Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Love is the only sanctuary the storm cannot touch.
Istared at the man who had ingested the fires of Hell to become strong enough to protect me. What happened to flowers and chocolates? Midnight walks on the beach?
Was it returnable? Was it permanent? Did it need to be topped up? What were the long-term consequences?
“He is truly a worthy mate,” Indigo purred. “Now we can fly as angels and sin like demons in the sky.”
I blinked. Sky-born sexcapades? That seemed like a recipe for disaster. Next time, it might not be a bat that got tangled between us; it could be something worse, like a swarm of frisky ghosts or my grandmother riding a broom.
Hudson tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. “You have a thousand questions swimming in your eyes, Cora.”
“What does Lucifer get out of this?” He might be my uncle, but he was, at his core, still a fallen archangel and the devil—albeit not the evil being the church enjoyed painting him as. He’d pissed off his god and got assigned a nightmare job role as punishment.
Hudson swallowed. “You first.”
I frowned. “I didn’t make any deals with Lucifer.”
“No, but you have another secret to confess.”
My gaze dropped to his feet, and my heart raced. Could I spill the Serpents’ secrets now that my mate’s power was uncertain? We’d made the agreement under the assumption Hudson was in charge. I hoped he hadn’t done anything to jeopardize everything we were working for.
“Whatever it is, Cora, I won’t run. What more do I need to do to prove I am in love with you?”
I took a small step back and swept my gaze over the enormous wings. “You didn’t have anything to prove in the first place.”
“Perhaps not, but I will take every risk to protect my mate.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. Here goes. “There’s a secret organization.”
Hudson hummed, causing me to flick my eyes open. He folded his arms and arched a brow, waiting for me to continue.
“It has six members, each representing a faction.”
“But there are only three factions,” he pointed out.
I nodded. “Yes, but more recently, the spirit community needed to be involved, along with the angelic one.”
“That makes five. What is the purpose of this group?”
Look at him counting my truths and getting down to the root of the issue in one breath. “At first, I thought it was to govern the factions and bring everyone together to ensure no one abused their power.”
“They failed.”
I nodded and avoided his eyes. “Agreed, but they’re working together to drag Eloise from the brink of war.”
“How?”
“Uncertain, although a lot is riding on my deal with Donn to remove the power he’s given her.”
“So this secret organization is basically mirroring what we are doing openly in your house?”
I paced the forest floor. “Yes, but that’s because I recently learned that they have a deeper function.”
His hand snapped out and circled my waist, dragging me into him. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, we can face it together.” He tapped his finger on my forehead. “Two heads are better than one.”
“I’m the function.”
“Explain.”
“You know the story of Adam and Eve?”
“I’m down for a little role play if it involves being naked, but I’m not following.”
“How the snake tempted Eve to eat the apple?”
“Yes.”
“So it turns out that she was choosing free will over Eden, lifting the veil for the future generations. Her choice reverberated through history, bringing us to a new fork in the road.”
“The one Eloise is forcing?”
I nodded. “So the new Eve has to make another choice.”
“Okay.”
He wasn’t getting it, and why would he? I’m not sure I even got it.
“This time, it’s whether to fight for the status quo, reversing what my grandmother has started and keeping the factions and humanity firmly separate, or to usher us into a new reality. One where there are no secrets. No hiding.”
“We agreed that would cause a war.”
“The way my grandmother is engineering it, yes. But I think there are better ways. More peaceful and less apocalyptic ways.”
Hudson tilted his head. “What gives Eve the right to decide for the factions?”
“Her blood and her bonds. She links all of them together.”
“And you represent the elementals?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Then why are you there, Cora?”
I drop my head back and sigh. “Because I am the choice, Hudson. The one who carries the bonds of the factions and the weight of Heaven and Hell.”
He was going to turn away from me now. Run. Abandon me. I wouldn’t blame him, but it would destroy me. Somewhere between a sarcastic remark at a speed dating event and these whispered secrets, he had stolen my heart. I didn’t choose to give it away.
“Stop looking at me like you expect me to leave,” he growled.
I sucked in a breath. “I need you.” The raw words were out with a beat of my heart, and they exposed my soul.
“Then I shall be here always, Cora. You don’t need to question it.
Every time you turn around, I will be the one at your back protecting you.
Every time you fall, it will be my arms that catch you.
Every single time you make a stupid decision for the greater good, I will remind you that your choices might be for the world, but your heart belongs to me, and no one will ever be able to touch it. ”
I pressed my forehead against his chest and relaxed my shoulders while he rubbed my back in a soothing motion. “Don’t you want to know who the representatives are?”
“Do I know any of them?”
I grimaced. “Yes.”
“How many?”
“All.”
“Then yes.”
“Sophia speaks for the elementals.”
“Solid choice. She’s close to both the greatest threat and yourself. Plus, she’s levelheaded.”
“And she makes excellent cabbage rolls,” Indigo mused.
Hudson laughed. “That too, mate.”
“Aira.”
There was a beat of silence. “Interesting. She appears to be rather placid.”
“Compared to her husband.”
“Compared to most of her faction.”
“She’s more than she seems, and part of her power is the unexpected. Being a queen isn’t always about brute force—being underestimated is part of her skill set. People spill more when they don’t see someone as a threat.”
“Who else?”
“Lucifer.”
Hudson snorted. “Figures, he seems to have his fingers in all the pies.”
“Agreed.”
“Let me guess, Harry is part of this gang?”
“Gang makes it sound criminal, but yes.”
“Which leaves us with the person who believes themselves good enough to represent my faction and keep me in the dark about it.”
I tipped my head back to look at him. “You already know who.”
“I was hoping you’d tell me I’m being ridiculous to even consider that my closest friend and chief of security was entangled in some clandestine organization.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Does he know you’re telling me?”
“They all do. I told them as much the last time we met.”
“How long have you been part of…?”
“The Serpents of the Dawn,” I mumbled. “Since not long after you rescued me from Eloise’s clutches. Remember those weird business cards I kept finding?”
“Yes.”
“That was them.”
“What happens now?”
“Now? We have a free night under the stars before returning to the insanity of the real world.”
“Which I will take full advantage of, but I mean what happens now that I know? And they know that I know. Does that mean I’m invited in?”
“Every one of them is a step below their leader, a shadow of the powerhouse in the faction they represent. Having you there would alter the dynamic.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
“So my mate goes off to secret meetings with my friend, and then both or either of them report back to me, anyway? Seems like a waste of valuable time.”
“It’s not about you knowing; it’s about you influencing. These people make decisions as a unit, not as a leader. They work together to protect our future, not just their own faction.”
“Thank you for trusting me with this.”
I could tell he wanted to railroad me into getting his way, but he also knew that what I’d already shared was monumental. The weight on my shoulders hadn’t dissipated, but I felt stronger, like our combined strength helped ease the burden.
“Tomorrow,” he muttered. His fingers curled under my chin, and he tipped my head back. “Tomorrow we’ll be what we have to be for the world. But for tonight, I’m just Hudson and you are simply Cora. All my attention is on you, and you alone.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “And what should I do with that attention?”
His gaze turned heated. All the lies, the pain, and the memories fell away, leaving behind only the raw, naked truth—Hudson, my mate, was about to undo me in countless ways, and I would enjoy every single moment of it.