Chapter 1
I’m not healing.
Lucas’s words echo in my head. I blink, vision blurring, and start to feel sick. The sight of blood has never bothered me, yet standing here rooted to the spot as I watch blood drip down Lucas’s abdomen is making me dizzy. Lucas steps back, feet shuffling over the painted cement floor of the office inside the hipster bar, and perches on the edge of the desk as he presses his hand to his stomach. Blood pools around his fingers, seeping through the torn fabric of his shirt.
This can’t be happening.
Lucas is a vampire.
Vampires heal.
Unless…unless the blade he was stabbed with was enchanted. Though even my enchanted dagger doesn’t have this kind of lasting effect. It hurts, causes pain to ripple through whatever I’ve stabbed. It will delay the healing process for vampires but not like this.
My lips part and I gasp, springing into action. I grab someone’s sweater that’s hanging on the back of the desk chair. It’s light pink, designer, and probably Eliza’s.
“The dagger,” I stammer and ball up the sweater, using it to put pressure on the wound. “It…it might be enchanted, and that’s why you’re not healing.”
“It didn’t feel enchanted,” Lucas says through gritted teeth.
I drop to my knees, willing myself not to pass out, and carefully pull back the sweater, needing to see the damage. My hands are shaking, my heart is racing, and my stomach is in knots.
Lucas stood there and peacefully took a slash across the stomach to make a point that humans attack vampires and it’s not always the other way around. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal. The guy took two bullets to the chest for me and was healed and ready for action within minutes.
We assumed the same would happen and the protester would be arrested. But this…this wasn’t supposed to go like this. He was supposed to heal, be annoyed his shirt was bloody and torn, and we’d go about our night.
“I don’t understand,” I say, voice tight. Every inch of me trembles, and my mind jumps to worst-case scenario in two seconds flat. “Why aren’t you healing?” The blade was sharp and sliced right across several inches of Lucas’s skin, right down to the muscle. I get hit with another wave of dizziness when I see the wound, and I feel rage building inside of me. The lights above us start to flicker, and magic sizzles around my fingers.
Now’s not the time to lose control of my powers. Taking a deep breath, I move the sweater back and hold my hand over the wound.
“Heal,” I demand, trying to force myself to use my angelic powers. I have no idea how to access that side of me. Every time I’ve tapped into those powers, it’s been on accident and out of desperation.
I’ve never been as desperate as I am now.
“Heal!”
Nothing happens.
“Heal!”
Blue energy sizzles brighter around my fingers, burning Lucas’s skin. He winces and jerks back. I pull my hand back, eyes wide. Usually he likes when I zap him with magic. It’s a turn-on, a weird sort of kink, if you will, since he heals instantly.
But now he has a nasty-looking burn above the slice on his stomach.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurt as tears fill my eyes.
“It’s okay,” he grunts.
I stand there, horrified, staring at him, at my husband, afraid that if I try to heal him again I’ll just hurt him more. Tremors plague my entire body, and I have no idea what to do.
I can’t heal him, and it’s not like I can take him to the hospital.
Panic spreads through me, hitting every nerve in my body and causing my hands to tremble even more. I can’t lose Lucas.
“Can vampires bleed to death?” I ask, words coming up like vomit. There’s a good chance actual vomit is going to follow.
“I…I don’t know,” Lucas tells me and looks up, blue eyes meeting mine. “I’ve never heard of a vampire getting injured and bleeding like this. We…we heal. But if we lose enough blood, we will die. Vampires have been strung up and drained by humans before. Once all the blood is gone, there’s nothing left to keep us undead.”
His words echo through my head, and the lights flicker again. I grab the sweater once more and press it to his stomach, working hard to keep magic from sparking around my hands. What good is having this fucking divine side when I can’t use my powers?
Julian, if you can hear me…please get your ass down here.
Tears roll down my cheeks, and Lucas reaches down, tipping my chin up.
“Callie,” he says, and I can tell he’s trying to act as if he’s not in pain, as if he can’t feel himself weakening as the blood drips from his body. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I shout at him, tears falling like rain now. People only say that when they know all hope is lost. And hope isn’t lost. I’m not letting anything happen to Lucas.
Michael—Dad—please help!
“I’m not going to bleed to death,” he tells me and urges me up.
“But you’re not healing, Lucas,” I spit as if he’s forgotten. “And if you don’t heal, you’ll continue to bleed. Vampire blood doesn’t clot. You have to heal.” I shuffle closer, pressing the sweater against his stomach. The blood is starting to seep through.
Lucas gently wraps his arm around me, pulling me to him. I expect him to be cold like he always is, but he feels warmer than usual. I don’t have time to even acknowledge how strange that is.
“Abby’s home,” I say, bringing a hand up to wipe away my tears. I end up smearing blood across my cheeks in the process. My thoughts are a jumbled mess, and I can’t get the words out. “We…we…she can, um.”
“Breathe, Callie,” Lucas says calmly.
My eyes flutter shut, and I suck in a breath. “She can stitch you up. Keep you from losing more blood.”
“Good idea.” Lucas nods and pulls his jacket closed, covering up the blood. He holds his hand over the wound, keeping the sweater against it so he doesn’t leave a trail of blood as we walk.
Lucas retracts his fangs and grits his teeth, holding up the front that everything is fine. He does an impressive job, too, saying hello to his employees on the way out.
“Do you want me to get the car?” I ask, pulling the keys out of his pocket.
“Callie,” he says, almost sounding annoyed. “I’m fine.”
“You are so far from fine!” I’m still wrestling with my emotions, unable to keep the tears out of my eyes. I’ve been in bad situations before and will be in bad situations again.
I’ve faced demons and hellfire and a trial with the Grand Coven where the outcome could have been my death by fire. Yet nothing scared me as much as this does.
I can’t lose Lucas.
If I did…no, I can’t even think like that. If I do, I’ll start crying, and Lucas needs me right now.
“We’re not that far,” he counters, and while I could run to the car and speed back faster than it’ll take us to walk at normal speed to it, I don’t want to leave Lucas alone while he’s…he’s…like this.
Whatever it is.
Heart in my throat, I keep a steady hold on Lucas. We make it down half the block before I realize he’s the one holding me, keeping me steady.