Still of Night, page 24
“You sure about that? Maybe just pull their teeth out.” He laughs. “That was a good one.”
“He deserved it.”
“Oh, he deserved much worse.” Lucifer drops his hand to his side. “Daemonium mori,” he says.
“What?”
“Daemonium mori,” he repeats. “You’re going to wake up soon, and I want to give you one last gift just as a gesture of goodwill. I’m not out to get you, Callie.” I let out a breath feeling the air press down on me more and more. He holds out his hand again. “Now let me help you wake up.”
I take his hand this time, and feel red-hot energy pulse through me. “I have a question.”
“Shoot, kid.”
“If you’re bound to Hell, how are you visiting me in my dreams?”
“I’m not visiting you. You’re visiting me.”
28
I wake with a start, gasping for air. I’m still in the basement of the barn, but have been moved into what looks like a crudely built hospital. I jerk up and realize I’m tied to a bed. I get a flashback to my days at the research lab, but I know now isn’t the time to freak out. I need to get out of here.
“Callie?”
I turn my head, squinting in the dim light.
“Danielle,” I breathe and realize there are several other people lying on gurneys right along with us. A few are moving. A few aren’t. I can tell by the smell that they’re dead. “Are you okay?”
“I…I don’t know. I can’t move.”
“None of us can,” someone else says.
My head is foggy and my right arm hurts something fierce.
“I’m going to get you out of here.”
“But…you’ve been drugged,” Danielle counter. “Like the rest of us.
I grit my teeth and push up on my elbows. “I fought off a hellhound after three vodka tonics and while wearing high heels. Trust me when I say I’m okay.”
I turn my head, telekinetically undo the buckles around my wrists. I sit up and undo the ones on my ankles. I stand and survey the area.
There are four people in here, very much alive. Two…I’m not sure.
“You’re going to be okay,” I promise and go over to Danielle. My phone isn’t in my bra anymore and my head is so foggy and my right arm hurts. I rub it, finding a little scab. Oh, son of a bitch. I’ve been injected with something.
Probably the same thing the others have been injected with, only it didn’t work on me. I’m not fully human. “Who took you?” I ask her.
“I don’t know. He calls himself The Doctor.”
“Real original,” I huff and go over to the guy next to her and undo his restraints as well. “Binx,” I whisper again. “Can you hear me?”
I scuffle over to the other people and undo all the restraints. “No one can move?”
“No…how can you?” Danielle asks, trying hard to turn her head. “I saw him inject you with whatever he put in us.”
“Maybe he didn’t give me as much. It doesn’t matter.” I look around the room. There’s only one door leading out, and it’s metal. I blink and see the inside of the research lab again.
Keep it together, Callie…
“Binx,” I call again, looking up. There has to be an air vent in here somewhere. He’ll be able to get in. “How long have you been here?” I ask and go to the door.
It’s sealed with magic and my head is too foggy right now to try and decipher the spell used to lock it.
“What day is it?” the guy asks, trying to curl his fingers in.
“Friday.”
“Three days.”
“Shit,” I mumble. “How often does The Doctor come in?”
“I don’t know,” Danielle cries. “He just…he just…”
“He fucking cut someone,” the guys says, voice cracking.
“Yeah, I can see that.” I lean against the door, letting my eyes fall shut. I just need a minute…I slide down to the floor and I jerk my head up, fighting against the drugs. Something familiar tugs against my heart.
“Binx!” I push up off the ground as his spirit shadows down from a crack in the foundation. He shifts into cat form and meows, trotting over. He rubs his head on me, giving me a boost of his energy. Freya and Pandora shadow down right after them.
“Oh thank goodness,” I sigh, giving myself a minute to collect myself. My familiars meow and rub against me, lending me just enough of their energy to get back to my feet.
“It’s sealed with magic,” I tell them. “I can try to blast through it, but if The Doctor is out there, he’ll know right way that we’re—”
Shit. Something moves outside the door. I look at my familiars, nod, and then hurry back to the gurney. I lie down and suck in my breath, holding it and trying not to move.
The metal door opens and a man in a black lab coat walks in, humming to himself. He’s holding a butcher knife in one hand and a syringe in another. He goes over to one of the people who weren’t moving.
“Not fresh,” he mutters, confirming my suspicions that they’re dead. He moves over to Danielle.
“Hey!” I shout and sit up. “Am I fresh enough for you?”
The Doctor whirls around, eyes glowing a dark yellow. He throws out his hand and I’m forced back against the bed. Binx jumps onto Danielle’s bed, hisses, and then shifts into shadow form, crushing The Doctor’s hand. The syringe falls to the ground and I sit up, eyes narrowed.
Binx jumps out of the way just in time, and I throw an energy ball at The Doctor. He tips his head up and absorbs the magic.
“Thanks for that.”
Oh shit.
I roll off the bed, shoving my hand forward and hitting him with a blast of telekinetic energy. He stumbles back and Freya lunges forward, knocking him to his feet. Pandora shadows over to me and helps me back to my feet.
I inhale sharply and don’t think. I lunge forward, hands landing on either side of The Doctor’s head.
“Daemonium mori!” I shout, having no idea what those two words Lucifer told me would do. It could break a seal for all I know, yet for some reason in that moment, I trust him.
Blue light glows under my fingers and The Doctor’s eyes start to burn from the inside out. I hold steady, watching the demon burn right out of this body.
The demon disappears into a puff of black smoke and the body collapses onto the ground.
Holy shit.
I just exorcised a demon. I’m feeling a little depleted and a lot shocked. Lucifer didn’t trick me. He…he helped me.
“Very nice,” someone says, clapping their hands.
Fuck. The Doctor wasn’t the high-level demon. I whirl around and see a woman standing in the doorway. She rushes forward and my familiars are forced back into cat form. They hiss at her, but are stuck, unable to fight.
“What are you?” She kneels down and puts her hands on both sides of her head. “That was…that was glorious.” She brings her head down to mine and presses her lips to my forehead.
“You smell wonderful.”
“Get off me, lady,” I say through gritted teeth. I summon the last bit of energy I have and hit her with an energy ball, right in the chest. She flies off of me, and I scramble forward. If there’s going to be a big showdown, we need to get away from these people so they don’t get caught in the crossfire.
I’m dragging, still pulled under by whatever The Doctor injected into me. I don’t have it in me to fight a high-level demon right now. I claw my way up the steps and fall onto the floor of the barn. Binx shadows along behind me and pulls me up the stairs leading out of the root cellar.
The demon is right there, appearing above me, totally unfazed by the energy ball.
“You,” she says and drops to her knees again. Whatever she’s doing pins my familiars to the ground. “You’re what I need! What I’ve been looking for.” She tears open my cheek with her nail and licks my blood.
“Yes! You are the key!”
“The key for what?” I say through clenched teeth.
“To ascend!” She stands and holds out her arms. “For too long, Hell has been ruled by a patriarchy. It’s time for a woman to take control, to show them how it’s supposed to be done.”
“Normally, I’d be all over the girl power.” I push myself up on my elbows and throw my hand out, hitting her with a blast of energy. It nudges her back, just a bit, but pisses her off a lot. She hits me hard on the side of my head.
“But Hell has a king, bitch,” I say and hear a dog barking in the distance. Holy hell.
Scarlet.
The demon ignores the barking and looks down on me. “What do you know about the King of Hell?”
“I know he does a better job ruling than you ever would.” I have no idea if that’s true, but I need to buy some time. “And I know he’s prepared for a rebellion. He’s probably laughing at you right now.”
Scarlet, still in puppy form, comes running into the barn. The demon scoffs at her and kicks her hard, sending her flying across the room. Scarlet lands with a pitiful whelp that makes my stomach hurt.
I slowly inch back toward her, watching the pathetic puppy limp over to me.
“You know nothing about Lucifer Morningstar.”
“Wanna bet?” My fingers slip through Scarlet’s fur. The demon raises her hands, summoning up power.
“Why not?”
I feebly reach for the collar again and get my fingers on the latch. “He’s my uncle. And family has each other’s backs.” The collar falls off and Scarlet turns from cute fluffy puppy to a terrifying hellhound.
And now I know why Lucifer sent her to me. He said he knew a rebellion was brewing but there was nothing he could do about it.
“Get the demon, girl,” I say and Scarlet lunges forward, mouth opening and clamping around the demon’s face. She falls back, and her grip on my familiars is broken. Binx shadows forward, crushing the bones in the demon’s chest. Freya and Pandora help me up, and I crawl over to the demon.
Scarlet pins her to the ground. I put my hands on her head. “Daemonium mori!” Blue light pours through me, burning the demon from the inside out. “Daemonium mori!” I shout again, and hellfire erupts before me. We all jump back, watching the demon burn to nothing.
“Holy shit,” I pant, falling back. Scarlet comes over, and nudges me, licking my face. “Gross,” I say, wiping away slobber.
“The police are coming,” Binx says, voice echoing through the barn.
“You…you guys go. I’ve got this.”
I’m sitting on the hood of a police car, trying hard not to fall asleep. I have to answer a few more questions and then someone will take me home. Officer Maxwell comes over—finally—with a notebook in hand.
“I know how this is going to sound, Ms. Martin, but for my records can you please confirm or deny Danielle Johnson’s statement that you and a small army of cats apprehended the suspect?”
That’s exactly what happened. “Deny.”
“And can you confirm or deny the statement that you, quote, beat the ever-living crap out of the suspect with voodoo mind powers, unquote?”
It’s witchcraft, not voodoo. “Deny.”
The officer lowers his notebook, thinking this is too ridiculous to take seriously.
“Last one. Did your eyes glow blue?”
Shit, they saw that? I shake my head. “I have green eyes.”
“That’s what I thought, thank you, ma’am. Now, do you feel like you need medical attention?”
“No,” I say and push up. “I just want to go home. I’m getting married tomorrow.”
“Oh.” His brows go up. “Congratulations.”
I give him a look and he smiles awkwardly. “Come on then, I’ll take you home. Is that your Jeep?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have an officer drop it off this evening.” He opens the passenger side door of his police cruiser for me.
“Thank you.” I get in and he starts the engine.
“You’re lucky your friend knew to track your phone,” he says and turns down his police radio. That’s the story Betty ended up giving the police. After not being able to get a hold of Kristy, she drove out to the location I’d circled on the map, saw my Jeep, and drove away to find cell service so she could call the police.
“Yeah, and everyone says Find My Friends is creepy.”
“It kind of is,” he says. “But it saved your life. And the lives of several others.” He glances at me, and I know he’s thinking about how none of this adds up. How a girl like me was able to defeat a serial killer, getting out with only a few minor cuts and bruises.
I’ll send Lucas to alter the memories of the entire police station if I have to. But right now…right now I just want to sleep. I fight against it the entire way home, afraid he’ll take me to the hospital if I pass out.
“Thanks again,” I say when we get to my driveway. I don’t want him to walk me up. I just want to get in the house. “My Jeep will be here soon?”
“Sometime tonight.”
I already gave him the keys when I got my purse out to take home with me. I open the door, drawing in all the energy I can so I can make it into the house. I speed up the porch steps, vision spotting. The door flies open and Lucas pulls me in, getting burned from the sunlight.
He doesn’t care.
He just wraps me in his arms.
“Callie,” he breathes, holding me as if I am the only thing that matters in the world. “Are you okay?”
“I am. I got the demon.” I hold onto him to keep from falling. He kicks the door closed and scoops me up. “My familiars and Scarlet helped.”
“She was going crazy,” Lucas says. “So I let her out.”
“Thank you. He…he sent her for a reason. To help me defeat the demon.”
Lucas carries me upstairs and lays me down on the bed. He speeds away for just a second, returning with a damp rag. He carefully wipes the dried blood off my face.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. Lie down with me?”
“Are you sure?” Lucas looks me up and down. “You just fought a demon.”
“Two demons.”
“What?”
“Can we talk about it later?” My eyes flutter shut. “I just want to sleep off the rest of the drugs in my system. Because I’m going to marry the shit out of you tomorrow.”
29
“You’re lucky to have me.” Eliza reaches out and takes my hand in hers and carefully swipes a thin coat of pale pink polish over my nails. “I can do my best with those bruises, but I’m not sure if I can cover up that scratch on your face.”
“We can add a bit more healing balm,” Kristy suggests. She pulls my wedding dress out of the bag and hangs it up. It’s Saturday evening, and after spending the day at the spa with Eliza, I’m recharged and ready to get married.
“At this point I don’t even care,” I admit. “I’m here. Lucas is here. There’s a hellhound in my dressing room, but we’re all here.” I look up, carefully turning so I don’t risk moving my hand even a tenth of an inch or Eliza will yell at me.
“She’s so cute.” Abby tosses the squeaky potato and Scarlet takes off, scrambling after it.
“You would not be saying that if I took her collar off.”
“Does she look like Binx?”
“No. He’s a spirit, she’s…well, she’s a demon, I guess.”
“Who saved you by killing another demon?” Eliza looks up for half a second.
“Hey,” Kristy says, fluffing the skirt of my dress. “No demon talk. We are two hours away from the wedding. Happy thoughts only.”
I smile broadly, feeling my skin tug around the cut on my cheek.
Oh well. Really. I’m not going to get upset by a little scratch on my face.
Eliza finishes polishing my nails and then gets up, going into her room to get dressed and then to check on everything else. The sun has just set, and Kristy and Abby already went into the reception hall, making sure things were set up as they were supposed to be.
They took pictures and it’s gorgeous.
I hold my hands up in front of me, blowing on them so they dry. I’m not risking smudging the polish, though. I’ll give this a good ten minutes to dry.
I twist in my seat so I can see myself in the three-way mirror. I haven’t figured out a set way to do my hair, but it’s not really an issue. I point my finger at my head, magically pulling my hair into a low bun.
“Nope,” I say and shake my hair own. I try a fancy braid but don’t like it either. Abby watches, eyes wide, as I change up my hair with magic. Finally, I settled on a style that’s similar to what I wear most days, but with a bit pulled back. Kristy adds an antique hair pin, an Eliza comes back in to do my makeup.
An hour later, and I’m ready to go. I’ve never gotten dressed more carefully in my life, and both Eliza and my sister helped me step into my dress.
I haven’t seen Lucas since we arrived in Michigan last night. He texted me a few times, needing to make sure I was okay, but that’s the extent of our communication.
I’m dying to see him.
“Oh, Callie.” Abby looks at me with tears in her eyes. “You look beautiful.”
“She does,” Eliza agrees, looking as close to emotional as I’ll probably ever see her. “My maker does have good taste.”
I smile and look at myself in the mirror. I can’t believe we’re finally here. After everything we’ve been through, this day is finally happening.
“You have to stay here and be a good girl,” I tell Scarlet. “No barking and no ripping things up, okay?” I toss a handful of treats on the ground and look up to see Abby staring at me quizzically. Right. I speak angel-language when I talk to my hellhound.
“It’s a thing that happen. An, uh, angel thing.”
“Interesting.” She adjusts my necklace, centering it on my chest. “I’m going to make sure Penny is still semi-put together and then we’ll meet you outside for pictures.”
“Okay.”
Abby gives my hand a squeeze. “I love you, Cal.”
“I love you too.”
Eliza leaves the room first, making sure Lucas is actually in his room like he’s supposed to be. We both know he’s impatient when it comes to me, but I’m sticking to my guns about not wanting him to see me until I walk down the aisle.
“He deserved it.”
“Oh, he deserved much worse.” Lucifer drops his hand to his side. “Daemonium mori,” he says.
“What?”
“Daemonium mori,” he repeats. “You’re going to wake up soon, and I want to give you one last gift just as a gesture of goodwill. I’m not out to get you, Callie.” I let out a breath feeling the air press down on me more and more. He holds out his hand again. “Now let me help you wake up.”
I take his hand this time, and feel red-hot energy pulse through me. “I have a question.”
“Shoot, kid.”
“If you’re bound to Hell, how are you visiting me in my dreams?”
“I’m not visiting you. You’re visiting me.”
28
I wake with a start, gasping for air. I’m still in the basement of the barn, but have been moved into what looks like a crudely built hospital. I jerk up and realize I’m tied to a bed. I get a flashback to my days at the research lab, but I know now isn’t the time to freak out. I need to get out of here.
“Callie?”
I turn my head, squinting in the dim light.
“Danielle,” I breathe and realize there are several other people lying on gurneys right along with us. A few are moving. A few aren’t. I can tell by the smell that they’re dead. “Are you okay?”
“I…I don’t know. I can’t move.”
“None of us can,” someone else says.
My head is foggy and my right arm hurts something fierce.
“I’m going to get you out of here.”
“But…you’ve been drugged,” Danielle counter. “Like the rest of us.
I grit my teeth and push up on my elbows. “I fought off a hellhound after three vodka tonics and while wearing high heels. Trust me when I say I’m okay.”
I turn my head, telekinetically undo the buckles around my wrists. I sit up and undo the ones on my ankles. I stand and survey the area.
There are four people in here, very much alive. Two…I’m not sure.
“You’re going to be okay,” I promise and go over to Danielle. My phone isn’t in my bra anymore and my head is so foggy and my right arm hurts. I rub it, finding a little scab. Oh, son of a bitch. I’ve been injected with something.
Probably the same thing the others have been injected with, only it didn’t work on me. I’m not fully human. “Who took you?” I ask her.
“I don’t know. He calls himself The Doctor.”
“Real original,” I huff and go over to the guy next to her and undo his restraints as well. “Binx,” I whisper again. “Can you hear me?”
I scuffle over to the other people and undo all the restraints. “No one can move?”
“No…how can you?” Danielle asks, trying hard to turn her head. “I saw him inject you with whatever he put in us.”
“Maybe he didn’t give me as much. It doesn’t matter.” I look around the room. There’s only one door leading out, and it’s metal. I blink and see the inside of the research lab again.
Keep it together, Callie…
“Binx,” I call again, looking up. There has to be an air vent in here somewhere. He’ll be able to get in. “How long have you been here?” I ask and go to the door.
It’s sealed with magic and my head is too foggy right now to try and decipher the spell used to lock it.
“What day is it?” the guy asks, trying to curl his fingers in.
“Friday.”
“Three days.”
“Shit,” I mumble. “How often does The Doctor come in?”
“I don’t know,” Danielle cries. “He just…he just…”
“He fucking cut someone,” the guys says, voice cracking.
“Yeah, I can see that.” I lean against the door, letting my eyes fall shut. I just need a minute…I slide down to the floor and I jerk my head up, fighting against the drugs. Something familiar tugs against my heart.
“Binx!” I push up off the ground as his spirit shadows down from a crack in the foundation. He shifts into cat form and meows, trotting over. He rubs his head on me, giving me a boost of his energy. Freya and Pandora shadow down right after them.
“Oh thank goodness,” I sigh, giving myself a minute to collect myself. My familiars meow and rub against me, lending me just enough of their energy to get back to my feet.
“It’s sealed with magic,” I tell them. “I can try to blast through it, but if The Doctor is out there, he’ll know right way that we’re—”
Shit. Something moves outside the door. I look at my familiars, nod, and then hurry back to the gurney. I lie down and suck in my breath, holding it and trying not to move.
The metal door opens and a man in a black lab coat walks in, humming to himself. He’s holding a butcher knife in one hand and a syringe in another. He goes over to one of the people who weren’t moving.
“Not fresh,” he mutters, confirming my suspicions that they’re dead. He moves over to Danielle.
“Hey!” I shout and sit up. “Am I fresh enough for you?”
The Doctor whirls around, eyes glowing a dark yellow. He throws out his hand and I’m forced back against the bed. Binx jumps onto Danielle’s bed, hisses, and then shifts into shadow form, crushing The Doctor’s hand. The syringe falls to the ground and I sit up, eyes narrowed.
Binx jumps out of the way just in time, and I throw an energy ball at The Doctor. He tips his head up and absorbs the magic.
“Thanks for that.”
Oh shit.
I roll off the bed, shoving my hand forward and hitting him with a blast of telekinetic energy. He stumbles back and Freya lunges forward, knocking him to his feet. Pandora shadows over to me and helps me back to my feet.
I inhale sharply and don’t think. I lunge forward, hands landing on either side of The Doctor’s head.
“Daemonium mori!” I shout, having no idea what those two words Lucifer told me would do. It could break a seal for all I know, yet for some reason in that moment, I trust him.
Blue light glows under my fingers and The Doctor’s eyes start to burn from the inside out. I hold steady, watching the demon burn right out of this body.
The demon disappears into a puff of black smoke and the body collapses onto the ground.
Holy shit.
I just exorcised a demon. I’m feeling a little depleted and a lot shocked. Lucifer didn’t trick me. He…he helped me.
“Very nice,” someone says, clapping their hands.
Fuck. The Doctor wasn’t the high-level demon. I whirl around and see a woman standing in the doorway. She rushes forward and my familiars are forced back into cat form. They hiss at her, but are stuck, unable to fight.
“What are you?” She kneels down and puts her hands on both sides of her head. “That was…that was glorious.” She brings her head down to mine and presses her lips to my forehead.
“You smell wonderful.”
“Get off me, lady,” I say through gritted teeth. I summon the last bit of energy I have and hit her with an energy ball, right in the chest. She flies off of me, and I scramble forward. If there’s going to be a big showdown, we need to get away from these people so they don’t get caught in the crossfire.
I’m dragging, still pulled under by whatever The Doctor injected into me. I don’t have it in me to fight a high-level demon right now. I claw my way up the steps and fall onto the floor of the barn. Binx shadows along behind me and pulls me up the stairs leading out of the root cellar.
The demon is right there, appearing above me, totally unfazed by the energy ball.
“You,” she says and drops to her knees again. Whatever she’s doing pins my familiars to the ground. “You’re what I need! What I’ve been looking for.” She tears open my cheek with her nail and licks my blood.
“Yes! You are the key!”
“The key for what?” I say through clenched teeth.
“To ascend!” She stands and holds out her arms. “For too long, Hell has been ruled by a patriarchy. It’s time for a woman to take control, to show them how it’s supposed to be done.”
“Normally, I’d be all over the girl power.” I push myself up on my elbows and throw my hand out, hitting her with a blast of energy. It nudges her back, just a bit, but pisses her off a lot. She hits me hard on the side of my head.
“But Hell has a king, bitch,” I say and hear a dog barking in the distance. Holy hell.
Scarlet.
The demon ignores the barking and looks down on me. “What do you know about the King of Hell?”
“I know he does a better job ruling than you ever would.” I have no idea if that’s true, but I need to buy some time. “And I know he’s prepared for a rebellion. He’s probably laughing at you right now.”
Scarlet, still in puppy form, comes running into the barn. The demon scoffs at her and kicks her hard, sending her flying across the room. Scarlet lands with a pitiful whelp that makes my stomach hurt.
I slowly inch back toward her, watching the pathetic puppy limp over to me.
“You know nothing about Lucifer Morningstar.”
“Wanna bet?” My fingers slip through Scarlet’s fur. The demon raises her hands, summoning up power.
“Why not?”
I feebly reach for the collar again and get my fingers on the latch. “He’s my uncle. And family has each other’s backs.” The collar falls off and Scarlet turns from cute fluffy puppy to a terrifying hellhound.
And now I know why Lucifer sent her to me. He said he knew a rebellion was brewing but there was nothing he could do about it.
“Get the demon, girl,” I say and Scarlet lunges forward, mouth opening and clamping around the demon’s face. She falls back, and her grip on my familiars is broken. Binx shadows forward, crushing the bones in the demon’s chest. Freya and Pandora help me up, and I crawl over to the demon.
Scarlet pins her to the ground. I put my hands on her head. “Daemonium mori!” Blue light pours through me, burning the demon from the inside out. “Daemonium mori!” I shout again, and hellfire erupts before me. We all jump back, watching the demon burn to nothing.
“Holy shit,” I pant, falling back. Scarlet comes over, and nudges me, licking my face. “Gross,” I say, wiping away slobber.
“The police are coming,” Binx says, voice echoing through the barn.
“You…you guys go. I’ve got this.”
I’m sitting on the hood of a police car, trying hard not to fall asleep. I have to answer a few more questions and then someone will take me home. Officer Maxwell comes over—finally—with a notebook in hand.
“I know how this is going to sound, Ms. Martin, but for my records can you please confirm or deny Danielle Johnson’s statement that you and a small army of cats apprehended the suspect?”
That’s exactly what happened. “Deny.”
“And can you confirm or deny the statement that you, quote, beat the ever-living crap out of the suspect with voodoo mind powers, unquote?”
It’s witchcraft, not voodoo. “Deny.”
The officer lowers his notebook, thinking this is too ridiculous to take seriously.
“Last one. Did your eyes glow blue?”
Shit, they saw that? I shake my head. “I have green eyes.”
“That’s what I thought, thank you, ma’am. Now, do you feel like you need medical attention?”
“No,” I say and push up. “I just want to go home. I’m getting married tomorrow.”
“Oh.” His brows go up. “Congratulations.”
I give him a look and he smiles awkwardly. “Come on then, I’ll take you home. Is that your Jeep?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have an officer drop it off this evening.” He opens the passenger side door of his police cruiser for me.
“Thank you.” I get in and he starts the engine.
“You’re lucky your friend knew to track your phone,” he says and turns down his police radio. That’s the story Betty ended up giving the police. After not being able to get a hold of Kristy, she drove out to the location I’d circled on the map, saw my Jeep, and drove away to find cell service so she could call the police.
“Yeah, and everyone says Find My Friends is creepy.”
“It kind of is,” he says. “But it saved your life. And the lives of several others.” He glances at me, and I know he’s thinking about how none of this adds up. How a girl like me was able to defeat a serial killer, getting out with only a few minor cuts and bruises.
I’ll send Lucas to alter the memories of the entire police station if I have to. But right now…right now I just want to sleep. I fight against it the entire way home, afraid he’ll take me to the hospital if I pass out.
“Thanks again,” I say when we get to my driveway. I don’t want him to walk me up. I just want to get in the house. “My Jeep will be here soon?”
“Sometime tonight.”
I already gave him the keys when I got my purse out to take home with me. I open the door, drawing in all the energy I can so I can make it into the house. I speed up the porch steps, vision spotting. The door flies open and Lucas pulls me in, getting burned from the sunlight.
He doesn’t care.
He just wraps me in his arms.
“Callie,” he breathes, holding me as if I am the only thing that matters in the world. “Are you okay?”
“I am. I got the demon.” I hold onto him to keep from falling. He kicks the door closed and scoops me up. “My familiars and Scarlet helped.”
“She was going crazy,” Lucas says. “So I let her out.”
“Thank you. He…he sent her for a reason. To help me defeat the demon.”
Lucas carries me upstairs and lays me down on the bed. He speeds away for just a second, returning with a damp rag. He carefully wipes the dried blood off my face.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. Lie down with me?”
“Are you sure?” Lucas looks me up and down. “You just fought a demon.”
“Two demons.”
“What?”
“Can we talk about it later?” My eyes flutter shut. “I just want to sleep off the rest of the drugs in my system. Because I’m going to marry the shit out of you tomorrow.”
29
“You’re lucky to have me.” Eliza reaches out and takes my hand in hers and carefully swipes a thin coat of pale pink polish over my nails. “I can do my best with those bruises, but I’m not sure if I can cover up that scratch on your face.”
“We can add a bit more healing balm,” Kristy suggests. She pulls my wedding dress out of the bag and hangs it up. It’s Saturday evening, and after spending the day at the spa with Eliza, I’m recharged and ready to get married.
“At this point I don’t even care,” I admit. “I’m here. Lucas is here. There’s a hellhound in my dressing room, but we’re all here.” I look up, carefully turning so I don’t risk moving my hand even a tenth of an inch or Eliza will yell at me.
“She’s so cute.” Abby tosses the squeaky potato and Scarlet takes off, scrambling after it.
“You would not be saying that if I took her collar off.”
“Does she look like Binx?”
“No. He’s a spirit, she’s…well, she’s a demon, I guess.”
“Who saved you by killing another demon?” Eliza looks up for half a second.
“Hey,” Kristy says, fluffing the skirt of my dress. “No demon talk. We are two hours away from the wedding. Happy thoughts only.”
I smile broadly, feeling my skin tug around the cut on my cheek.
Oh well. Really. I’m not going to get upset by a little scratch on my face.
Eliza finishes polishing my nails and then gets up, going into her room to get dressed and then to check on everything else. The sun has just set, and Kristy and Abby already went into the reception hall, making sure things were set up as they were supposed to be.
They took pictures and it’s gorgeous.
I hold my hands up in front of me, blowing on them so they dry. I’m not risking smudging the polish, though. I’ll give this a good ten minutes to dry.
I twist in my seat so I can see myself in the three-way mirror. I haven’t figured out a set way to do my hair, but it’s not really an issue. I point my finger at my head, magically pulling my hair into a low bun.
“Nope,” I say and shake my hair own. I try a fancy braid but don’t like it either. Abby watches, eyes wide, as I change up my hair with magic. Finally, I settled on a style that’s similar to what I wear most days, but with a bit pulled back. Kristy adds an antique hair pin, an Eliza comes back in to do my makeup.
An hour later, and I’m ready to go. I’ve never gotten dressed more carefully in my life, and both Eliza and my sister helped me step into my dress.
I haven’t seen Lucas since we arrived in Michigan last night. He texted me a few times, needing to make sure I was okay, but that’s the extent of our communication.
I’m dying to see him.
“Oh, Callie.” Abby looks at me with tears in her eyes. “You look beautiful.”
“She does,” Eliza agrees, looking as close to emotional as I’ll probably ever see her. “My maker does have good taste.”
I smile and look at myself in the mirror. I can’t believe we’re finally here. After everything we’ve been through, this day is finally happening.
“You have to stay here and be a good girl,” I tell Scarlet. “No barking and no ripping things up, okay?” I toss a handful of treats on the ground and look up to see Abby staring at me quizzically. Right. I speak angel-language when I talk to my hellhound.
“It’s a thing that happen. An, uh, angel thing.”
“Interesting.” She adjusts my necklace, centering it on my chest. “I’m going to make sure Penny is still semi-put together and then we’ll meet you outside for pictures.”
“Okay.”
Abby gives my hand a squeeze. “I love you, Cal.”
“I love you too.”
Eliza leaves the room first, making sure Lucas is actually in his room like he’s supposed to be. We both know he’s impatient when it comes to me, but I’m sticking to my guns about not wanting him to see me until I walk down the aisle.
