Page 79 of King of Night
“Like on a date?”
“Yes, a date.”
“Be careful,” Eliza pleads.“I don’t want to lose you and we both know how much witches hate us.”
“Callie is different,” I tell her, though I’m not able to put my finger on exactly how she’s different.She just is.
“Just…be careful.Think with your head and not your dick for once.”
The stairs creak as Callie comes down.She’s wearing another black dress, but it’s much different than the other one.This one is low cut, showing off her perfect tits.I watch with hunger in my eyes, as her breasts bounce as she comes down the stairs.Her hair is swept away from her face in soft curls, and her eyes light up the whole damn room.
“Wait out the sun at my house, if you’d like,” I tell Eliza.“And I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I better fucking see you,” she snaps.“I’m going to be so pissed if you die.”
“I’d hope for nothing less.”
I end the call and pocket my phone, checking Callie out once again.“Black is your color, Callie.”
“It goes with everything,” she says, brushing off the compliment.“Ready?”
“Always.”I speed over to her.She grabs her purse and we head out the door.The black cat comes with us, jumping off the porch and shifting into what looks like a black shadow.Huh.So that’s what he really looks like when he’s not posing as a cat.
“You got a new car?”Callie asks, looking at the black Range Rover in her driveway.
“I’ve had that one for about a year now.”I unlock it and open the door for Callie.“I almost forgot I had it.I’ve acquired a great deal of material items over the years.”
“Makes sense.Sixteen hundred years is a long time to have to, uh, collect and save.”
I passed by the restaurant on my way here and don’t need directions to get there.This town is small, and easy to navigate.It’s late—for humans that is—and we’re seated right away.Callie puts in her order and the waitress is too busy eyeing me to realize it’s odd for a human to decline food.She’s walking away from the table when she pauses, looking back at me and wondering if I’m a vampire.
“And now she’s wondering if you’re a vampire,” Callie says with a half smile.I reach across the table and take her hand in mine.She’s so warm and her skin is so soft.I gently turn her wrist over and trace the blue veins with my finger.
“Do I smell different?”she asks.“Because I’m a witch?”
Witch blood smells like human blood.It’s the magic we can sense, and there’s something more than witchcraft coming from Callie.“No.You smell different for another reason.”
“Well, as long as it’s not bad, I’m fine with it.”
Slowly, I run my fingers from her wrist to the palm of her hand.A shiver works its way through her.“Why were you at my bar last night?”I let go of her hand and look back into her eyes.
“I was in the area.”
“But why?”
She looks down at the table, and I can see the conflicting emotions playing out on her face.“I wanted to see what it would feel like to go back.I told you, I hadn’t been there in years.”
“You did tell me, but you never said why you left.”
“I did.”She looks back into my eyes.“I needed to get away.”
“You said you wanted a change.”
“Yeah, and that’s, uh, that’s what I meant.”Turning her head back down, she tenses.Whatever she had to get away from still upsets her.It’s causing not only her heart to beat faster, but her blood pressure to rise.I don’t like seeing her like this, upset from a memory.
Or upset at all.
It hits me again that I’d do anything to make her smile.But…why?
