“I’m assuming you didn’t use
protection.”
Protection? Oh. That . My cheeks heated. Were we really
talking about this? “No, but I’m on the pill.”
“The same pills you haven’t taken since before you and Micah
were attacked?”
Holy motherfucking shit. I’d missed a pill. The
breath swooshed from my lungs as if someone had just punched me in the stomach.
I wasn’t ready for babies. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if I could have
children considering I was mostly vampire. My hammering heart pounded just a
little faster—a reminder that I wasn’t a normal undead creature of the night.
As if he was oblivious to my inner freak-the-fuck-out, Roy
kept speaking. “It’s too late for a morning-after pill. However, considering
your recent changes I feel it’s unlikely that you’d become pregnant. I’d
like to draw some blood. I’ve got a private lab in mind we can send the sample to.”
“Wait, what do you mean too late? How long were we gone?”
“Four days.”
My knees gave way and I collapsed on the floor in an
ungraceful heap. I looked up at my uncle. “I’ve been gone for four days?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yes. Now, are you positive it was a succubus that attacked
you two? Succubi are not known to target a couple and they don’t leave their
victims alive.”
“Micah is in the hospital!”
“Because of you, Ella, not the demon. Eli tracked Micah to
the Lazy Eight Hotel when he and Hannah hacked into his credit card records.
You two checked in and never came back out. A hotel that rents by the hour does
not stock food. Neither of you ate or drank any water for days. It is a miracle
he survived. I’ve seen the tattoos and the…bites. On both of you.” Roy
clarified when I started to open my mouth.
Four freaking days? How is that even possible?
“Magic moves between you two, but I’ve never seen anything
like it before. You should have seen Micah when he and Eli brought you to me.
He was beside himself when Eli tried to touch you. He shoved him, actually
threw him across the room and bared his teeth like he was a rabid beast.
“In the last three days we’ve suffered earthquakes and
tornados, neither of which is native to our state. Eli and I have closed six
different demon portals, which as you know is rare. We’ve also had an
unprecedented number of demon attacks, so many the cleaners can’t keep up. The
Agency has spun some bogus story about a gas leak to explain some of the
sightings.”
He withdrew a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and
handed it to me. As he spoke, I opened what appeared to be a map of the state
decorated in a cyclone of color-coded X ’s.
“I’ve been charting the reported attacks. As you can see,
they are closing in around us. The ones in black happened four days ago and
were outside our city limits. Blue was three days ago and red represents the
violence last night.”
The pattern cleared. We were at the epicenter. I looked up
at my uncle with something akin to guilt tightening my chest. Vampire Queen.
Demon Son. Destruction and mayhem. Were Micah and I somehow the catalyst
for all of this chaos? “The succubus said we’d bring about destruction and
mayhem. Are Micah and I responsible for this?”
“I’m not sure, not until I gather more facts.”
“Is it safe for Hannah to even leave the house? To be near
me?” I asked.
“Until we know what’s causing this disturbance, I feel she’s
safer with us than without. I know you don’t want to hear this, but we can’t
shield her forever.”
My mother’s lifeless body flashed before my eyes and I
recalled the porch swing she’d been propped in for my father to find. While I
could still hear the creaking chain and see the nearly black pool beneath her,
the other details were hazy. Hannah, who’d been four at the time, could still
tell you what the weather had been like. What kind of ice cream we’d been out
getting and how many red lights we’d stopped at to get home.
protection.”
Protection? Oh. That . My cheeks heated. Were we really
talking about this? “No, but I’m on the pill.”
“The same pills you haven’t taken since before you and Micah
were attacked?”
Holy motherfucking shit. I’d missed a pill. The
breath swooshed from my lungs as if someone had just punched me in the stomach.
I wasn’t ready for babies. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if I could have
children considering I was mostly vampire. My hammering heart pounded just a
little faster—a reminder that I wasn’t a normal undead creature of the night.
As if he was oblivious to my inner freak-the-fuck-out, Roy
kept speaking. “It’s too late for a morning-after pill. However, considering
your recent changes I feel it’s unlikely that you’d become pregnant. I’d
like to draw some blood. I’ve got a private lab in mind we can send the sample to.”
“Wait, what do you mean too late? How long were we gone?”
“Four days.”
My knees gave way and I collapsed on the floor in an
ungraceful heap. I looked up at my uncle. “I’ve been gone for four days?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yes. Now, are you positive it was a succubus that attacked
you two? Succubi are not known to target a couple and they don’t leave their
victims alive.”
“Micah is in the hospital!”
“Because of you, Ella, not the demon. Eli tracked Micah to
the Lazy Eight Hotel when he and Hannah hacked into his credit card records.
You two checked in and never came back out. A hotel that rents by the hour does
not stock food. Neither of you ate or drank any water for days. It is a miracle
he survived. I’ve seen the tattoos and the…bites. On both of you.” Roy
clarified when I started to open my mouth.
Four freaking days? How is that even possible?
“Magic moves between you two, but I’ve never seen anything
like it before. You should have seen Micah when he and Eli brought you to me.
He was beside himself when Eli tried to touch you. He shoved him, actually
threw him across the room and bared his teeth like he was a rabid beast.
“In the last three days we’ve suffered earthquakes and
tornados, neither of which is native to our state. Eli and I have closed six
different demon portals, which as you know is rare. We’ve also had an
unprecedented number of demon attacks, so many the cleaners can’t keep up. The
Agency has spun some bogus story about a gas leak to explain some of the
sightings.”
He withdrew a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and
handed it to me. As he spoke, I opened what appeared to be a map of the state
decorated in a cyclone of color-coded X ’s.
“I’ve been charting the reported attacks. As you can see,
they are closing in around us. The ones in black happened four days ago and
were outside our city limits. Blue was three days ago and red represents the
violence last night.”
The pattern cleared. We were at the epicenter. I looked up
at my uncle with something akin to guilt tightening my chest. Vampire Queen.
Demon Son. Destruction and mayhem. Were Micah and I somehow the catalyst
for all of this chaos? “The succubus said we’d bring about destruction and
mayhem. Are Micah and I responsible for this?”
“I’m not sure, not until I gather more facts.”
“Is it safe for Hannah to even leave the house? To be near
me?” I asked.
“Until we know what’s causing this disturbance, I feel she’s
safer with us than without. I know you don’t want to hear this, but we can’t
shield her forever.”
My mother’s lifeless body flashed before my eyes and I
recalled the porch swing she’d been propped in for my father to find. While I
could still hear the creaking chain and see the nearly black pool beneath her,
the other details were hazy. Hannah, who’d been four at the time, could still
tell you what the weather had been like. What kind of ice cream we’d been out
getting and how many red lights we’d stopped at to get home.
Similar Books
