Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Gods, ghosts, and growling mates.
Outside, the Louisiana sky was bruising as it prepared for the shroud of evening.
I grabbed a much-needed soda and closed the small fridge before folding myself onto the sofa, fanning my dress out around me.
My wings shuddered as they skimmed the kitchen unit and wall.
This was going to take some getting used to.
I tried retracting them once more, and like a stubborn mule, they refused to listen. I sighed, popped the tab, and took my first drink of the sugary goodness.
Harry appeared in front of me, his legs sinking into the surface of the coffee table while he floated in front of me. “Those are new,” he said, pointing at the giant feathered appendages.
“No, they are just free.”
He scowled. “I don’t understand.”
Neither did I, but while wings that altered my center of gravity were a problem, they weren’t my priority.
Bella sauntered along the railing before thudding onto the floor and stalking through the open French doors.
My cat eyeballed the wings before snaking between my legs, brushing her soft fur against my skin.
I blinked down at her. Bella claimed my home as her own the night she rode into my makeshift morgue on the back of a dead shifter.
She preferred men and delighted in dropping anything she caught at their feet.
I, her caregiver and food source, got haughty looks and a regular view of her ass whenever she stuck her tail high in the air while sauntering off.
Being contradictory and keeping me on my toes, she jumped onto the sofa, rubbed against one of my wings, and curled up against it, offering me a yawn while gazing at me.
“You have to know they only had your best interests at the heart of their decisions,” Harry reasoned.
Even my ghostly sidekick was in on it? Why did that hurt so much?
“And I’m sure that reasoning helps absolve you all of the guilt about removing my memories and lying to me.”
He grimaced but didn’t deny his part. He may not have had a hand in whatever magic they used, but he knew, and that made him part of the problem.
“I don’t know what happened, but the man who brought you back isn’t a good person.”
It seems the god of death materializing in my rooms located on the top floor of my bed-and-breakfast freaked out my resident ghost.
“He’s not a man. He’s a god.”
“That doesn’t make him good.”
I wasn’t sure what Donn’s goal was, but the dates kept him in my orbit until I could unpick his motivations.
“Agreed, but let’s reserve judgment given he’s the only one who can weaken Eloise enough to stop her.”
Harry recoiled at my grandmother’s name, a reasonable reaction to the woman single-handedly trying to start a war between humans and supernaturals by exposing us to the world.
She didn’t just want a war; she desired domination.
She saw herself as the ultimate leader of the three factions: elementals, shifters, and vampires.
But in doing so, she’d garnered the interest of Heaven, Hell, and an ancient god with questionable goals.
This would make most people pause and take stock of their actions, but not Eloise Roberts.
Her narcissism knew no bounds. I wouldn’t be surprised if she saw herself on a throne ruling angels and demons, which was never going to happen.
Heaven and Hell were watching, and each had a representative with various amounts of involvement.
While Lucifer took a more active role, Abbadon, the archangel of death and my father, stuck his nose in my business and offered unreasonable solutions, but didn’t step over the line of interference.
That came down on my shoulders. How on earth did they expect me to defeat my grandmother while they chained part of my psyche?
Harry’s head snapped to the door as footsteps moved up the stairs. “Do you want me to leave?”
“Yes.” This conversation was between mates, if indeed I could get past this betrayal and remain tied to Hudson for the rest of our lives.
We all make mistakes. The old me, the one still ruled by a betrayal of the heart, was terrified that I’d yet again picked someone who would hurt me. The new me was sick of running scared.
Harry hung his head and sank into the floor, passing into Rebecca’s room. Interesting exit.
“I already tried locating her,” Aunt Liz said. “Wherever he’s taken her, it’s either warded or...”
“Not on this plane,” Aunt Dayna finished.
“Lucifer and Abbadon have that covered,” Aunt Liz said.
They sounded upset. Good. I was livid.
“From what you said, she doesn’t appear to be in danger,” Dave reasoned.
“I will tear this world and any other apart to find my mate,” Hudson growled as the door swung open. He froze, and his eyes rolled with a flash of gold.
“No need for violence, Principal. I’m right here,” I said.
Hudson’s lip curled when I used his title rather than our relationship. To be my mate, you had to freaking earn it.
“Cora?” Aunt Liz snapped.
Hudson stepped farther into the room, and everyone pressed against him.
I lifted my hand, making everyone pause. “We need to talk.”
“What happened?” Aunt Dayna demanded.
I leveled my aunts with the Roberts’ stare. It wouldn’t make them cower, but it would communicate my mood better than any words.
Dave folded his arms. “Where did he take you?”
“I don’t owe any of you an explanation, but since I am not a liar, I will tell you that Donn took me to his castle.”
“He has a castle?” Aunt Dayna asked with interest. We ignored her.
“What did he do?” Aunt Liz asked.
“We talked.”
“And those wings? Did he give you those?”
I shook my head. “These were always mine. I just needed to claim them. Something you would have realized had you not interfered in my memories and psyche.” She opened her mouth and took a step toward me.
“Not now,” I snapped. Maybe not ever. I was at war.
I would prefer to have them at my side, but I couldn’t risk the deception.
Their future in my life would depend on their explanation.
I flicked my fingers, and everyone but Hudson skidded across the wooden floor and out of the room. The last thing I saw was the shocked faces of my aunts and Dave before the door slammed closed and the wards shimmered, protecting us from prying ears, bossy shifters, and determined family members.
Hudson’s eyes narrowed. I waved my hand at the armchair in invitation. “Sit down, Principal.”
He eyed the sofa.
Try it, I dare you.
His jaw ticced as he stalked across the room and decided on the chair opposite me. “Did he touch you?” Hudson’s voice was low, dangerous.
“Yes.”
The sound he made wasn’t human—a snarl that rippled through the air and raised the hair on my nape. Shadows trembled against the walls, reacting to his fury.
Indigo stirred inside me, that part of my soul they’d tried to bury. Our mate doesn’t get to growl at us. “Careful,” she purred, her voice curling like smoke. “I could eat him.”
Hudson’s eyes widened, and Bella stirred from her position next to me, before stretching out and choosing to lie on her side.
“She still talks to you?” he asked.
I nodded. “For now. She is a part of me unencumbered by the manipulations of those I loved.”
“Loved?”
“What?”
Hudson leaned forward and glared. “As in past tense, Cora.”
“You can’t wipe out an emotional connection like that.” I snapped my fingers. “But until I decide if you are worth forgiving, you can classify our relationship as being on ice.”
“Not a chance.”
“I wasn’t asking permission.”
“Think what you want,” he said, voice rough. “But I know what I know. You and I are endgame.”
End, maybe. I wasn’t sure about the game.
“This isn’t about the future,” I said. “It’s about the past and why you thought you had the right to rewrite mine.”
“And I need to know where he touched you.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “My arm while teleporting me here.”
“He knows where you live?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “This isn’t the supernatural CIA, Hudson, it’s a bed-and-breakfast in White Castle that is overrun with ghosts.
While I don’t think Donn will be surfing the net and stalking social media as an internet detective, I have no doubt he could locate me with the snap of his fingers. ”
“He’s our enemy, Cora.”
I dropped my arm to the side. “No, he’s our ally.”
“So he’s helping us?”
This next part would be tricky. “Yes.”
“At what cost?”
Damn it. I hate perceptive shifters. Why couldn’t I fall for a clueless idiot?
“Not significant.”
“I’ll be the one to decide what’s significant.”
I arched a brow. “Your right to make decisions on my behalf ended when you colluded to rob me of my memories and fracture my psyche.”
Hudson’s claws extended and dug into the arm of the chair as he shoved away from it and paced in front of me. I didn’t even blink. I was no longer impressed by the Terror of Tennessee.
“Did you seek my consent?”
“No, because you weren’t capable of giving it.”
“Then you should never have made that decision.”
“It wasn’t just me.”
The words hit harder than they should have. I couldn’t trust anyone I Ioved.
“Maybe. But you were the one who swore to be my other half. If you’d said no, they would have listened.”
He punched the air, fury and heartbreak twisting his face. “You think it was easy? Watching you dying in my arms? Hearing your screams until your voice broke?”
I didn’t doubt his words. “You cannot shield me from everything that would hurt me.”
“It was your own mind attacking you. I cannot win that war for you, but I could and did agree to give you time to come to terms with what had happened. The memory patch was always temporary.”
“How long?”
He froze. “What?”
“How long was temporary in your eyes?”
His chest rose and fell as he weighed his answer. “I don’t know.”
“Indefinitely then. So long as it suited you. A broken mate wasn’t the woman you could present to the pack.”
He pointed at me. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”