Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Chapter
Four
“Oh my.” Tabatha slowly inhales, looking at me with wide eyes. We’re back at my house, sitting in the family room. Lucas lit a fire and is sitting in a chair near the fireplace with Juliet in his arms. She’s snuggled up against her daddy, looking so tiny in his muscular arms. With the fever gone, she’s back to her normal self with no memory of what just happened or how much danger she has been in tonight.
“I know,” I say, agreeing with her unspoken words. Kristy is in the library, waiting for the sleeping spell to wear off so we can question Jacob, and Eliza and Eamon are in the kitchen, no doubt eavesdropping on our conversation with ease thanks to their vampire hearing. I could cast a spell, making it so they can’t hear a single thing, but what’s the point?
“You should have called me.”
“I know,” I repeat. “I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Bother me?” Tabatha’s brows go up. “Losing my grand baby would bother me more,” she adds pointedly, eyes going from me to Lucas and back again. Like Kristy, she was shocked to see my vampire husband here—in the flesh—with no apparent consequence.
“Everything happened so fast,” I go on. “I, um, I don’t really remember exactly how it unfolded.”
“You reinforced the magical containments for Osiris,” Lucas starts. “And said you bought more time. We wanted to go out as a family and stopped by Novel Grounds, the stress got to you, so Kristy ordered Mexican food. We came back here, Eamon showed up, and then demons attacked.” He pauses for a moment, eyes meeting mine. He doesn’t have to say it for me to know he’s aware that I’m keeping things from him. It makes me instantly feel icky inside. I don’t keep things from Lucas. I don’t lie to him.
He’s my husband. The love of my life. He knows everything thing about me. He’s seen every flaw and every scar and has kissed each and every one. We’re a team, we figure things out, and we work well together…well, we did.
“And you summoned red hell fire,” he continues, his deep voice echoing through the room, silent other than the soft crackling of the fire.
“The Gates?” Tabatha stammers. “Are they open?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “Paimon is still there. He has to be at least, because he only astral projected here. But his fucking projection is strong.”
Tabatha nods and I slowly inhale, waiting to see if Lucas is going to keep going, telling her that I made some sort of deal and haven’t disclosed the details yet. I don’t want to think about it yet. Osiris, so far, has been a god of his word. And I have a little bit of time before anything has to come into fruition.
“And the vampire?” Tabatha flicks her eyes in the direction of the kitchen. “How does he fit into all this?”
I wrinkle my nose. “I honestly can’t recall if I told you about his master plan to unite all supernaturals to rage war against humans or not. But, uh, that’s it.” I turn my head and talk a little louder, making it a point to let him know I’m talking about him. “He’s been the annoying, yet harmless, pebble in our shoes for the last year or so.” In comparison to the other dangers I’ve faced, Eamon really is just fucking annoying.
But he’s been slowly working on his plan and I know that it’s not something I should put on the back burner. He’s the reason the Order sent a hunter after me. He fucked with Lucas’s business and was the one who organized the protest outside the Taproom on the night Ruth cursed Lucas. That night almost cost me my husband, and then there’s the whole other issue of how he’s slowly weaved the Martins into this plan, wanting to use them to push me over the edge.
Who knows what else he has in motion and if it’s going to be too late to stop something before it starts. A war between vampires and humans is a bloodbath waiting to happen. There are more humans than vampires, but vampires are far superior in many ways. I honestly don’t know how that would unfold, though I have to think if vampires could have taken over, they would have already.
But get witches and shifters on their side…it would be instant annihilation for the humans.
And if that whole mess breaks out while demons are ascending upon us? The whole fucking world would go to shit, which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid. People suck, but the world—overall—isn’t a bad place to be. I’m here, for starters, and I have a pretty awesome group of family and friends that deserve to keep on living their best lives, inhabiting this slowly spinning rock that’s hurtling through space and time.