“If it ends up being a boy, I imagine he’ll look like you.” We talked more about the future while on vacation. Knowing Lucifer doesn’t have plans to kidnap our baby definitely takes away a huge stressor, but the weight it lifted left behind another one.
Lucifer warned me the demons will try to blackmail me into accepting the role of queen of Hell. What better bargaining chip than my child?
“If he’s lucky,” Lucas says with a grin. Scarlet plods through the living room and tries to jump up on the couch with us, only she doesn’t fit now that she’s freaking huge. “I’m going to have to get her a bigger dog bed. And a bigger house. We do not have the room for a hundred-pound dog here.”
“Once the sun sets, let’s go see the house,” Lucas says. “I’m sure we’ll both be surprised with the progress.”
“And we can start moving in soon.” I make a face. “I have so much to pack.”
“And get rid of,” Lucas adds.
“It’ll look like I got rid of stuff in the new basement. It’s like three times the size of the basement I have now.” I scoot closet to Lucas, trying to make room for Scarlet. “Oof,” I huff when she puts her big paws in my lap. Lucas and I lounge around on the couch together for a bit, and then Lucas gets up to unpack his suitcase already. Mine is going to stay zipped up in the hallway right outside my bedroom door for at least a full forty-eight hours before I can even think about putting my clothes away.
Having purposely gotten rid of most of the food in the fridge before leaving for Florida for three weeks, I need to go grocery shopping and buy fifty pounds of dog food that may or may not last Scarlet a week. Lucas is in the office answering emails when I leave, and Binx comes with me to the store.
“I’m sorry,” I tell my Jeep, seeing the cracked headlight. “I’ll get you fixed soon enough.” I decide to stop at Novel Grounds before going to the grocery store, wanting to pop in and check on everything. Months ago, Lucas suggested I give up the notion I’ll return to work with the ability to keep a normal schedule.
Turns out he was right.
I’m still a co-owner of the bookstore, but now that I’m married to an undead billionaire, I don’t have to work. I could give Kristy full ownership and still come in when I can to help out, because I really do love this place. Or I could keep doing what I’ve been doing for months, having taken myself off the schedule but haven’t done anything more official than that, which is classic Callie-style of avoidance for you.
“Hey!” I call to Danielle and Vanessa. Binx prances in ahead of me, ready for everyone to gush all over him like they always do. The store is busy, which is always a good sight to see.
“Hey, Callie,” Vanessa says, looking up from the register. “How was your trip? We all kind of lived vicariously through your Instagram stories.”
“It was really fun. I’m glad to be back, though. How are you?”
“Good. Busy as usual.” Binx jumps on the counter, patiently waiting for Vanessa to finish ringing up a customer so she can love on him.
“Have we been busy like this a lot lately?”
Vanessa picks up Binx, and he starts purring right away. “It’s picked up a lot in the last week. We’re all starting to feel comfortable going out again.”
Obviously, I’m missing something. “Why wouldn’t you feel comfortable?”
“Oh, right. You’ve been out of town and didn’t hear the news.”
“What news?”
“A body was found in the woods. Her heart was missing.”
Chapter 26
Fucking demons.
I turn on the seat warmers in my Jeep, impatiently waiting for the news article to load on my phone. Vanessa summed everything up already, but I need to see it for myself.
Gloria Thompson, a thirty-year-old mother of three, was found dead in a shallow grave in the woods near the state park, close to Lake Michigan and very close to where the Ley line meets the water. Markings on her wrists and ankles indicated she’d been tied up and was very much alive when her heart was carved right out of her chest. As of right now, the police have no leads.
“That’s because they’re looking for a human and this was obviously a demon,” I tell Binx. “Fuck.” I ball my fist and toss my head