick. He’s here, he has to be, and dammit, I’m surrounded by people he could take hostage.

  “Well, well, well,” someone says, and I whirl around, holding a bag of carrots in my hand like a weapon. A young woman stands before me, wearing torn-up jeans, black biker boots, and a leather jacket. Hair on one side of her head has been pulled back into a tight braid, and she pops her hip, resting her hand on it.

  She’s a werewolf, and a strong one at that. The alpha perhaps? Cocking an eyebrow, she drums her long red nails on her side and stares me down.

  “You’re Callie King, aren’t you?” She tips her head and inhales. “I can smell the magic coming off you in waves. It stinks.”

  “Listen,” I start, eyes darting around the parking lot. My head hurts and I’m feeling more and more like I’m going to throw up. Bael is here—somewhere. “Now is not the time to get into…whatever it is you want to get into.”

  “Oh, it is,” the werewolf says. “Someone from my pack was attacked, and that’s not something I take lightly.”

  “What, oh, right. That was like a month ago.” I put another bag in the back of the Jeep, and my haste to get the hell out of here pisses the werewolf off. She expected some sort of standoff, or at least to get a better reaction from me than this.

  A pack of angry wolves isn’t anything to sniff at, I know. But compared to an earl of Hell who has plans to take over and make Hell great again, they’re not even a thorn in my side, but more like an annoying piece of dirt stuck under my fingernail.

  “Yeah, you and your vamp got the hell out of town right after. You ran away with your tails tucked between your legs, huh?”

  “Not from you.” I heft a case of water bottles into the Jeep. “There are bigger things at play here, and I need you to trust me on this.”

  “Hah, trust you?” She crosses her arms over her chest and looks behind her at a black truck. Two guys sit in it, with the windows rolled down. They’re weres as well and are ready to come to her aid if need be.

  “I have nothing against you,” I go on and put the final two bags in the Jeep. “I take it you’re the alpha, which is hella cool to have a female be a packmaster, by the way. Take my advice and take your pack out of town while you still can.”

  She cracks her knuckles and balls her fists. “Is that a threat?” Her eyes flash yellow, the color they change to when she shifts from human to wolf form.

  “Yes,” I say sternly and press the button to close the tailgate. “But not the way you think.”

  “Oh, it’s exactly what I think.” She jerks forward, a low growl coming from deep within her chest. “You’ve had this town long enough. It’s time we take it and make it ours. The Ley line—it’s like a constant full moon, and nothing you say or do is going to make me give that up.”

  Chapter 34

  I feel a million times better the second I step into the house. I close the door behind me, taking a deep breath. Whatever Bael was doing, spying on me, trying to locate me, get in my head or maybe all three…he can’t do here.

  The spell Julian and Tabatha cast is still holding, though I know each day that goes by, the spell loses power. It’s a waiting game, and I hate it. Bael is going to find another desperate soul to devour, getting him or her to do his dirty work to try and free him.

  I came in the house through a side door, and we turned this small corridor into a mud room. I hang my purse
on the built-in hall tree and go back out to start unloading the groceries. The covered walkway from the house to the garage hasn’t been installed yet, and the concrete can’t be poured for it until the weather warms back up this spring.

  I trudge back and forth through the snow, bringing the groceries in and then dragging the bags into the kitchen. I’d use magic to move them all, but there are a few workers here, completing some of the more detailed projects, like the tile work in the shower of one of the guest rooms upstairs, and the painter is in the office, touching up the mural we found hidden behind wallpaper. It’s going to take him a few more days if not weeks to get it back to how it looked before someone slapped ugly brown-and-green checkered paper on the walls, but it doesn’t bother me having him here during the day.

  As long as demons don’t attack, that is.

  The pantry is huge, bigger than the closet in my former room, and I’m going to have to take a few more trips to the store to fill it. Though with me being the only one in the house who eats, most of the food would probably go to waste before I could get to it.

  I get out the snacks I bought and arrange them on the counter. This is my first little get together at the house, but I’m not getting fancy. I’ll save that for Thanksgiving. I take the back staircase and go into our room. We converted a small room next to the master into closets, and we each have our own. Lucas’s clothes are already put away, neatly arranged by type and color. Mine are on the floor, waiting for a cleaning fairy to come and hang them up.

  Deciding to be organized, I start to arrange my clothes by color too and laugh when more than half the closet is full of black clothes.

  “Maybe I’ll expand my color pallet,” I say, looking out into the bedroom. Freya is sleeping on the bed and opens one eye, as if to say yeah right. I’m nearly done when then doorbells rings, and I go down the main stairs that empty into the large foyer.

  Ruby and Evander are the first ones here, having come together from the Academy.