Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
If you mess with death, destiny and fate get involved. That’s when we’re all up shit creek without a paddle.
Death came for us all, whether through a catastrophic moment or the gentle passage of time that, slowly but surely, stole a little of our life force each day.
Death was inevitable and was the foundation of our universe.
Without it, we wouldn’t learn to live or to savor the moments that made us smile and create wonder.
It was as much a gift as life, and that was why we couldn’t meddle in the natural order.
Eloise Roberts was committing a crime against humanity, and in her warped mind, she was ushering us into a new and better world led by her steady hand.
All our problems could be solved if my grandmother learned to accept her position as head of the elementals and she stopped chasing power.
But narcissists convinced themselves they were unique and knew better than the rest of us.
I turned my face toward the sky and let the sun bathe my skin in its never-ending optimism and surety that it would rise and fall.
“You appear serene this morning,” Rebecca mused, joining me on the porch. My foot pushed against the railing, setting the swing into a soothing motion as I sipped my tea. “Is this the calm before the apocalypse?”
“This is what we are fighting for, right?”
Rebecca hummed as she too sipped from a china mug. “We all fight for different things, Cora. You want a peaceful life with a certain growly shifter.”
A smile flirted on my lips. “In that, we appear to be aligned.”
Rebecca huffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
With comedic timing, the front door swung open, and Ezra emerged from inside. He quirked a brow. “It’s not polite to finish your meal and leave without paying, Becca.”
Becca? Yikes. If there was one thing I’d learned about the British vampire princess, it was that she did not appreciate cute nicknames.
Rebecca’s gaze slid over Ezra in a dismissive wave. “I wasn’t satisfied with my food. I left a complaint with the ma?tre d’.”
Who? Please say she didn’t mean me.
Ezra folded his arms and leaned his shoulder against the house. “Cora, I’m politely requesting feedback on how to improve our customer experience.”
“Don’t drag me into this.”
“She’s the one who bit and ran.”
Rebecca sighed. “Because you’ve threatened to murder anyone who has the pleasure of my fangs or my body. My meal options are more limited than a serial killer’s on death row.”
“With the benefit of conjugal visits,” he said with a wink. “Don’t act like I’m not the best steak you ever tasted.”
“I’m vegetarian.”
“We all have our shortcomings.”
My eyes shifted back and forth as they volleyed between them. Forget reality TV; watching Rebecca ignore the fact that she was head over heels for Ezra was entertainment gold.
“I’ll be back for dinner,” Ezra declared before pushing off the hose and jogging down the stairs. Rebecca tilted her head and pursed her lips as she watched his jean-clad ass disappear.
Her eyes snapped to me. Oops. Busted.
“What?” she said. “I can look.”
“Oh, I think you do a lot more than looking when it comes to that man.”
She dropped her head back, and her eyes fluttered closed. “He’s driving me nuts,” she whispered. “He’s everywhere. Where I sleep, where I dress, where I bathe.”
“Sounds like a standard relationship.”
“I don’t do relationships for this reason. They want to be in your...” She waved her hand in the air.
“Everything?” I guessed.
“Exactly.”
She swiped a hand down her face, took a sip of her tea, and narrowed her eyes. “What is that?”
I turned to follow her gaze. “What? We don’t all have supernatural senses.”
“You should, given your heritage.”
“What can I say? My spookiness comes from a hankering after souls and a walk with death.”
“Someone said souls?” Indigo said in a sleepy voice.
“Pipe down.”
Rebecca rose. “There’s someone waiting at the gates, Cora.”
“For what, an invitation? Because these days, my wards only keep out the worst of the worst.” I put my cup down and stood.
I couldn’t see whoever it was, but I could feel them—violence wrapped in a pretty package.
Who was under threat from this violence would determine their destiny.
If they’d come for a fight, they’d get one.
I strode down the stairs with Rebecca at my side and my power unfurling in my chest as a warning to whatever beastie waited for me.
The monster in question was a teenage girl with short dark curly hair, cut-off jean shorts, and a tie-dye shirt twisted into a knot at her stomach to show off a belly button piercing.
“I was thinking about getting my belly button done,” I said.
Rebecca chuckled. “Mid-life piercing crisis?”
“I’m hardly midlife, but as I prepare to become a wife, I suddenly realized I completely skipped my rebellious phase.”
“If you want to be brave, go for the nipple.”
My mouth dropped open. “Wait, you have—”
“I do.”
“Did it hurt?”
“What do you think?”
My lips twitch. “And Ezra? Does he like it?”
She broke into a full smile. “Yes, I would say it’s contributed to his obsession.”
“Noted. Shiny metal in sexy body parts equals shifter infatuation.”
“You don’t need any help there.”
The teenage girl held out her hand, the note clutched in it fluttering in the breeze. Her brown eyes met mine. “Cora Roberts?” she asked.
“That’s me.”
She didn’t cross the ward line. She had power, but I didn’t sense any malice. “Then this is for you.” She waved her hand between us.
“Why aren’t you crossing the line?” Rebecca asked.
The girl frowned. “It’s impolite to cross another elemental’s wards without permission.”
“Tell that to the rest of the creepies that enjoy invading my personal space,” I grumbled. She was right though, but formalities had gone to hell lately. It was nice to have a little respect.
I reached for the paper.
“Careful,” Rebecca warned.
I opened the note, my eyes scanning the elegant handwriting. My jaw flexed as I crumpled it in my palm. “Where?” I demanded.
“Most recently? New York.”
“What’s in New York?” Rebecca asked.
The one-word answer to everything these days. Death.
“You need to see,” the woman said. “And when you have, know we are with you. We felt your severance, and it confirmed your loyalty.”
“My loyalties are to the people I love.”
She shook her head and stuck her hands in her jeans pockets before taking a step back. “If you believed that, you’d have abandoned the fight months ago and gone into hiding.”
“Who are you?”
“Rachel. I was an enforcer for Eloise until I realized what was happening.” She glanced at the blue sky. “If she wins, the war will be brutal. For all that humanity lacks in magical finesse, they have us beat in numbers and technology. The bloodshed will be catastrophic.”
With that final ominous yet accurate prediction, Rachel turned, strode toward a silver SUV, and climbed in the passenger side. When the car peeled past us, the male driver seemed vaguely familiar.
“Do you think she’s authentic?” Rebecca asked. “Or is it another Eloise tactic?”
I shrugged as we strode back to the house. “It’s not like I didn’t know there weren’t unhappy people in The Order.”
“Being a disgruntled employee and a complete defector are two very different things.”
“Agreed, which is why I’m taking backup with me to investigate.” I pushed the front door open and came face to face with my mate. He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.
“Where are we going?”
I waved the paper in his face. “New York.”
“What’s in New York?” Dave asked from the sofa. Ghosts surrounded him, and they were all enraptured by a nature program about penguins narrated by the British dude with the lovely voice. It was a change from the constant aliens, so I wasn’t complaining. Hmm. Were penguin shifters a thing?
“Weirdos, grime, congestion, and sin,” Rebecca mused. “At least, that was my impression the last time I was there.”
I didn’t realize she’d been anywhere but White Castle in the US.
Hudson lifted his gaze from the note. “What does this mean?” Dave rose and abandoned his fan club to join us.
“A so-called defector from The Order delivered it. They want me to visit the locations where these pockets of death are happening because there’s something more to the story, something that changes what we know. Maybe it’ll give us an insight into Eloise, or maybe it’s a trap.”
“Always work on the basis that it’s a trap,” Dave growled.
I sighed. “Regardless, we need to see this for ourselves.”
“We don’t have time for a road trip,” Hudson said. “We can send someone else.”
I pressed my lips together. We had to make time.
Rachel wouldn’t have risked visiting me if it wasn’t important.
According to her note, there was a huge death toll happening, and we were oblivious to it.
The news cycle hadn’t picked up on it, but then again, it was hard to break past the loop of the many supernatural “experts” showboating how the rest of humanity were only now catching on to the fact that the spooky shit was real.
It was a great time to commit a murder, with the public’s attention focused on conspiracy theories and the authorities too overwhelmed responding to incidents they had no code for.
“Uncle,” I drawled. “A little help?”
Lucifer appeared in the dining area. The ghosts collectively shrank back, pressing against the wall and abandoning their TV show.
“You rang, Niece?” he said with a signature smirk as he strode toward me.
Hudson offered him the note, and Lucifer’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t believe I’m aware of this.”
Now, that was a problem. Either Rachel had fed me a lie, or something was happening under the radar of the devil, whose job entailed registering each and every soul, regardless of their final destination.
“We should check it out,” I said, hoping he would teleport us to save us the actual trip due to being invested.
“We should, but we also need my brother.”