We hit a slump again around three-thirty, which is pretty typical. I’m re-shelving books when Freya trots in, making a beeline to me. I crouch down, petting her as she purrs and rubs against me.
“I missed you too,” I tell her, scooping her up. “How did everything go last night?” She responds by pressing her head against my chin. It was uneventful with Kristy, as it should be, thank goodness. Holding her in my arms, we go to the front of the store, looking for Kristy.
She’s behind the counter, putting her purse away and talking to Clark.
“Hey,” she says smiling when she sees me. “We’ve been busy, huh?”
“Nonstop all day.” I set Freya on the counter, and she goes right to the jar of pens we keep by the register and starts batting at it. “Which is good for business.”
“Very good.” Kristy accidentally knocks my purse down as she puts hers under the counter. The Book of the Beast falls out, and she looks at it and then at me before quickly stashing it back in my purse. “Can you go over the inventory lists with me?” she asks, and I know it’s a cover. I have no idea what an “inventory list” even would be. We log everything in the computer.
“Sure. They’re in the back.” I grab Freya right before she knocks the pens over and walk briskly to the back, keeping my eyes down so I don’t get flagged by a customer.
“Why are you reading the Book of the Beast?” Kristy asks as soon as the door closes in the back behind her.
“I’m trying to figure out how to kill a demon in its true form.”
“Have you gone crazy?”
“Not entirely.” I make a face and then let out a breath. “I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for.” It’s warm in the backroom, like it usually is. During the day, the sun heats this place up fast. I take off my sweater. “I’m skimming for information, basically. I don’t know why something would come from Hell and start killing witches.”
“I don’t get it either.” Kristy chews on her thumbnail. “I mean, if it was a revenge thing, you’d think it would be tearing through covens, right? I mean, I’m glad it’s not but…”
“But you’re right. Because that’s what would happen. It wouldn’t be picking witches off randomly. Though Lucas doesn’t think it’s random.”
“So you’re back to thinking he’s not the killer?”
“He’s not.” I slowly let out a breath and tell her about the woman who was found dead near the beach last night. “He was with me all night. There’s no way it could have been him.”
“Was that woman a witch?”
“I’m not sure. She wasn’t part of a coven but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have powers.”
“She might not have even known she was a witch.”
“Right. Evander sent over files on all the witches who’ve been murdered. Lucas has them right now and is going through trying to find a connection. He’s at my house, by the way.”
“Did you make it lightproof?”
I cock an eyebrow. “Yes, I remembered not to let the sun kill my boyfriend. We also made the shed lightproof to house the vampire we’re holding hostage.”
“What?” Kristy shakes her head. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. Okay, yes I do.”
“It’s pretty interesting, actually. And could be a disaster now that I’m thinking about it. Lucas told me there are a handful of vampires who don’t want to assimilate, and they go around trying to make things difficult for those who have. I’m not sure the specific details, but he made it sound like these vampires are going after the businesses he owns or something like that. Basically fucking shit up in order to get back at him for following the rules of the Vampire Council. Three vampires showed up at my house last night after they got my address from Eliza, Lucas’s vampire daughter or sister or whatever you’d call her, and he was not happy.”
“Oh, wow. That is interesting and you’re right. That could end terribly.”
“Right? One issue at a time, though, and I really don’t want to get in the middle of vampire politics.”
“Agreed. Where did you get the book?”
“I astral projected to the Academy library, befriended a wonderful student named Alice, and had her give the book to Evander.”
She looks at me, blinking for a moment. “Your night was so much more eventful than mine.”
“Things escalated quickly.”
Her eyes go to the bite marks on my arm. “I can tell.”
I purse my lips. “It’s a little weird, I know.”
“It is, and I’m trying hard not to be judgmental or anything. But I just can’t imagine.”
“I couldn’t have either, before. But Lucas is…” I trail off, smiling. “He makes me laugh. He’s actually really thoughtful and is easy to talk to.”
“You like him, and he seems to really care about you.”
“Yeah.” My smile grows. “I think he does.”
“Well, good.” Kristy smiles.
“And how was spending the night at Daniel’s?”
“Very nice. He wants me to come back tonight.”
“You should,” I tell her. “You’re safer there surrounded by others.”
“I know. And I told him I’d consider it, even though I already planned on it. I mean, it’s for my own safety, right?” She flips her head over, gathering her dark blonde hair into a messy bun. “Better safe than sorry.”
“Of course.”
We go back up front and I help Clark count down his register drawer. He’s getting along just fine, and eagerly writes his name on the schedule when I ask him if he wants any of Kristy or my evening shifts, telling me he’s saving up for a trip to Florida and will take all the extra shifts he can.
He takes my evening shift tomorrow, and then Kristy’s the next day. Two days. A lot can happen in two days, yet I still feel like it’s not enough time to find this demon and send it back to Hell.
I lock up the office and find Kristy in the mystery section, organizing books.
“I’m going to head home for a bit,” I start, picking up a book someone left lying on a shelf. “But I’ll be back with Lucas once the sun goes down. Just in case.” I find the book’s spot and slide it in between two others.
“You don’t have to do that.” Kristy looks over her shoulder. “Betty will be here in an hour, so I won’t be alone.”
“I know. But something is on the loose and it’s only been attacking after dark.”
“I’ll call Daniel. He and his brothers got all riled up when I told them something dark was in the forest. Damon was mixing potions late into the night.”
Damon is Daniel’s younger brother, who went to the Academy the same year as us. “He was always good with potions, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah, and he’s come up with a few new ones I think he’s all too eager to test out. I’ll make sure he’s here before I even think about locking up for the night. This thing only attacks when witches are alone, right?”
“I think so.”
She shelves the last book and shakes her head. “What do you think it wants?”
“I have no freaking idea.”
“I don’t like this.” She pulls the band out of her hair, raking her fingers through it. “I don’t like feeling scared to go out in my own town.”
“I don’t either.” I take her hand. “We’re going to figure this out. The council will be looking into it too.”
“I know. We just have to play it safe for a while and then it’ll be back to normal.”
“Right. Call me if you need anything. I’ll have Freya stay too. Just in case.”
“Thanks, Callie.” She gives my hand a squeeze. “You be careful too.”
“I will.” A customer comes up, asking Kristy if we had a certain book, and I take it as my cue to go. I get my stuff from the front and head outside. It’s bright and sunny today, and the air is warm. I get into my Jeep thinking about how nice it’ll be to open up all the windows in the house when I get home, well, all except my bedroom window since Lucas is hiding out the da
y in there.
I call him again on my way home and get his voicemail. I don’t leave a message. I’ll be there soon enough. Rolling down my windows, I turn up the radio, enjoying the sunshine now before I go into the dark.
Both Binx and Pandora are on the porch when I pull up to the house. They’re stretching out, sunbathing, and look just like ordinary cats.
“Hey, guys.” I give them both a pat as I pass by. “I might join you out here if Lucas is still sleeping. The sun feels good today, doesn’t it?” I magically open the front door, take off my shoes, and drop my purse near the bottom of the stairs.
“Lucas?” I call, knowing he can hear me. The stairs creak under my feet as I walk up. My bedroom door is still shut, of course. “Lucas?”
He doesn’t respond, and my heart speeds up a bit. And then I realize sunlight is shining under my door. Oh my God. I run up the rest of the stairs and fly into my room.
The magical smoke isn’t blocking out the light anymore.
CHAPTER 27
I freeze, too horrified to look around the room. I don’t want to see Lucas’s remains charred and oozing all over the floor.
“Callie,” It’s his voice. He’s not dead. But…but…how? I look in and see him standing by the window.
“Lucas?” I whisper. “What…what….”
He turns away from the window. “The smoke went away, but whatever you did…you made it so the sun doesn’t hurt me.” He turns back around, putting his hand on the glass. “I haven’t felt the sun in centuries.”
“Holy shit,” I breathe, still rooted to the spot. The door swings open and light from the hall spills in. Lucas winces, dodging out of the way. Shaking myself, I go into the room and shut the door. “You’re not dead?”
“Technically, I’ve been dead for a long time.”
Suddenly, tears fill my eyes. “When I saw the sunlight, I thought…I thought…” I can’t finish the sentence. I inhale and shake my head. Lucas rushes over, taking me in his arms.
“I’m fine. Better than fine.” Holding me against his chest, he turns back to the window. “You gave me the sun.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I admit.
He chuckles. “I didn’t think so. But you did. It’s beautiful. Everything is bright. And warm.”
“I enchanted the glass,” I say slowly. “I think. The way I worded the spell…I meant for it to just keep the light out, but that’s not how I said it.”
“You said it in a way that kept the light from harming me. And you did.”
“Holy shit,” I repeat.
“You are incredible.” He spins me around in his arms. “I want to make love to you in the sunlight.” A smile pulls up his lips. “And that’s something I’ve never done before.”
“Were you able to look at the files at all?” I run my finger along the ridges of muscle on Lucas’s abdomen. “Or were you too mesmerized by the sun?”
His hand is resting on my bare ass, and my heart is still racing since we just got done having sex. We started on the bed and finished in front of the window. Lucas wanted to see as much sunlight on me as possible.
The sex was mind-blowing, of course, but this time was more intimate than before. It was the way Lucas looked at me. He was seeing me, the real me, and even though he’s told me before that he thinks my powers are beautiful, I could see it in his eyes.
“I did.” He slides his hand down to the back of my thigh and pulls me onto him. “You were right about the witches seeming random.”
“So there’s no connection?”
“Oh, there is. Along with all being twenty-five, all had the same sign—Virgo. Even the girl who was found on the beach yesterday fit the bill.”
“I’m twenty-five and a Virgo.”
Lucas flips us over, moving on top of me. “Then you’re coming back to Chicago with me tonight. You could be next, Callie. It appeared in your town, only a few miles from your house.”
“Let the asshole come after me. I told you, I’m not running.” I’m working hard to stay calm, and to anyone else, I’d probably be pulling it off without a hitch. But Lucas can hear my heart beating, and he knows how precarious of a situation this is. I’m not stupid. This is no lower-level demon. This demon crawled right out of the pit of Hell. It’s strong. Smart. Cunning.
It came here for a reason, and that reason is to kill witches with exactly two similar qualities, and I happen to have both of them.
“And then what?” he asks seriously. “We have no idea what’s killing the witches. Believe me, Callie, I am the last person who will ever tell you to run from a fight, but until we know what we’re fighting, you need to be safe.”
“We?”
“You think I’m going to stand back and let you have all the fun?” He smiles, dark eyes shimmering in the sunlight. There are flecks of green amongst the dark blue, and I never noticed it until the sun reflected in his eyes. He’s such a gorgeous man it’s almost unfair.
Only it is, because he’s mine.
“Come to Chicago with me tonight. We’re not running. We’re regrouping.” He brushes my hair back and presses his lips to my forehead. “I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you. There are few things in this world I cannot kill, and demons in their true form are one of them. I have confidence we will find a way to send the demon back to Hell, but until then, I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
“I should tell the coven about this. Make sure any witches who are Virgos are somewhere safe,” I say.
Lucas nods in agreement and moves off me, going back to the window. He’s still confined to my room, unable to feel the fresh air blowing through the breeze. But he’s looking outside during the day. I can only imagine how that would feel after over a thousand years in the dark.
“I know Virgos can be stubborn dicks, but what does this demon have against us so bad he has to kill us?” I shake my head, grinding my back teeth together the way I do when I’m nervous. “The demon in the woods,” I start. “The one possessing that man…it said “they” were looking for something or someone, and he thought whoever they are were afraid of it.”
“They’re looking for a witch, a certain witch.” Lucas turns around, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s why the demon is going from coven to coven. It’s picking out all the witches born within a certain time twenty-five years ago.”
A chill goes through me and goose bumps break out along my skin. I get under my covers, pulling them up to my chin. “But why?”
Lucas shakes his head. “I’m not sure. Maybe there was a prophecy? A certain witch would grow up to possess powers that could kill them?” He comes over, sitting on the bed next to me. “Callie, it’s only a matter of time before it tries to kill you.” His nostrils flare and his eyes cloud with worry. “I will die before I let anything hurt you.”
I cup his face with my hand. “I know. But it won’t come to that.”
He kisses my forehead and gets under the blankets with me, holding me tight against his chest. I don’t know how he knew I needed to be held right now, but I’m glad he did. Because my hands won’t stop shaking and my mind is racing a million miles an hour.
There was something else the demon said to me…something that didn’t make sense.
Until now.
They said it shouldn’t be.
If I’m the witch the demon is looking for, does that mean I shouldn’t have been born? It takes everything I have to ignore the nagging feeling deep within that says it’s true.
“Are you going to astral project again?” Lucas asks, pulling me out of the darkness my thoughts had taken me to.
“No, I’m going to send a letter.”
“I’m assuming you’ll be using magic to do so.”
“Of course. I need to get a message to the High Priestess. I’m sure the coven already noted the connections, but they’re still looking for a human witch hunter, not a demon who’s seeking out witches based on their birthdays.”
I get out of be
d and put my clothes back on. Forgetting for a moment that Lucas can’t follow me downstairs, I open the door only to shut it again.
“Sorry,” I say, seeing him dart away from the light.
“It’s okay. It’s not enough sunlight to do much damage.”
“Oh, well, good. Maybe when I’m not on a demonic serial killer’s hit list, I’ll see if I can enchant all the windows in the house.”
“I’d like that.”
I smile. “Me too.” Hurrying out of the room, I shut the door quickly behind me and go downstairs and into the kitchen. I pull a notebook out of my junk drawer, flip through it for a blank page, and write a letter to Tabatha, explaining everything that’s going on. Folding it up, I go to the fireplace and place the letter inside.
Holding up my hands, I whisper the incantation three times. The letter goes up in flames, disappearing with a puff of smoke. My two-way line of communication actually goes to Evander’s office, but Tabatha will still get the note.
“All right, guys,” I say, sitting on the couch. Binx and Pandora jump up next to me, both purring. “It seems this demon douchebag is after twenty-five-year-old Virgos.” Binx growls. “I know,” I agree. “It’s only a matter of time before it comes for me. And when it does, we have to be ready.”
“I’m taking you off the schedule.” Kristy gets up, jaw tense and shoulders hunched forward. Lucas and I are at the bookstore, and I just told Kristy what we discovered about the witches. “You need to go to the Academy and stay there.”
“I’m going to Chicago tonight,” I tell her, knowing there’s no reasoning with Kristy when she gets in a mood like this. She’s freaked out, and rightly so. “I’ll stay with Lucas until I can find a way to—”
“Don’t even think about it,” Kristy interrupts. “This is a demon in its true form,” she whispers. “One touch can kill you.”
“True, but from what I read in the Book of the Beast today, the longer the demon is on earth, the weaker it becomes.”
“And some demons walk the earth for hundreds of years and can still kill you without breaking a sweat,” she counters.