Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
I sit at the counter, waiting until she falls asleep to walk up the back stairs and into our room. My familiars and Scarlet are in here. They were able to sense Lucas but gave us space. Scarlet, unable to wait any longer, jumps off the bed and races over, wildly greeting Lucas.
“We all missed you,” I say, trying hard not to cry again. Lucas and I go into our room and sit on the bed together. I switch Juliet to the other side, trying to wake her up enough to nurse. She latches on and then falls asleep, but my milk has already let down and it instantly stresses me out.
“Here,” Eliza says, handing me a burp cloth. Lucas takes Juliet while I blot the wet spot on my shirt. Her swaddle blanket is wet with milk too, and in Lucas’s attempt to switch out the blanket, she wakes up and starts fussing again. Without missing a beat, Lucas re-swaddles her and walks around the room, swaying and shushing her.
She falls back asleep only minutes later, and Lucas stands in the middle of our room, gazing lovingly at our daughter.
“She’s never going to know what normal is, is she?” I ask out loud.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing,” Eliza replies softly and gets up, stopping next to Lucas. She rests her head against him and he runs his hand over her hair. “Keep it down or you’ll wake the baby.” She smiles and then speeds out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
“Shower with me?” Lucas asks, still looking down at Juliet. Her hair has thinned since she was born, but it’s still dark like Lucas’s.
“Of course. I’ve missed seeing you naked.”
“Take some pictures.”
“I’d rather just have you.”
Lucas looks up, face pained. “I know.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, not wanting to spend the little time we have together crying.
“I’ve been putting her in the swing lately,” I say as Lucas comes over, sitting on the bed next to me again. “Freya likes to sit with her. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up bonding in a few years.”
“Maybe that’s why Freya bonded with you after she lost her witch. She was meant to be here for our daughter.”
“At least the universe was doing me a solid if that’s the case.” I inhale and rest my head against Lucas’s shoulder. “How long do you have?”
“I don’t know.” Lucas turns and kisses my temple. “This is more or less a trial run.”
“Do you trust Osiris?”
“I don’t trust anyone besides you and Eliza,” he replies, sidestepping around my question.
“He doesn’t give off bad guy vibes and from what I know, he was never blamed for evil like Lucifer. He’s just in charge of the Underworld.”
“He does seem to respect his duties.” Lucas gently runs his finger over Juliet’s tiny hand. She’s asleep with her mouth slightly open and looks freaking adorable. “I’ve missed this,” Lucas says softly and turns to kiss me again.
“I thought you said you didn’t remember anything.”
“I don’t remember everything,” he corrects. “I could feel the darkness and I was alone with my memories, oddly many of them were from when I was human.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am to leave you here.” He turns, brows furrowed and I’m back to fighting my emotions again. “If there had been any other way…”
“I know. The other Horsemen were too strong. We couldn’t have fought them without help.” I sniffle and sit up, cupping Lucas’s face with one hand. “Maybe if we can get my dad and Lucifer and Osiris all together, we can kill the Horsemen.”
“Maybe. But if you’re able to rally an army like that, you should go after Paimon.”
“You sound like my friends.” I run the palm of my hand over the stubble on Lucas’s face. “They basically said I should see Osiris taking the deal as a good thing.”
“Callie, they’re right. It is a good thing. We faced the Horsemen one at a time and lost. They were too powerful a weapon to be in the hands of a demon.”
“But in the hands of a God?”
“I may not trust Osiris, but I do believe he has no intention of destroying the world,” Lucas tells me. “Julian…he thought this through and wouldn’t have made the deal if he didn’t think we could trust Osiris.”
Tears roll down my face and I wish more than anything we could go back in time. If I hadn’t knocked Famine off the horse, if Osiris had taken all the Horsemen and Lucas was here with me, we would be celebrating. I would be coming up with an annoyingly dangerous and heroic plan to bust into Hell and kill Paimon.
And Lucas would be by my side.
“I don’t care about anything but getting you back. I’m not losing you again.”