I never really thought about angels before. With the existence of demons, it made sense to have angels, too. And while I don’t consider myself a pessimist by any means, I had a hard time believing in cosmic creatures who were good. It’s strange, I suppose that Hell, Lucifer, and demons were my reality, but putting faith in Heaven and angels was too far-fetched for me.
“Callie?” Lucas appears in the entrance to the kitchen, no doubt having heard everything that was just said. “Are you all right?”
Letting my eyes fall shut, I take in another slow breath. When I open my eyes, Lucas is right in front of me, and his arms slip around my waist.
“I will be,” I say and put my hands on his biceps. “You know, you’re really lucky you were in such good shape when you were turned. If you turned me now, I would be pissed. I’ve eaten my weight in carbs yesterday and today.”
“And there’s the little issue of you being pregnant.”
“What happens to the baby if you turn a pregnant woman into a vampire?”
“The baby would die,” he answers. “Vampires self-heal, and having what is basically a parasite inside you would be removed, either expelled or absorbed.”
The floorboards creak, and Kristy comes into the kitchen carrying an empty wineglass. “Please don’t tell me you’re talking from experience.”
“Eliza is the only vampire I’ve made,” Lucas tells her. “And I have no intention of making another. It’s a long commitment to make.”
“It could be forever,” Kristy muses and goes to the counter to pour more wine in her glass. “I can’t keep a relationship for more than a year, let alone find someone to be bonded with like that.” She takes a sip of her wine. “I do have a date next weekend.”
“Shut up,” I say, twisting around in Lucas’s arms. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“I’m not that excited about it, and compared to everything else going on, it doesn’t seem that important.”
“It’s super important,” I counter. “This is the first date you’ve been on since you and Daniel sizzled out back in—what—April?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. It sounds so pathetic when you say it out loud.”
I laugh. “Before Lucas, I hadn’t dated anyone in…years.”
Lucas pulls me back to him, so my butt is pressed against his hips. “Because no one else was as good as me.”
“Oh, that is true, but also because I’m not an easy person to date.” I smile. “Who are you going out with?” I ask Kristy. “Where are you going? And yes, you can borrow a sexy dress from my closet.”
“Matt Puckett, we’re going to Newport to watch a movie and get dinner, and I was already planning on just taking one of your designer dresses,” she replies.
“Matt…he works at Curlew Café, right?”
“Yeah, that’s him. He’s been asking me to go out for a while, and I ran out of excuses not to go on a date.”
“You need an excuse to not go on a date you don’t want to go on?” Lucas asks. “Say no.”
“I kinda do want to go out,” Kristy says. “I’d like to get back into the dating game, and Matt is a really nice guy.”
“And he’s cute,” I add, and Lucas tightens his hold on me with a grunt. Vampires are possessive by nature, and Lucas really isn’t that bad, though his jealous side comes out pretty easily, and I secretly like it. “He’s been asking you out for a while? How long is a while?”
“About a month,” she says, and I work hard to keep my face neutral. I know my friends have been busy without me, and I don’t blame them for that at all. They need to go on with their lives, get out and do the things they normally do. And I get why Kristy didn’t bring it up since my life is a hot mess nine times out of ten, but it makes me fear I could drift away from my friends.
As much as that would hurt me, it might be for the best, so they don’t get hurt.
“Want to go raid my closet?” I ask her.
“Are you sure you’re up for that?”
“Yeah,” I say with a smile that’s a little too broad. I’m trying here, okay? “Michael isn’t coming back anytime soon. He said to go on with my life and be careful, so that’s what I’m going to do. But I am bringing my food.” I finally take my boots off, hold my hand over my plate to reheat my leftovers, and pick it up to take upstairs.
“You sure you’re all right?” Kristy asks, looking over her shoulder as we go up the narrow back stairway. It was originally built for the servants to go up and down, out of sight from the family.
“I should be asking you that. You almost died.” I’m suddenly choked up with emotion, realizing yet again how close I came to losing someone I love, and it wasn’t just Kristy, but Lucas and even Scarlet.
“Wouldn’t be the first time. Though it might be only the third or fourth time, which is peanuts compared to you.”
“Hah, unfortunately that’s true.” Each step creaks under our feet. This stairwell has no windows and was pretty well protected from the elements, unlike the rest of the house. Since it was structurally sound, we left it pretty much untouched and I’m so glad we did. It’s like walking back in time anytime I use this staircase.
“And I’m fine,” Kristy assures me. “I’m going to have a hard time sleeping tonight, and maybe tomorrow, but I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”
“I’m so sorry. That shouldn’t have happened to you. Bael was after me, not you. I hate how much you guys get caught in the crossfire because of me.”
Kristy stops on the landing and turns around. “Do not be a martyr, Callie. We all know this isn’t your fault, and if I didn’t want to occasionally deal with demons, I would have stopped being your friend a long time ago.”
“Dammit,” I mutter as I’m unable to stop my eyes from filling with tears. “Stupid hormones.”
“I like this side of you,” Kristy laughs. She’s one of the few people I’ve openly cried in front of. Crying doesn’t solve anything, and for so long I thought my lack of expression of sadness made me tough. Really, though, it was the exact opposite. Not dealing with my feelings was the coward’s way out, I know that now.
Scarlet loudly runs up the stairs after us, nearly knocking me over. She’s not at all graceful like my familiars, and being the size of a small pony, it’s a wonder she hasn’t wrecked the house yet.
“Lucas said the same thing.” I pause before going into my bedroom, looking into the room across the hall. “This will be her room,” I tell Kristy.
“Are you going to start decorating the nursery now that you know you’re having a girl?” Her blue eyes are wide with excitement. “I’ll help!”
“Thanks, and I…I don’t know. I think I should wait so I don’t jinx anything.” I go into my room and telekinetically flip on the lights. “I know a lot of women wait until they hit the second trimester to even announce their pregnancy. I’m only half human, and this baby is, uh, three-fourths human? I think? She’s all human from Lucas—I assume—and then half human from me, and half-half angel? Fuck, it’s confusing. She’s more human than I am, and what if my body rejects her because babies really are parasites?”