Reapers of the Dark (Cora Roberts #4)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Hearts, souls, and cabbage rolls.

I climbed the stairs, needing a snack before my next appointment in an hour. Hudson, Rebecca, Dave, and Sebastian smirked at me from the kitchen table as I entered the room.

“Good appointment?” Rebecca asked as she stirred a metal straw in her smoothie, the picture of innocence.

Hudson snorted as he pushed a plate with a ham sandwich and a glass of apple juice my way. My stomach flipped. Damn supernatural snoops. I plonked my ass in the chair, grabbed the glass, and took a long gulp, smacking my lips together on purpose. Having a strong stomach came with the privilege of being a doctor.

Dave shook his head at me as Sebastian leaned back and folded his arms. “What websites did you recommend?” Everyone seemed to forget my friend was also a qualified medical doctor. He just didn’t practice.

Rebecca chuckled. “I would have left them to the porn. It might have helped with the trauma.”

Hudson chewed his sandwich as his eyes danced with amusement. “Golden showers are very popular, I hear.”

“Get over yourselves. If you aren’t going to at least pretend to not overhear my consults, then I will have to throw you all out.”

“It’s the way you built up to the crescendo.” Dave gave a chef’s kiss. “Spectacular.”

Everyone is a damn critic. “How would you have handled it?” I snapped.

Dave tilted his head. “I wouldn’t have handled it all. As soon as I’d confirmed the piss sample, I would have sent them back to the cranky old woman in the parlor and let her deal with them.”

“It’s her brand of care that landed them in this warped belief in the first place.”

Hudson swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. “If she wants grandchildren, she would have figured it out soon enough.”

“It’s not something I’ve ever partaken in,” Rebecca mused.

“Maybe ask Ezra if you are curious. Just not on my Egyptian cotton sheets.”

Rebecca scowled. “Not likely.”

After stumping the vampire princess into silence, I disappeared back into my office and fell into the familiar routine of patients and cures for their supernatural ailments. Thankfully, they were run-of-the-mill problems, and I didn’t have to handle any more bodily fluids. I called that a win.

My body was aching by the time I emerged from my office at dinner time. I hoped someone other than Maggie was cooking because I was hungry and tired. I sniffed the air. Chicken soup and freshly baked bread. Aunt Liz was here. Wait—there was also an undercurrent of cabbage and spiced meat. Indigo groaned. Looks like Aunt Sophia had returned from her trip home, and now I had someone else I had to pretend I didn’t meet in secret. Whoopie.

I lumbered down the hallway into the kitchen, finding only my aunts inside. Where was everyone else?

Aunt Sophia smacked the back of Aunt Liz’s hand with a wooden spoon. “No touching the cabbage rolls.”

“Yes,” Indigo drawled. Souls, hearts, and cabbage rolls. She was a creature of simple comforts.

“You are going to overcook them,” Aunt Liz said.

“Focus on your chicken soup. I was making these rolls when you weren’t even a swimmer in your daddy’s crotch.”

Ugh, could we not talk about sperm at dinner? Even Indigo recoiled inside of me, the thought of her precious cabbage rolls being sullied by semen not helping her mood.

“When did you get here?” I asked Aunt Sophia. The wards had been clanging in my head all day long, but they didn’t announce who was here, just simply that someone was.

Sophia turned and dropped the spoon before pulling me into a hug that made my ribs creak. “My favorite grand niece is getting married. I came as soon as I heard the news.”

Wow, we hadn’t made it a weekend. Wait… “Are the others on the way?” I asked with a grimace. My house was about to be flooded with Roberts women.

“Of course. Everyone’s wrapping up what they have to do so we can get together and start planning.”

“You plan. I’ll just turn up on the day.”

Sophia released me with a chuckle. “Three days from now, everyone will be here.”

Great.

Aunt Liz smiled before opening the oven and pulling out the freshly baked bread. Yum.

“You know I was thinking,” she said. “We didn’t really celebrate Christmas.”

On account of my tortured body and injured soul. “I know. I’m sorry.”

She spun around, her forehead crumpling. “Don’t be ridiculous. We should have a Christmas redo since everyone’s coming.”

That was a good idea. Gives everyone something other than my impending nuptials to fuss over.

Maggie and Rebecca hurried down the hallway, their excited tip-tapping indicating they’d overheard and were making sure I didn’t veto the idea. There was no need. I loved my family and had missed our closeness this season because I couldn’t even get out of bed.

“It’s a great idea,” I agreed, making everyone’s eyebrows raise. Was I really that difficult?

“I’ll get the decorations back out,” Maggie exclaimed, rushing off to make sure the house looked like a snow globe.

The wards clanged, and my heart beat sped up. Hudson was here. I stuck my head out of the kitchen, finding him and Dave stepping through the door. His gaze caught mine, and he smiled. Dave sniffed the air.

“Your aunt is here.”

My lips twitched. Cabbage rolls were truly the way to anyone’s heart.

“In here, Dave,” Aunt Liz called out.

Hudson jerked his head. There was a thin folder clutched in his hand. I stalked toward him, passing Dave on my way. What had The Principal brought me?

“Let’s go upstairs,” he said after I’d greeted him with a heated kiss.

“Later. I’m hungry.” We both knew that if we landed in bed, we wouldn’t leave until tomorrow, and I needed fuel.

He smirked, his eyes dancing with amusement. “I need to show you something.”

I batted my eyes at him. “I’ve seen all your things, Principal.”

“As much as I want to show the million things you haven’t seen yet, Cora, this involves us keeping our clothes on.”

Sadly.

He ushered me up the stairs, and I rocked to a stop at the sight of my father sitting in my overstuffed armchair, reading a popular fantasy book. He smiled at me and put the book down. “Principal, did you get it?”

“Get what?” This felt like a trap.

Hudson pushed on my back, leading me to the sofa. Lucifer stalked out of my bedroom. What the hell? Wait. “How did you get inside my house?” I asked.

Lucifer smirked, holding up two cans of Diet Coke from my refrigerator. Help yourself, Uncle. “You think your wards could actually stop us?” Lucifer answered as he offered Abaddon the other can and took a seat in the other chair.

“Well, yes.”

“You are strong, Daughter, but we are stronger.”

“So you’ve been fooling me this whole time?”

“No,” Abaddon answered. “We have been learning and picking them apart with each visit.”

I suppose I should feel comfort from the fact it at least slowed them down. “Don’t you have better and more important shit to do than to undermine me?”

“Not really,” Abaddon replied. “Most other things are boring and easy. This was at least a temporary challenge.”

Is that a compliment? It was hard to tell with him.

Hudson pulled out a piece of paper from the folder and laid it on the coffee table. I leaned forward, recognizing my grandmother’s handwriting, and as I scanned the words, I sucked in a breath. This was the original pact she had tried to get the factions to sign between Leon, the king of vampires; Hudson, the ruler of shifters; and me, representing the elementals. But Leon had thrown a tantrum and shredded it. Luckily for us, Hudson and Dave swapped it out with a fake, as they didn’t trust my grandmother.

I’d forgotten we had made plans to examine the pact for magic. Indigo was adamant she could understand the ramifications if everyone had signed as planned.

“Can’t you look at it?” I asked my father.

He shook his head. “I’m not blood related.”

I frowned. “But it’s Indigo who is going to pick apart the magic, not me.”

My father popped open the can of soda and took a long drink with a sigh. “You need my power, but your grandmother’s bloodline to see beneath the surface. If I look, it will most likely burst into flames or try to curse me with some pathetic attempt at control. Neither would work, but we’ll have then lost the pact.”

Lucifer waved his hand. “When you are ready, niece.”

“If I do this, I want a double helping of cabbage rolls,” Indigo bartered.

“Fine.”

She pushed forward, and my body expanded to accommodate her shape. She rolled her eyes at my father.

“Don’t antagonize the angel of death.”

“But it’s so much fun.”

We have different definitions of fun.

Her hands grazed over the paper, and she hummed as the magic nipped at her fingers. I listened to her musings as she made conclusions without spilling the beans to everyone else. Then she retreated, allowing me to take control. Interestingly, she left behind some of her features; sharpened teeth, elongated nails, and a heavy hum of power in my veins. The weight of what my grandmother tried to do settled in my chest, making it ache.

“Anyone who signed this was bound by powerful magic to give Eloise access to their power and magic. Through you, she would have had access to the pack.”

“Cora?” Hudson whispered.

I glanced at him. “Yes?”

“Why are you still holding that form?”

Because I felt a little threatened, and even though he would never hurt me, I had two archangels in my apartment that I couldn’t say the same about. I felt protected, stronger, and like I could hold my own.

He saw all of that play out in my eyes and nodded. “Even if she had access to my and Leon’s power, it wouldn’t have been enough to fuel a revolution.”

This was going to be a little tricky. Despite their supernatural status, other factions often rejected magic, meaning they neglected the logic of where their power came from.

I dragged my lip between my teeth and winced at the sharp sting of my teeth. “The people throughout all the factions worship, revere, and trust their elected leaders.”

“Okay,” Hudson drawled.

Yes, Principal, I am getting to the point—but you won’t like it. “With that worship comes power.”

Abaddon sucked in a breath, having put the pieces together.

“All elected leaders are powerful,” Hudson said carefully.

My lips tipped up in a sad smile. He still wasn’t getting it, or more likely, he didn’t want to get it. “There’s something intangible about the power that comes from the masses, but it’s undeniable that with supernaturals, it gives their chosen leaders strength. You draw upon it to ensure you have the mental and physical strength needed to rule.”

Hudson’s face went carefully blank, his eyes stark. I wrapped my hand over his and gave it a squeeze. “You aren’t doing anything wrong,” I assured him. “You didn’t ask for it, and it’s not something you can stop. Even humans have the same phenomena. It’s why people go crazy for rock stars and actors.”

Hudson’s lips pressed together.

“The key to being a good leader is not using it for anything but guiding your people, and no one would question that about you, Principal.”

He sucked in a breath.

Lucifer leaned forward and spun the document toward him, scanning the words. He snapped his head up, a grimace distorting his features. “You were going to sign this?” he checks with me.

“As her representative, yes.”

He shook his head, his steely gaze locked on mine. “No, Cora, not as her representative.” He glanced at my father. “She meant you to sign this as ours.”