Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
There’s no such thing as a small favor from a god.
Aunt Stella and Aunt Anita bid their farewells and retreated to gather our forces in the wake of Eloise’s dismissal from our family. We needed to ensure every single ally we could gather was ready for battle. The stronger we became, the less blood would be shed.
Dayna’s house stretched upward. The front door opened, and a red carpet flicked out in greeting.
“What did we do to deserve the VIP treatment?” I wondered as I willed my stupid wings beneath my skin.
Dayna glanced up at the windows as the shutters rolled down before flicking back up. “Not sure. He’s been in a surly mood since we arrived. I think he misses the old location.”
The gargoyles carved into the corners shifted and glared at us. One even stuck out its tongue. Charming. A shiver worked its way down my spine.
“The house is sentient?” Abbadon muttered as we entered. The presence of whatever lurked inside skimmed my flesh. Tasting, testing, and deciding my welcome.
“Yes.”
“Interesting, and a little weird. Even for a Roberts.” Abaddon gasped and was flung out of the door, his ass sliding across the grass. We turned to stare at the dumbstruck angel. “That was rude,” he snapped, leaping to his feet.
“What was rude was passing judgement on my house without getting to know him first,” Dayna pointed out. “If we all took your title at face value, no one would speak to you.”
“Point taken,” he snarled as he stalked up the steps and hit an invisible wall.
Hudson snorted. “You upset the house.”
Abbadon rubbed his nose, his eyes watering. “Why isn’t he allowing me in?”
“You need to apologize,” Dayna drawled. “Have some manners.”
Abbadon took a step back, and for a beat, I thought he was going to retreat back to Heaven or wherever he hung out when he wasn’t delivering vague threats and random facts.
His throat bobbed. The angel of death didn’t do apologies, so I wasn’t about to miss this.
“I don’t need an audience,” he muttered as none of us moved. He rolled his eyes. “I apologize for my rude words. You are clearly an intelligent being with morals and high standards that I crossed. It won’t happen again.”
The house didn’t budge.
Lucifer materialized next to Abaddon and scanned him from head to toe. “What are you doing, brother? We agreed to meet inside the house.”
Lucifer jerked his head over his shoulder at Summer Grove House and quirked a brow at me. “I see the reviews are living up to their reputation.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Hell had heard I ran a brothel, and there was no recovering from that. “It’s not intentional,” I muttered. “But this is why we’re meeting at Dayna’s house.”
My uncle nodded and strode over the threshold without issue.
“Seriously?” my father snapped. “The devil is allowed in?”
A rumble of amusement swirled around us, and Hudson and Sebastian chuckled.
Lucifer folded his arms and pressed his lips together. “The house isn’t weighing up past sins, Abbadon. It simply wants you to be cordial and respectful. Whatever you said pissed it off. I suggest you leave your judgment for the pearly gates.”
“That's not my job.”
An unseen force dragged Abbadon into the house. A vine broke free from the wall and slapped his butt on the way in.
“You are on probation,” Dayna informed him. “One more disparaging word, and you’ll be barred for life.”
Hudson’s hand curled around my hip as we followed Dayna and Sophia into the dining room. “You okay?” he whispered against my ear.
“I would have been better if we hadn’t been interrupted by a suddenly present father. But it is what it is.”
He jerked me to the side and let everyone pass. His fingers curled around my chin, tipping my head to hold my eyes hostage. “We need to steal the moments. Waiting for the calm in a storm that will never happen is a recipe for losing each other.”
“I know.”
He leaned his forehead against mine. “Am I forgiven?”
My mind replayed the video. The desperation of the people I loved to save me, no matter the cost to themselves.
“Yes.”
He exhaled, and his shoulders relaxed. “Thank you.”
“If you guys are getting naked, take it outside to the brothel,” Dayna sing-songed from the dining room.
“Tempting,” Hudson said as he pressed a searching kiss against my mouth.
My heart raced with anticipation. No, we couldn’t do this here. I needed time and privacy for all the ways I planned to have this man on his knees. I tore my lips away.
“Let’s find out why my father is here,” I grumbled.
“Fine, but this isn’t finished.”
“I hope it never is.”
His grin was wicked. “I see we need to explore your limits.”
I smacked his chest. “I meant us in general, not us with no clothes on.”
“I can do many things to make your eyes cross with our clothes still on.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, stud.”
“Are you challenging me?”
I pushed him away and ducked under his arm before glancing at him over my shoulder. “Always, Principal.”
Maggie sat cross-legged on a chair, flicking through something on her phone. Good. I was grateful she wasn’t witnessing the orgy over in Summer Grove House.
A tray containing a steaming pot of tea and several cups and saucers floated into the room and arranged itself on the dining table. I smiled at the Beauty and the Beast reference.
We settled in a group, and I relished the perfect blend of tea leaves that warmed my chest and settled my soul.
Abbadon raised a brow as he sipped from his cup. “That is a delicious blend, Miss Roberts.”
Dayna winked at him. “A family secret.”
No, it was actually just the luxury brand from the farmer’s market that graced White Castle every Friday.
Sophia dropped a lump of sugar in Lucifer’s cup and stirred it for him. He didn’t even blink before drinking. My aunt materialized a ball of wool from her skirts and began crocheting. Still with the pink and the small.
“You succeeded,” Lucifer checked. “Eloise is alone?”
Dayna’s lips turned down. “We did.”
“Then why do you look like someone who lost?”
Sophia paused with her hook in the air. “Just because we knew it was the correct thing, doesn’t make it easier when there is a gap in our hearts for the matriarch of the family.”
“I’m more concerned with the burst of god power that awoke beasts and brethren,” Abbadon said with an expectant look at me.
I shrugged. “I needed help to get the remnants under control.”
Lucifer shot a frown at Hudson. I glanced between the two of them. “What was that look?”
Hudson’s gaze dropped. “I don’t know what you mean.”
I folded my arms and leaned back. “Sure you don’t.”
“Let’s table your rocky relationship for now. What we need to understand is what just happened with Donn,” Abaddon said.
Lucifer stared at the wall like it held all the answers, and Hudson refused to meet my eyes. What on earth was happening?
“I accepted some of Donn’s power,” I muttered.
Lucifer’s and Hudson’s heads snapped to me. I raised a brow at their audacity when they were keeping secrets. Okay, okay, I might be hiding dates with a god, but still. Try me. I fucking dare you both.
“So now you’re in debt to him?” Abbadon ground out as he drummed his fingers on the dining table. “He won’t like this.”
“Who?” Please be weird and be talking about yourself in the third person. Please, please, please, don’t let “he” be the God.
“Your grandfather.”
Damn it.
Sophia’s hand paused in her rapid crocheting before resuming with a smile, like she had just realized something.
“I don’t see either of you turning up to help us. No, the only being willing to even discuss some kind of support is—”
“The same one causing the issue,” my father cut me off.
My mouth snapped shut.
Dayna snorted. “If my mother hadn’t enlisted Donn, she would have found somebody else, and they might not have been as cordial. At least give the man his due; he’s not roaring across the world, hellbent on destruction.”
“Poor choice of words,” Lucifer muttered. “I resent my realm being used as a crutch for metaphors.”
“Then stop being so cliché,” Sebastian said with a bright smile.
“Cora still hasn’t mentioned what she promised him,” Hudson said.
“Now, or previously?” I taunted.
“Pick one,” he growled.
I’d long ago stopped being afraid of the big bad wolf, right around the time I realized I was typically the bigger, badder monster in the room.
“You pick one, Principal. Why are you and my uncle avoiding each other’s gaze like it’s a team sport?”
Hudson’s jaw clenched, and Lucifer held his hands up. “This isn’t my secret to tell.”
“Because you can’t, or won’t?” I wondered.
“Can’t.”
Huh, so my mate made a deal with Lucifer and had enough forethought to put an NDA in place.
“Hash this out later. My time is valuable,” Abaddon snapped.
“Then be on your way. No one invited you.”
“No, but you needed me.”
“Yes, I feel so much better now that I’m being judged. Please continue.”
“Don’t be dramatic, Cora.”
I slammed my fist on the table, making Dayna jump and Abbadon narrow his gaze.
The teapot hissed in sympathy. Even it knew I was done.
My wings itched with the need for release. I clamped down on them. “Unless you have something meaningful to offer the group, you will be quiet or leave.”
Abbadon tilted his head to the side. “Have you looked into your lineage yet?”
I blinked. “Yes, that’s how we unraveled Eloise.”
“No, not the Roberts side.”
I squinted at him as a siren song wove around my mind. Faded, forgotten, but not erased. It hummed in my veins, a memory imprinted that slithered out of my grasp.
“And while you’re at it, try digging up everything you can on the god you’ve bound yourself to.” After dropping that nugget, he disappeared, and everyone sucked in a breath, waiting for the ax to fall.
“Bound?” Hudson roared.
So that was how it was going to be? Drop the bomb and run from the room to watch the fireworks from afar?
I glanced at the ceiling and sent him a metaphorical middle finger.