“That’s ridiculous,” Tabatha says with a laugh. “Of course Callie is a witch. She’s already signed the book once.”
“I have,” I rush out. “Like twenty years ago, and there weren’t any issues then.”
Albert looks back at the book. “Then there must be…be something wrong with the enchantment,” he mumbles as he runs his finger along the page, slowly shaking his head. “Or perhaps the book doesn’t want you leaving.” He turns his head back up to mine. “You’re meant to remain in the coven.”
“She’s the one who wants to leave. Don’t forget she’s the one who turned her back on us and married a vampire!” Ruby storms over and takes my hand. “She did something, I know. Got nonmagical blood to sign in or…or…” She holds my finger up, looking at the little pinprick. Still not satisfied, she squeezes my finger and makes another bead of blood pool on my skin.
“Ouch,” I say and snatch my hand back.
“That’s enough.” Tabatha’s voice echoes through the study. She stands and strides over. “Clearly there is something wrong with the enchantments on the book, and they will be looked into at once. I’ll do it myself just to be sure.” Tabatha picks up the book, staring at my blood on the page.
My heart is hammering away in my chest, and the fire in the fireplace is suddenly too hot. Sweat breaks out between my breasts and along my brow.
“Miss Martin’s petition has been filed and reviewed according to Witch Law,” Tabatha goes on, remaining calm. “She is no longer part of this coven and needs to be escorted out.”
“But the blood,” Ruby presses, looking at Albert, whose eyes are darting back and forth between me and the book. I want to know what he’s thinking as much as I don’t. I can live in ignorant bliss…until it gets me killed.
Tabatha is doing her best to try and dismiss this, but it’s obvious something is going on. The book absorbs witch blood. As far as anyone knows, I’m a witch. It should absorb my blood without any issue.
“Miss Martin,” Albert begins, extending the quill. He’s going to ask me to try again, and the same thing will happen, making it all the more apparent something is wrong.
With me.
My fingers tremble as I reach for the quill, but suddenly heavy footfalls echo down the hallway. We all look at the door, and a second later, Evander bursts in.
“Thank goodness you’re all here,” he pants.
“What is it?” Tabatha turns, face tight with worry. “Did something happen at the Academy?”
“Yes, but the students are all right.” Evander lets out a breath and comes into the study, closing the door behind him.
“We’re in a meeting,” Ruby rushes out, but Albert holds out his hand.
“Tell me, Brother Greystone,” he begins. “What happened?”
“I was preparing a lesson for my next class,” Evander says, going to the desk. “Just an introduction to how to stay vigilant against dark magic. I set up a map with a crystal and, well…I found something. Something dark.” Evander’s brows furrow, and it’s really too bad he went into teaching and not acting. “And from what I’ve gathered, it seems someone has been practicing necromancy on our lands.”
“Are you sure?” Tabatha asks.
“I fear I am, Mother. I sent Nerissa to investigate,” he goes on, speaking about his familiar. “And she brought back this.” He pulls a bundle of burned herbs from his robe pocket.
Tabatha gasps, and Albert leans away in shock. Damn, Evander is good.
“We need to look into this straight away,” Tabatha rushes out. “Professor Darrows, please see Miss Martin out.”
So much for saying goodbye to this place.
“But she didn’t sign,” Ruby argues. “She has to sign.”
“She will,” Albert presses. “As it’s Witch Law. There are more pressing matters at hand here. Something is going on with the book, and if necromancers are afoot…they need to be dealt with at once.”
“Of course.” Tabatha flicks her eyes to Artemis, and Binx goes over, rubbing his head against the fox’s, purring. Tabatha is telepathically telling something to her familiar, and he’s telling it to Binx, who’ll be able to relay the message to me.
Fucking genius.
“Miss Martin,” Tabatha starts, and we’re all able to hear the emotion in her voice. “You are no longer part of this coven. You are no longer welcome in our Covenstead. Please leave at once.”
It’s just formalities. She has to say it. But it hurts. I nod, and tears roll down my cheeks.
“Come on,” Ruby says, a little softer this time.
Afraid my voice will come out too thin, too shaky, I just nod again and follow Ruby out of the study. I wipe my eyes and pull my hood back up.
It’s just formalities.
Why did I think I’d come back sometime? It’s not like the laws are going to change within my lifetime. This place was my home…though I suppose I never really belonged here.
I’m only half witch.
Half angel.
If I don’t belong at Grim Gate, then where do I belong?
The glow of my back porch lights comes into view, and I pick up the pace. I’ve had a chill since walking through the door, and I know it’s not just from the chilly night air. I did what I had to do, and I know I’ll still see my friends.
Besides Kristy, I didn’t see the others on a daily basis before, yet the option was always there. If I wanted to go the Academy library, I could. If I wanted to go hang out in the Gathering Hall and chat with the other witches, all I had to do was walk through the door. And now that’s been taken away from me, and it’s more painful than I anticipated.
The back door opens and shuts, and Lucas appears before me in the blink of an eye.
“How did everything go?” he asks, taking my hands in his. I swallow the lump in my throat and look up, wanting to tell him it’s fine, but I don’t have the strength to put up a front. The tears I’ve been holding back fall like rain, and Lucas cradles me to his chest. “I’m sorry, Callie. It’s not right that you had to choose.”
“I’d choose you a hundred times over,” I whisper, resting my head against his chest. “I’ll always choose you.”
Lucas takes my face in his large hands and gently tips my chin up to his. “And I would choose you over anything and everything. You are everything to me, my love.”
I close my eyes, jaw quivering, and let more tears fall. Lucas was the one who told me not to be ashamed of my emotions. Don’t bottle them up. Don’t let them embarrass me. Feeling pain keeps us annoyingly human.
“The book wouldn’t absorb my blood.” I take in a shaky breath and wrap my arms around Lucas’s waist. He folds his muscular arms around me, and everything feels better.
“What book?”
“It’s like a witch census. You sign when you join a coven and you sign if you leave the coven willingly. I signed when I was a kid before…”
“Before your father unlocked some of your angelic powers.”
“Right. When I signed just now, my blood pooled together.”
Lucas’s brows furrow. “They will question you about it.”
I nod. “Tabatha must have had her reservations about it. She and Evander staged this whole big thing.” I shake my head. “I hate that she’s getting more and more involved in my lies. It’s not right to put them at risk.”
“They put themselves at risk,” Lucas says, trying to comfort me. “They care for you.”
“I know.” My breath hitches in my chest. “But that doesn’t make it right. They covered for me—for us—before, and now they’re covering for me again.”
“What would the Grand Coven do if they found out you were a Nephilim?” Lucas asks carefully.
I slowly shake my head. “I honestly don’t even know. They wouldn’t persecute me, I’m sure of that.” I let my eyes fall shut. “They could offer protection, but the more people who know who I am, the more at risk I am for my lovely relatives finding out about me, which would then lead them on a murder spree. This is so fucked up.”
“Breathe,” Lucas tells me as he gently runs his fingers through my hair. “Let’s go inside and get back to our evening of doing nothing until your friends arrive for dinner.” He runs his hands down my arms. “Or we could talk a walk. It’s a nice night.”
I nod and look up at the sky. A few wispy clouds stretch across the star-studded sky. “It is nice. And I’m not sure Evander and Felix will make it.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Pouting, I look up at Lucas. “If it weren’t for Felix, you might be…be…”
“Dead,” he says harshly. “I’m aware. But I’m also aware your ex-lover is still in love with you.”
“Not everyone who dated me is still in love with me, you know.”
“How could they not be?”
I roll my eyes, feeling a slight blush come to my cheeks. “I’m a bit of a basket case, you know.”
“You’re my basket case,” he growls, lowering his head to mine.
“Remember how my hot-mess, psychotic side turns you on now, because in a few years you’ll be ready to put up the padded walls so you can lock me away.”
“Never.” Lucas draws his fangs and tightens his hold on me, pressing my body against his. The wind blows, and suddenly, I’m aware of everything.
My heart pounds silently in the night, beating along his still body.
Pounds of muscle and flesh press against me.
“I love you,” I whisper. “And I only care about you loving me.”
“Good,” he grunts, tipping my face up to his. He kisses me softly and then pushes my hair back. “You did mention the house has at least one place clean enough for me to strip you down and fuck you senseless.”
“I did,” I say with a smile.
“Multiple orgasms are always a good distraction,” he goes on, though he doesn’t have to convince me.
“They tend to get my mind off troubling things.” My heart swells in my chest. I love him so fucking much. I’ll miss the Covenstead, but I know, without a doubt, I made the right decision. “But I have to pee first. Is Eliza still here?”
“Yes. She was waiting until you got back to take off.”
“I’ll let her know I’m alive and kicking and then will use the bathroom.”
Lucas takes my hand, and we walk back inside together. Binx shadows ahead of us, going to tell the others about what went down back at the Covenstead.
“You can go home to Miss Piggy,” I tell Eliza on my way upstairs. She’s in the living room, watching Gossip Girl. “I’m alive for now.”
“For now is the key word there.” Eliza stands, going over by the front door. “Good timing, too, because Dom is almost here to take me back to Chicago.”
“Right. We all rode here together,” I say, thinking back to the stressful car ride from Chicago to the house. Lucas owns more cars than I can count, and most are in a garage somewhere out west. He has garage space at his multi-million-dollar estate in Lincoln Park, and his most expensive cars are parked inside. I suppose he could bring the others here, but I’m pretty sure Eliza had him keep them parked on the street so no one else could have the parking spots.
We have plans to put in a large pole barn at the new house that will be heated and air conditioned just for Lucas’s cars. I would roll my eyes at it, but I haven’t had a covered spot for my car—ever. It’ll be nice not to have to clear snow off in the winter or get into a hot-as-hell vehicle in the summer.
Lucas is sparing no expenses when it comes to our “forever home.” For him, it really will be forever.
Blinking, I hurry upstairs, use the bathroom, and rush back down. We don’t have a ton of time before Kristy and the twins arrive.
“Ready, my love?” Lucas asks, standing by the front door.
“Yeah,” I tell him and call for Scarlet to come with us. I look at my puppy, biting my lip.
“What are you thinking?” Lucas asks in such a way that he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
“Do you think she feels crammed like that? It’s a glamour, but it does bind her powers in a way.”
“She seems fine to me.” He opens the front door, and Scarlet rushes out, leaping off the porch.
“I think so, too. I’m sure she’d give me some sort of clue if she wasn’t.”
Lucas takes my hand as we start down the street. Scarlet runs ahead, jumping and yipping with excitement. We walk in silence, enjoying the sounds of the night.
“Will the vampire crew be at the house?” I ask.
“They arrive at eight-thirty. And the humans will have all left.” He takes his hand from mine and wraps his arm around my waist. “We’ll have the house to ourselves, don’t worry.”
“You’d just take me in the attic and shut the door,” I say with a shrug.
“That is true.”
Suddenly, Lucas jerks his head up and sniffs the air. A second later, Scarlet growls, and the deep and harrowing sound coming from her is all hellhound and not at all cute fluffy puppy.
“What is it?” I ask, conjuring an energy ball.
“Smells like a vampire.” Lucas turns toward me. “Stay here.”
“Lucas,” I call as he takes off, zooming away. I hold my hand up, narrowing my eyes as I look down the road. Scarlet backs up next to me, and I debate calling for my familiars—and taking Scarlet’s collar off. “Do you smell anything, girl?” I ask and increase the intensity of my energy ball. Vampires are attracted to magic. If any are lurking about, they wouldn’t be able to resist me. “I don’t, either.”
A minute later, Lucas comes back, hair blown from running through the woods.
“Anything?”
“No, whoever was here is gone.”
“And it was a vampire?”
He nods. “An old one.”
I bring my fingers in toward my palm, shrinking the size of the energy ball. “Older than you?”
“I can’t be certain.” He takes my other hand, and I toss the energy ball up and snap my fingers, making it explode into a hundred tiny pieces that shimmer and shine above us like stars.
“That’s a new trick.”
“Yeah.” I look up, mesmerized by my own magic. “It’s so pretty.”
“It reminds me of the sky before the Earth filled with light pollution.”
“That had to be incredible.”
“It was.” He steps closer, pulling me into an embrace, and we take a moment to look at the glittering magic above us. “I will never understand how anyone can say your magic is wrong.”
“I don’t, either,” I whisper back. “It will follow us. We can go.”
Lucas takes my hand in his, and we continue down the road. He doesn’t say anything, but I know he’s on high alert.
“Maybe the scent you picked up on was one of the construction workers,” I offer as the dark shadow of the house comes into view.
“Maybe,” he says, not believing it. “If a vampire shows up tonight and even looks at you wrong, I’m going to rip its heart out and shove it up its ass.”
“Won’t its ass be a pile of goo after you rip its heart out?”
“Sometimes you’re too literal,” he chuckles and then comes to a stop, looking at our house.
“Wow,” I say after I toss the particles of energy into the air, shining light down on the house. “They repainted more siding today. It looks amazing.”
“It’s come a long way from the shit-hole I bought you months ago.”
“Hey, don’t insult our house!”
“I’m not. It was a shit-hole. Did you forget about the black mold? The water-damaged floors? The lack of any working plumbing? Oh, and the water in the basement?”
“Okay, it was a little rough.” I rest my head on his shoulder. “But you’re the one who bought this shit-hole.” I playfully elbow him.
“I really wanted to get in your pants.”
“You’d already gotten in my pants quite a few times before I even mentioned the house.”
“Fine. I’m pathetically helpless when it comes to wanting to make you happy. I’ll do anything.” He looks at Scarlet. “Anything.”
“You have spoiled me.”
“And I’ll never stop.” Lucas picks me up and carries me to the front door. I use magic to let us in, and we slowly walk through the house, looking at everything that’s been renovated, stopping our tour in the master bedroom.
“Take your cloak off.” Lucas demands, voice deep and gravely. “Fuck, I haven’t said that in centuries.”
“Should I keep my petticoat on, too, mister?” I slowly pull the ties on my cloak. “I’m not one hundred percent certain I know what a petticoat is, though.”
“You’ll leave nothing on.”
Right as my cloak whooshes to the ground, Lucas’s phone rings. I know by the ringtone it’s Eliza, and Lucas sends the call to voicemail. And then she calls right back.
“Answer it,” I tell him. “Something could be wrong.”
Lucas grumbles but answers the phone. “What?” Blue-and-silver light from my magical galaxy dance across Lucas’s face as he listens to whatever Eliza is saying. “Don’t do anything,” he tells her. “I’ll deal with it when I can.” He ends the call and puts his phone back in his pocket.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“One of our distributers is being threatened again.”
Again…oh, right. “By the group of vampires against assimilation? It’s been so long I thought they gave up.”
“A few months isn’t a long time by vampire standards,” he tells me.
“True,” I agree. “Do you have to go to Chicago?”
“Not now, but yes, I should go,” he sighs. “The distributor they’ve threatened is a family-owned business. One of the founders was turned into a vampire about ten years ago, didn’t want to give up his successful business, and registered with the Vampire Council as soon as it was formed.”
“There wasn’t any sort of VC before, right?” I ask as a shiver goes down my spine. Lucas speeds forward and picks up my cloak, wrapping it around my shoulders. “We’ve always had some sort of Grand Coven, and it’s not like witches are trying to mainstream.”
“No, vampires never abided by rules. It was up to the maker to teach whatever they wanted to the new vampires they sired, and we always knew the danger of revealing ourselves to humans.” He runs his hands down my shoulders, and I step in. “You’re cold.”
“It’s chilly out tonight. This cold snap will be over soon enough, though, and second summer will be here.”
“Second summer? Is that a witch thing?”
I shake my head, hair falling into my face. “No. A Midwest thing. We have third winter, too. Sometimes I swear it’ll never end.” I tip my head to the side, looking out the window. The original glass is still in place, and it’s slightly wavy, distorting the view of the forest. I want to keep as much original as possible in the house, but for effectiveness in regards to heating and air conditioning, all the windows need to be replaced.
“When you get fed up with the cold this winter, we will spend a few weeks at our vineyard.”
“I do like the sound of that.” I let my eyes fall shut and rest my head against Lucas’s chest. “Should we go home and get ready to go to Chicago now? I can text my friends and tell them not to worry about coming over.”
“You can stay here,” Lucas says, running his fingers through my hair. “Getting tangled in vampire business is the last thing you want. And you smell like magic and…and something else.”
He doesn’t have to say it. I’m already at risk for the coven finding out who I am. We can’t be certain what my fellow witches would do if the truth came out, but we know what the vampires would do.
Kill me, though before they did, they’d try to sell me off to the highest bidder. Witch blood has been sold at a high price before. I don’t think anyone—besides Lucas—has even tasted Nephilim blood. If it got out that I was the daughter of the Archangel Michael, vampires would line up around the block to get a taste of me.
And then all of Heaven and Hell would know exactly where I am.