Page 30 of Blood of Night (The Thorne Hill)

“Shit,” I mumble, since I’d hoped she could watch Juliet while Evander and I got to work on the oracle. I’ll have to keep her here with Eliza, not that Eliza will mind, but dammit, I didn’t want to be away from my baby for long. “I’m not risking you, baby girl,” I tell Juliet, laying down on the floor so my face is by her. She lifts up her head, eyes wide as she looks at me. “Yay! Good girl!” She drops her head down with a little thud, even though she’s on her play mat. She immediately starts crying and I scoop her up to console her.

Gently rocking her, I rest her on my chest and kiss the top of her head. She settles down fairly quickly. “You’re still worn out from crying nonstop last night, huh?” I carry her into the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee, feed my familiars and Scarlet, and take Juliet onto the front porch, sitting on the swing while I hold my baby and sip my coffee.

“It’s almost funny,” I tell her. “How my worries have shifted. Before I met your father, my biggest fear was being able to keep paying the mortgage on both my house and the store. I never thought I’d have a sugar daddy, let alone an undead one.” I look out at the front yard, waving to one of the landscapers, who’s pulling in with another truck full of mulch. They’ve been here for an hour already, according to Freya, who still doesn’t trust them. “Well, I did worry about getting kidnapped and forced into a laboratory again, but that’s a story for when you’re older. If I ever tell it to you at all.”

We stay outside a while longer, and Eliza is up and dressed when we go back in. She takes Juliet so I can go upstairs and shower and get dressed, pump enough for a bottle, and then set out for the Covenstead. I’m taking my time saying bye to my baby when Binx lets me know someone pulled in the driveway, and it’s not one of the workers.

He comes with me to the porch, and I recognize Easton’s truck right as Binx places his energy.

“Hey,” I call when he puts the truck in park and gets out. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he tells me and reaches into his pocket. “You left this in the truck.” He holds out a little red box and my heart skips a beat. “It’s from the warehouse, right? I figured you’d need it and I’m on my way to meet another hunter in Indy. Your house was on the way.”

“I didn’t take this,” I say as he hands me the box. I pop the lid open and look at the ugly gold ring with the large green gemstone. “I remember seeing it, but I’m positive I didn’t take it.”

“Well, shit.”

“Right?” I inhale and carefully touch the gemstone. The energy coming off of it is heavy, and that’s the best way I can describe it. I can almost hear several voices whispering all at once, but I can’t tell if the voices are coming from inside my head or from inside the ring. “I’m about to go to the Covenstead. I’ll give this to Tabatha. She’ll know how to properly store or even dispose of it.”

“Good idea. Did the oracle thing work?” He almost winces as he asks, though I’m not sure if he’s afraid of finding out I found a way to save Lucas or afraid of upsetting me.

“I don’t know. I actually thought about what you said and decided it would be best to test things out at the Covenstead in a magically sealed room. Away from Juliet. She’s my daughter,” I add, not sure if Easton was aware of the name change or if he knew we had planned on naming her Elena in the first place.

“I know. Melinda talks about her a lot.”

“Do you want to come in and see her?” I ask slowly. “Or do you need to get going?”

“Uh, no, I don’t have to yet. The hunter I was meeting is running a few hours behind.” He shrugs. “You got coffee? I had a late night at the bar and here I am.”

“Yeah. I always have coffee, and I’m back to full strength, not decaf.”

“Coffee shouldn’t be decaf. It’s wrong.”

“Hah. Right?” I agree.

“What’s this?” Eliza says, raising her brows when Easton walks into the house. She’s holding Juliet and I go and take my baby from her. She’s all swaddled up and ready for a nap. The heated blanket is plugged in and Eliza has the living room set up for them to hang out in for the next few hours. “Another innocent friend for me to corrupt?”

“I’m not innocent,” Easton shoots back and Eliza gives him a little smirk.

“You won’t be when I’m done with you.” She flashes her fangs and I shake my head.

“This is Juliet.” I look down at my baby and feel a pull on my heart. I love her so fucking much, and so does Lucas. Knowing how much he’s fighting to get back to us kills me.

“She’s so small,” Easton notes and tips his head.

“I said the same when I first saw her,” Eliza says. “She’s gotten a lot bigger since then.”

Easton nods, not really sure what else to say. “When will she get magic? If she gets it at all, guess.”

“She will,” I say. “And normally, witches start showing signs around five or six. She’ll attend the same Academy I did.”

Easton nods again. “It’s, uh, good you have a plan.”

“Yeah,” I say and nuzzle my face against Juliet’s head. “All right, back to your sister. Mama has some work to do.” I give Juliet back to Eliza, missing her already. I’ve already instructed my familiars and Scarlet to stay here, keeping guard just in case the bad luck strikes at home. I have to give Juliet two more kisses before I can finally peel myself away.

“Sorry,” I tell Easton, though I don’t feel sorry at all.

“It’s okay, though I’ll admit it’s a little weird to see you so maternal.”

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