He supposed that was one thing most mothers had in common.No one would have ever nominated Blair Lockwood for a Mother of the Year award, but even she’d always wanted to make sure her son had plenty to eat.
“We’re starving,” Delia admitted, and her mother immediately began steering them toward a buffet that had been set up along one wall.
As they made their way across the room, Caleb could sense the subtle shift in the supernatural landscape around him.The ley line energy that had been building toward critical mass all day now flowed in natural patterns again, no longer twisted into the hellish network Vinea had created.But he could also sense something else — other psychically sensitive individuals scattered throughout the reception, their abilities awakened by the night’s events but now settling into a new equilibrium.
“You feel it, too,” Delia murmured beside him, and he realized she must have been sensing the energy flows as well.
“Yes,” he replied quietly, grateful that Vinea’s meddling didn’t appear to have wreaked any permanent damage.“It’s like the whole city just took a deep breath and relaxed.”
And that meant he and Delia could, too.
They filled their plates with prime rib and salmon, roasted vegetables, and the most succulent potatoes au gratin he’d ever eaten.The food was excellent, but Caleb found himself more interested in watching Delia interact with her extended family.She moved through the room with easy grace, accepting congratulations on her cousin’s behalf, sharing stories about the wedding preparations that made it sound as if the change of venue had been an amusing lark rather than a desperate attempt to keep everyone from getting sucked into a hellmouth, and waving off her rumpled dress with a kind of natural ease that made him more in love with her than ever.
He knew this was what he’d been fighting to protect.Not just Delia herself, but everything she represented — everything this family gathering represented.Watching her laugh at something her uncle said, seeing the way her face lit up when Olivia came over to thank her for all her help, Caleb understood on a visceral level why the demons’ plan had been so fundamentally terrible.
It wasn’t just about the potential body count of such a demonic takeover, although that would have been horrific enough.No, even worse would have been the destruction of everything that made life worth living in the first place.
That made being mortal so wonderfully fragile and perfect.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Delia said as she slid up beside him where he stood near the windows overlooking the golf course.
“Just thinking about how differently this night could have gone,” he replied as he accepted the glass of champagne she offered him.“If we hadn’t stopped Vinea….”
“But wedidstop him,” she broke in, her voice firm.“And Olivia and Alec got to have their perfect wedding reception, Pru’s definitely leveled up in terms of leveraging her connections, and Ty gets to go back to…well, whatever mysterious angel business he’s usually involved in.”
The casual way she mentioned Ty’s angelic nature made Caleb raise an eyebrow.“Still processing that last display from him?”
“I’m processing a lot of things,” Delia said with a smile, then sipped some champagne.“Like the fact that I can apparently tap into a citywide network of psychic energy without any training whatsoever.Or that you can channel enough demonic power to go toe-to-toe with a lord of Hell and come out the other side still essentially yourself.”
Something in her tone made him look at her more closely.Her expression was serene enough, but he thought he saw a certain shadow in her eyes.“Is that what’s bothering you?The changes?”
“Not ‘bothering,’ exactly,” she said, then paused as she seemed to search for the right words.“It’s just…we’re different now, aren’t we?Both of us.The things we can do, the way we’re connected to all this supernatural energy.None of it is going away.”
“Maybe not going away,” he replied, then hesitated for a moment.Everything was raw and new, and he was still trying to process what had happened.At the same time, though, he wasn’t as worried as he’d been even a half hour ago.“But I think it’s calming down.Don’t you feel it?”
She was quiet for a long moment, her gaze tracking from the window to the small wooden floor where her cousin was dancing with Alec, dark head lying against his chest.“I think I do,” she said after a long pause.“I mean, I still feel different.But not quite as different as I did when all that was happening.”
“Same here,” he said.“Maybe those powers will surge if we need them, but I don’t think you have to worry about them consuming every aspect of your life.”
She was quiet again.When she spoke, her tone was more musing than troubled, despite her next words.“I keep thinking about what happens next, though.I mean, are we going to spend the rest of our lives fighting demons and investigating supernatural conspiracies?Because after all that, the real estate business is looking pretty tame by comparison.”
Despite everything they’d been through, Caleb found himself chuckling.“I don’t know about the rest of our lives, but I think we might have earned ourselves some breathing space.And that’s no small thing.”
She reached over and took his hand, twining her fingers with his.They were warm and strong and just what he needed to feel then.
“No,” she said, “I suppose it isn’t.”
Before Caleb could respond, Olivia appeared beside them, glowing with happiness and maybe a little too much champagne.
“There you are!”she exclaimed, throwing her arms around both of them in an enthusiastic, if slightly tipsy, hug.“Delia, I can’t thank you enough for everything you did.The chapel was absolutely perfect, and the flowers were gorgeous.Everything went off without a hitch.”
Somehow, Caleb kept his mouth from twitching at the “without a hitch” comment.“Your cousin is kind of a miracle worker,” he said.“The reception is really beautiful.”
“Thank you.”Olivia beamed at him, then turned to Delia.“And thank you for insisting we change venues.I know Alec and I were being difficult about it, but you were absolutely right.Angel’s Dream would have been all wrong for us.”
“I’m just glad everything worked out,” Delia replied, and Caleb admired her ability to keep her expression perfectly neutral.But then again, she had plenty of experience working with difficult clients and maintaining her cool no matter what the circumstances.Smiling, she added, “Sometimes you have to trust your instincts.”
“Exactly!”Olivia agreed, then lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.“Actually, I heard something interesting from one of Alec’s golf buddies, who also lives here in Henderson.He’s a fire chief with the city of Las Vegas.Apparently, there was some kind of electrical fire at Angel’s Dream earlier tonight.The building had to be evacuated.”
