LAILAH
TWENTY-TWO
The guys yelling had the others come running in and flipping on the lights, to reveal a frantic Micah and Brayden on his knees beside me, with his head in his hands.
"What the hell is going on here? We only left ten minutes ago," Hudson exclaimed.
Jay climbed up right on the bed, only dressed in his sleep pants, and pulled my hand away from my throat.
A growl slipped out as he took in the sight of what I'm sure was bruised skin.
The Dark Lord would want to be sure the others knew what he'd done to me, so I would have to tell them what he threatened.
"What did he want this time?" Jay bit out between clenched teeth.
"He wants us to kill Mozog for him," I rasped.
They all froze, but when I started to cough again, Hudson headed off to the bathroom and came back with a glass of water. "This should help."
"Why the fuck would he want us to kill one of his minions?" Micah demanded as he ran his hands through his hair. "That makes absolutely no fucking sense at all."
Shaking my head, I reached out resting a hand on his knee.
"Mozog is Lilith's oldest child. Apparently, the Dark Lord and Mozog aren't on the same page for how to bring Lilith back. According to what he said, Lilith is too powerful for a normal human to serve as her conduit, which is why he needed—needs—me to do the job. Using a human means that the body will decay in a week’s time, or less, depending on the person. "
Jay narrowed his eyes as he searched my face. "What aren't you saying?"
"Of course I told him no, the whole thing was too absurd for me to even take seriously, so I laughed at him," I answered, then paused thinking over the whole interaction.
"For a moment there, I thought I was just out of my mind off whatever Jay gave me for the pain, but the Dark Lord chose to show me the error of my ways.
He reminded me that he needed me alive but that it didn't apply to anyone else in my life.
Of course, those that I'm fully bonded with have to stay alive, but technically speaking, a puppet is still alive. "
"So, he is now changing tactics after he saw what losing Parker did to you," Brayden mused. "The situation is a no-brainer though. We have to deal with Mozog regardless of what the Dark Lord wants, but then we'll also be giving him an advantage as well."
"Perhaps it's not as cut and dry as you initially thought," Hudson pointed out. "I think this is a cause for some deliberation into this matter. There needs to be another reason we go after Mozog that has nothing to do with the Dark Lord’s agenda."
"Hold up guys," Micah interjected, drawing our attention. "Can we go back to the part where you laughed at the Dark Lord, because that right there needs to be talked about for just a moment."
Seeing him grin at me with pride in his eyes, I couldn't help but reciprocate the action. I'd actually laughed at the boogie man that haunted my dreams for almost a year now. Sure, I'd gotten choked out for it, but still it was empowering to have done it at all.
"I might need to change your nickname to little badass, instead of Cookie Monster," he teased.
The others chuckled at that, chasing away the lingering shadows that had been hanging over me after the whole interaction. Then an idea hit me. "What if we didn't kill Mozog?"
Micah gave me a quizzical brow. "Ah… I'm not following."
"Okay here me out, I might still be delusional from lack of oxygen, or the drug Jay gave me," I reasoned, waving off their doubt. "What if we captured Mozog and convinced him to help us take down the Dark Lord?"
"How would one propose to do that exactly?" Hudson inquired, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"We need to offer him someone who could be a conduit for Lilith that will last longer than a week and isn't me," I reasoned.
"It would have to be someone connected to the Elementi in some way but isn't really part of it, so they won't be making us break our oath by getting them involved as bait to a crazed demon. "
"I know the perfect person," Micah announced, clapping his hands and grinning like a cat who got the cream. "Think my aunt will do? She’s from a line that has produced Elementi Warriors, plus she technically is filthy rich and rules a country. All things that both Lilith and Mozog would want."
"How exactly would you even get the two of them to agree?" Hudson countered. "Your aunt isn't just going to hop on a plane and come out here because you ask her to. Then how on earth are we going to get ahold of Mozog to share with him that we have this perfect candidate?"
All of Hudson's questions seemed to let all the air out of Micah's balloon, making him deflate.
"Why don't we take some time to think about it and get some sleep. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted and really don't have the brain power to deal with all of this right now." I said, following it up with a yawn.
The guys all stood and looked at one another, as if unsure what to do with themselves so I decided to put them out of their misery. "Could all of you stay with me tonight? If you guys are comfortable with that?"
"We would be honored to all stay with you tonight," Hudson assured me. "If we're being honest, I think it would help us all get some sleep knowing we are here with you."
"I couldn't agree more," I stated as I snuggled under the covers and patted the bed. "Come on, hop in."
That was all the encouragement they needed to all pile on in and maneuver around to get comfortable.
Micah pulled me against his chest, my ass tucked right up against him, with Brayden reclaiming his spot on the other side of me.
Hudson opted for sleeping on the other side of Brayden, and Jay was down at my feet, a hand wrapped around my ankle.
There was no chance of me feeling alone tonight, with all of them here and so close.
It seemed they predicted this might happen since the bed fit all of us fairly comfortably.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, praying that the Dark Lord was done with whatever he needed to say to me tonight.
If I was going to be dealing with the mess my life was right now, I wasn't sure I could do that without some sort of sleep.
The following morning, I found that I wasn't the first one awake, but the last. The sun was shining in through the windows, filling the room with a soft glow, making Hudson look even more handsome than ever.
I laid there, watching him reading in one of the armchairs in my room with his hair still disheveled and wearing his sleep clothes.
It was simple moments like this, that I couldn't believe that I had not just one amazing man in my life but five...I mean four. Cami was the one who started the whole, I’m basically married when we completed our Bond, but the guys latched on to that and ran with it.
Brayden and Hudson both loved to secretly call me their wife whenever they could, but I'd more so brushed it off as them keeping the joke alive.
Yet as I look at Hudson in this intimate moment, I could honestly say that I did view him as my husband, along with Brayden.
Micah and I were still learning what our Bond meant to each other, but I knew he definitely saw himself as my husband.
Then a thought struck me...even though I called Parker my fiancé, I don't think I thought of him that way in my heart.
Don't get me wrong, I love that man, even after all he's done, which makes it all the more painful, but I don't think I trusted him to put me first like the others have.
Even though Jay and I haven't completed our Bond, I already think of him as my husband.
Even when the Oath happened between us, it wasn't the same as the others, it was perfect and exactly how it needed to happen.
Now, it was high time to lock that man down before he ever had a chance to doubt my love or risk the chance of something happening where I might lose him as well.
"Sunshine…?"
My gaze flicked back to Hudson from where it had drifted to the trees outside. "Hmm?"
"What are you thinking about so hard? I can feel the roller coaster ride from over here," He questioned, closing his book, giving me his full attention.
Grabbing a pillow, I propped myself up a little more so I could see him better. "I was thinking about Parker."
"Ah." With that acknowledgement, he stood up and offered me his hand. Frowning, I grasped it and let him pull me from the bed. "This is a conversation to be had with the others, but first you need some tea."
I couldn't help but smile at him for knowing me as well as he does. Holding up my robe, he helped me slip it on and tied the belt around my waist as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Good morning my beautiful wife, did you sleep well?"
"Why yes, surprisingly I was able to sleep without any dreams at all," I answered. "And you, my loving husband, did you manage to sleep well with the others in the bed?"
Hudson didn't answer me right away, his eyes wide in surprise and delight, a grin pulling at his lips. "Husband… I love the sound of that coming off your lips."
"Then I guess I should use it more often," I mused, wrapping my arms around his waist. "I like to see my husbands happy."
"Whoa, how did you get her to say that so casually?" Brayden exclaimed, as he walked into the room.
I let go of Hudson to face my first husband. "You should have told me it meant so much to you for me to call you guys that."