“We got back from the spa and were sitting in the kitchen. The doorbell rang and Abby got up to get it, thinking it was her neighbor who was dropping off honey. But it was Roger, and when he shot at me, I blocked it with a telekinetic shield and it…” My throat gets tight again. “It bounced off and hit Abby in the stomach.” I blink and fat tears roll down my cheeks. Abby doesn’t remember any of it, and I wish I could forget too.
“I threw him back and his head cracked against the door. I called for my dad or Julian to come heal her, but they didn’t show up. She was losing so much blood and then he…he just showed up.”
“Lucifer.”
“Yes, and he healed her, sent Roger’s body to Hell—I think—and then I asked what do you want and he said nothing, but then he looked at my stomach and said maybe I do.”
“How does that mean he wants your baby?” Eliza asks. She’s chewing on her nails, nails that she just spent a good hour painting just the other day. I’ve never seen her this nervous before. “All he said was he maybe wants something.”
“I don’t know, but it was the way he looked at me.”
Lucas wipes my tears away again and bring me into his lap. “After he healed Abby, what happened?” I can see the stress in his deep blue eyes, yet he’s calm for my sake.
“I cast a sleep spell on Abby, and then Easton called, saying he’d gotten word that Roger figured out I’d put a truth potion in his drink and then cast a sleep spell on him. He was only a few minutes away, so he helped me clean everything up. I altered Abby’s memory, cast a glamour on her so she wouldn’t see that her clothes were all bloody, and magically swayed her to go shower and get all the blood off her skin.”
“You’re sure you got everything?” Lucas asks, tensing.
“I think so. I told Abby we would stop by later to say hi to Penny before we head back into Thorne Hill so you could check it out.” I close my eyes, feeling nauseous again. “Easton got rid of the security footage and took all the bloody paper towels, Abby’s clothes, and the gun. I kept the bullet, though. Is that weird?”
“You’re weird,” Eliza says matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less than you keeping the bullet that almost killed your sister.”
I suck in a breath but get no air. Lucas puts his hand on my chest. “Breathe, my love. Look at me and breathe.”
Blinking back more tears, I nod and take in a slow breath.
“If the house is clean, the footage removed, and there is no body to be found, then we can check that off our list of problems. Now…how the fuck did Roger know where you were?”
I shake my head. “I have no idea, and the only thing that makes sense would be if someone was spying on me.” I feel icky when the words leave my lips. “They knew we were here, in Chicago, and maybe saw me leave with Abby. I don’t know.”
I put my head in my hands, world spinning. Just when I thought I’d caught a break, I’m here playing whack-a-mole with my problems again. I take care of one and two more pop up.
And that’s not to mention the biggest mole of all has come out from the depths of Hell.
“He was hired by a vampire who knows we are together,” Lucas says, thinking out loud. “And he knows you are a witch. So, he either knew that before or he got close enough to sense your magic. I can pay Dina another visit and see if I can get any information out of her, though I fear that’s not likely.”
“She’s still alive? Well, undead. I kinda forgot about her.”
“She is.” Lucas looks at Scarlet. “She hasn’t given me anything useful in a while, though maybe if I bring a hellhound she’ll talk after her arms have been ripped from her body.”
Scarlet wags her tail at Lucas’s words, sweet little puppy eyes gleaming at the thought of getting to torture someone.
“If you think you can get anything from her, then yeah, let’s try, but like you said, she hasn’t given us any info in months. What has she said? She doesn’t know anything, or she won’t tell?”
“She claims she doesn’t know anything beyond what she’s already told us. At