HUDSON
SIX
Dinner was a quiet affair, but it always had been growing up in this house.
Mother always had lots on her mind, and our “chatter” would give her a headache.
So now all of us were conditioned to eat in silence, and the others seemed to follow our lead.
When I was young, Father would join us, but as I got older, he stayed late at the office more than he was home.
He tried doing what he could to keep the fights from happening in front of my siblings, but Mother’s voice would carry through the house.
That’s what led to him moving out before everything was finalized.
I know many kids feel responsible or part of the cause for their parents’ divorce, but I was raised far too rational to believe that.
My mother and father were better off not being married.
If they had stayed together just for us kids, it would have done more harm than good.
So I don’t resent them having to do what they needed to, dissolving their marriage.
Back in the limo once again, we headed to the lab. I stared out the window at the place I spent most of my early childhood. A hand twining its fingers with mine caused me to glance down to see Lailah’s crystal blue eyes looking up at me, worried.
“Everything okay?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“I haven’t been back here in many years. The only reason I decided to come back was because my father asked me to,” I explained.
Just because I didn’t show my feelings outwardly didn’t mean once I was away from my parents I didn’t see how toxic it was.
I loved my father deeply, and on his own he was the man I grew up admiring, kind and logical.
When he was around Isabelle, though, it was like he changed into a different person, more spiteful.
“When I came into my powers at thirteen, Mother sent me away to be trained at an Elementi facility,” I continued when Lailah didn’t say anything.
“That’s where I completed high school. During the summers, the other four would join me, and that is where we started training together.
My mother didn’t want Ben and Grace to know anything about the Elementi.
Part of me thinks that is what started to cause their marriage to crumble. ”
To my surprise, all Lailah did was rest her head on my shoulder and hug my arm, offering her support. So many times when I tell people my story, they want to fix things or help me find resolution to my situation, but here she was, giving me what I needed most.
“I talked to Beth before dinner,” Brayden announced, and all eyes turned to him.
“She is aware of the situation since my parents and Hudson’s dad reached out to her.
On their end, they are combing through the video footage, trying to place a timeline on when the serum went missing.
It’ll give us a better pool of people to talk to based on who was in the building at the time. ”
Micah grunted. “What makes them think it will be that easy? Demons are the best at going unnoticed; it’s how they survive this world.”
“True, but if Tabitha was correct and it was a member of the Dark Lord’s army, then it would be a human and not a demon,” I countered.
“Seriously, Hudson? Why would we believe anything that came out of that woman’s mouth?
You saw the demonic energy she had inside her.
How is that much different than being possessed by a mid-level demon?
” Micah challenged. “No, we need to do what Lailah said this morning and go into it without any preconceived notions.”
Lailah sat up, grinning at Micah. “Hold on, Micah—did you just say that you agree with me about something?”
Micah rolled his eyes at her, but I could see the glint of humor in his eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far, Cookie Monster.”
I turned to Jay, who, as always, was watching what was going on around him with a calculating gaze. When he saw me watching him, he raised a questioning brow.
“What do you know of the Dark Lord’s army? Your father mentioned that he had been keeping an eye on their activity,” I asked, quieting the others.
“We don’t know much as my father said. Every time we find the location of one of their hideouts, it’s been abandoned. They don’t behave like other armies or even terrorist cells; there is no communication or paper trail to follow,” Jay explained.
I nodded, leaning my head back against the window, closing my eyes as I rolled that information around my brain.
“Monsieur Lacy, I presume?” the woman at the reception desk asked as we entered the large building that housed the lab and offices of Lacy Pharmaceuticals.
Walking out from behind the desk, I noticed that she wasn’t much older than I was.
She had bright red hair that fell around her shoulders, contrasting the emerald-green button-down she had on.
As she approached, she had a smirk on her lips as she let her eyes rove over me.
Flipping her hair over one shoulder, she revealed that a few too many buttons were undone, and the black lace of her bra peeked out.
“I’m Sophie. I work in the Department of Human Resources, and your father thought I could be of use to you getting whatever information you needed,” Sophie purred as she leaned in to greet me.
Lailah stepped in between us, holding out her hand.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Sophie. I’m Lailah.
” Sophie tried to hide her distaste for Lailah—poorly—as she shook her hand.
“Speaking of Mr. Lacy, where might we find him? There is some information we can only get from him directly, something I don’t think we could find in the HR department. ”
Someone behind me coughed, trying to cover their laughter, and I myself had a hard time keeping a smile off my face.
To see Lailah so protective of me warmed my heart in a way I don’t think anyone else could.
My golden ray of sunshine didn’t need to worry about a woman like this distracting me from her.
The only light I needed in my life was standing guard over me like the Knight she was.
“But of course,” Sophie said. Walking back to the desk, she grabbed lanyards that had security passes hanging from them.
When she tried to place the lanyard over my head, I grabbed her wrist, stopping her. Gently, I removed the lanyard from her hand and put it around my own neck.
“You will need these to get anywhere in the building. Monsieur Lacy gave you full access to the labs; there is nowhere that is off limits to you and your friends in that section. I shall wait here when you are ready to deal with any of the employee matters. If you wish to enter the office side of the building, I will need to escort you personally, per Mademoiselle Dupont’s wishes,” Sophie said, giving Lailah a lofty look.
“Tonight we will just be in the labs, so you may leave for the evening,” I stated, giving Sophie a sharp look.
“Tres bien,” Sophie huffed with another flick of her hair. “I shall see you in the morning.”
Not wanting to deal with her any longer, I headed for the door I knew would lead us into the labs, swiping the key card over the sensor. Once the door was shut behind us all, Parker burst out laughing.
“Oh man, that was priceless!” He slapped me on the back much harder than I would have liked. “Who knew you had game, Hudson? That woman wanted a piece of you, bad. And let’s not forget how Trouble almost clawed her face off when she tried to make a move on you.”
Lailah shoved Parker, scowling at him. “It’s not funny, Parker.”
“You’re right, it wasn’t funny. That shit right there was hilarious,” Parker chuckled, grabbing Lailah in a headlock as she tried and failed to attack him. “Aw, come on. The jealous side of you is adorable. You’re just going to have to own that shit.”
“Fuck off,” Lailah grumbled.
We all laughed at that, and I had to agree with Parker. It was cute to see her so protective over me.