Callie - An Enchantress Novel - Book 1

Chapter 24

Between the phone battery giving up on her and being too mentally exhausted to contemplate trying to mind-link with anyone, she settled the bill from the B&B and headed home.

The journey seemed to take longer with only the radio for company, which played depressing music no matter which station she selected. She sniffled her way through Christina Perri's Thousand years, drying her tears with her sleeve as it ended.

Her mind whirled with everything that had happened over the last month. She would never age - stuck at 20 for the rest of her days providing she wasn't staked through the heart or lost her head - that would be a very long time. She would never have children, and that thought alone made her weep again. Having to watch Adie grow old and eventually die filled her with grief so consuming she had to pull over.

Finally pulling into her driveway several hours later, she switched off the engine and sat staring at the house. It seemed cold and empty and she felt more alone than ever. With renewed determination and a vow to just get on with it, she got out of the car, took the suitcase from the backseat and made her way inside. Her bed called to her. She was so exhausted that she dropped her things by the hall table and made her way upstairs to crawl under the covers still fully clothed. She cried herself to sleep, mourning the loss of her humanity and the seemingly simple life that had been taken from her on the pavement outside the office where she worked, but had yet to set foot in.

Lucien called for her while she slept. She appeared beside him on the bed, her eyes puffy and red and her hair in a crow's nest. Lucien didn't notice. She was so worn out that she didn't stir when he drew her into his arms and let her sleep in his embrace until the morning came. When she awoke in her own bed in the morning, she was none the wiser for having spent the night with Lucien.

A slight burn to her throat made it difficult to swallow the cold blood she eventually found on the front seat of the car. It was sort of like swallowing cold coffee when you had experienced an aromatic warm, creamy cappuccino -stale and bitter against the sweetness of fresh blood drawn directly from the vein. She forced it down.

The rest of the morning she spent cleaning the living room of broken furniture and glass before plugging the phone charger in. It took a minute for the screen to light up, when it did, her phone beeped and buzzed continuously for a good three minutes, alerting her to fourteen missed calls, five texts and six voice mails. She checked the voice mail first.

1st – Hey just letting you know we're at the airport and getting on the plane in about five minutes. Felix booked us in first class, a private suite of all things. Rick said the flight takes about eight hours and the phones have to be turned off, so I'll ring you when we land. Love you. Mwah.

2nd – Thank God we're finally on the ground, I think the change in air pressure must have played havoc with my head cause Rick reckons I passed out for a good hour. Anyway, I'm fine now... Jesus it's hot here compared to home. Ring me when you get this okay? Love you, talk soon.

3rd – Cal? Are you okay? ...Stupid question, of course you are, I'd know if you weren't. Although things have been a bit quieter through the bond, though I put that down to distance... I'm calling Sam now to see if he's heard from you.

4th – Callie it's Sam, Adie's been on the phone panicking because no one has heard from you since you left for Cork. Ring me back ASAP.

5th – Okay, I'm starting to get worried. No one's heard from you in - what - two and half days now. Rick and I have almost reached the point where we lose phone signal. We're stopping at a motel for the night, if you haven't called by morning I'm coming home to find you. Pity help that demon if he's hurt you in any way.