Page 29 of Blood of Night (The Thorne Hill)

Me: She’s perfect.

I send my most recent photo of Juliet, side stepping away from Abby’s question of how I’m doing. Sitting down with my sister and having a good cry could be therapeutic, but I don’t have time for it and I don’t want to tell her what happened. She worries too much and there’s nothing she can do to help.

Abby: Awwww. Penny wants to see the “bay-bee” again as she says it. We need to do another date night. Maybe without kids this time.

I swallow the lump in my throat.

Me: Yeah. That would be nice. I’ll let you know next time we’re in Chicago and we can plan something.

Abby: Sounds good. And I hope Lucas can pull some strings again and get us all in at that fancy French place you like so much. You can actually have a glass of wine this time too!

Me: That would be amazing. We will do it. The four of us.

Abby: Yay! I’m going to hop in the shower and go to bed. Sad I missed you this time but see you soon!

I black out my screen and make a promise that Lucas and Iwillgo to the fancy-pants French restaurant and I will order a glass of their most expensive wine as soon as he’s out of hell.

“Ready?” Eliza asks, appearing behind the couch with a designer suitcase in hand. She’s holding it as if it weighs nothing, but I’m sure that thing is stuffed full.

“Yeah, in a minute,” I say, looking down at Juliet. She’s starting to doze off, and I have to get her out of this fluffy dress and into a onesie before I can buckle her into her car seat. Everything goes smoothly until it’s time to actually leave. Juliet starts crying and doesn’t stop until we get to Thorne Hill, making me wonder if my bad luck is starting already.

My nerves are shot by the time we pull into the driveway, and Juliet quiets down, finally falling asleep. She wakes up as soon as I get the car seat out, despite my best efforts to move slowly and quietly. Then I realize she has not only a messy diaper that leaked through her clothes, but she also spit up all over herself. Was that why she cried the whole drive home?

Feeling like a bad mom—again—I clean her up and spend the next hour trying to get her to fall back asleep. Finally, I do, and I don’t even attempt the bassinet tonight. I put her in her swing and turn it on then head into the bathroom to get myself ready for bed.

I’m half asleep when I feel the mattress sink down next to me. I don’t think much of it until a cold hand lands on my shoulder. The feel of cool skin against me brings me instant comfort.

Until I remember that Lucas can’t be in bed with me.

ChapterFourteen

Summoning a ball of white light, I sit up and almost pummel Eliza right in the face with magic.

“The fuck, Eliza?” I close my fingers, putting out the light. “I almost burned your face off.”

“Yeah, be careful with that.” She props herself up on her elbow and narrows her eyes. “My skin heals but my hair does not. Do you know how long it took for me to grow it out like this?”

“I actually don’t.” Vampires’ hair and nails still grow even though they’re technically dead. It just takes a lot longer than it would for a human. “What are you doing?”

She lays back down and I realize she’s tucked herself under the covers with me. “The day you got married, Lucas made me promise him if anything happened, I would take care of you.” Her hand lands on my shoulder again. “I want to uphold my promise.”

I sit all the way up. “Are you—no, you’re not. Are you?”

She arches her eyebrows. “Depends on what you’re talking about.”

“I’m not having sex with you,” I say slowly.

“You’re missing out then.” She pouts, holding my gaze for another few seconds. “Kidding. We both know Lucas would rather you stay horny and alone than move on. Even in death, he wouldn’t want anyone else touching you.” She pats my pillow. “You’re not used to sleeping alone, and this way I can be in the same room as Juliet.”

I’m about to tell her no way in hell, but then I see the emotion she’s holding back. She’s not so much worried about me, but doesn’t want to be alone tonight herself. “Fine. Just one night, okay?”

Eliza smiles then quickly goes stoic again. “Needy human.”

I lay back down, and she rakes her long nails across my back. Her touch is obviously not the same as Lucas’s, yet there is something to not being alone tonight. My eyes fall shut and I think of my husband, heart longing to have him here with me. I want to run my fingers through his hair, which was also slowly growing and getting longer. The ends started to curl, and I loved playing with them, wrapping it around my fingers before leaning in to kiss him. I lay in bed, unable to sleep, until Juliet wakes up.

Eliza gets her and changes her diaper, and then passes her to me so I can nurse her. We make an oddly good co-parenting team. This time, when I get Juliet back asleep, I lay down and fall asleep rather quickly, probably thanks to Eliza scratching my back again. We trade on and off, taking turns getting up with Juliet, until about eight the next morning.

I drag myself out of bed and downstairs, doing tummy-time with Juliet while my coffee brews. I send Evander a note, telling him I’ll be at the Covenstead at some point this morning. He must have been in his office and gotten the note immediately because he replies back right away, saying that he can meet me between classes, and that Tabatha is out with another High Priestess today.

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