Reapers of the Dark (Cora Roberts #4)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Never challenge a witch.

S ebastian poked his head around my office door and smirked at my crossed-legged position in the middle of the floor surrounded by open books and scrolls.

“Did you hear Dave at three a.m.? He has a surprisingly good voice.”

“I did. He went with Nina and could have butchered it, but I feel like the joke is on us with how well he sang.”

“Are you going to tell him?”

“Aunt Liz already broke the news. He was less than impressed.”

Sebastian smiled, like antagonizing the dangerous wolf shifter was an amusing pastime. He jerked his head at the floor covered in writings and artwork.

“It’s been a while since we did a study session,” he said, stalking around my research.

I raised a brow. “Our study sessions involved keeping people alive through modern medicine.”

“True, so what’s this?” He narrowed his gaze on a hand-drawn picture of the ancient Egyptians removing organs before mummification.

“The dual souls thing Dayna mentioned has been playing on my mind, and I want to understand it more. Those remnants came from somewhere.”

He leaned against my desk and folded his arms. “You could always ask the expert.”

“I am the expert,” I muttered. Who was more qualified than me in matters of death? Oh, wait. He couldn’t possibly mean…

“No, you are the daughter of the expert.”

Yes, he could.

“My relationship with my father is a tentative thread. We aren’t at the calling him for advice stage.” And I’m not sure we ever would be. A sigh escaped from me. I really needed a more informed perspective on this, perhaps from someone who lived and breathed this kind of stuff. I should ask Dayna if she knew anyone.

Sebastian huffed. “You haven’t heard a single word I just said, have you?”

He was talking? “No.”

“Rebecca says your attendance is not optional at games night.”

I groaned. “I’ll be up in a few minutes once I’ve put this stuff away.”

He left me sitting among a ton of knowledge, but none of it was helping. There was a niggling feeling that The Pit’s eventful spirits were part of some bigger plan. I had a lot of loose ends over the last few months, and they were all linked to the dead. I’d gone as far as I could on my own, and it was time to admit defeat and ask for help.

I stacked the tombs on the shelf behind my desk and eyeballed the family tree I needed to finish. Another loose end. I’d filled in a few gaps with my aunts’ knowledge, but my own bloodline was sorely lacking. My mother’s father was a massive unknown, and only one person could plug that particular hole. I hadn’t filled in my father’s side, in case this fell into the wrong hands.

I stared at my cell phone sitting on my desk and glanced at the ceiling. Time to make some calls. It was a gamble, but I was living with the motto of nothing ventured, nothing gained. I just hoped I was right.

I stared at the tiny tiled letters and moved them around in my mind. There was definitely an epic seven letter word in there ready to decimate my enemies, but it was just out of my grasp. Wait. No, I didn’t have a G. Dammit.

“You have the best poker face,” Rebecca observed. My eyes flicked up to the stunning British vampire princess. Clothed in a red off the shoulder dress with her hair pinned back, she looked like every red-blooded man’s dream.

Dave snorted. “Her face might give nothing away, but her heart rate does.”

I rolled my eyes. “Good thing we aren’t playing poker.”

Sebastian chuckled from his position in the window, where he was reading a book about politics. Human, not supernatural. How very boring. Fortunately for him, Scrabble was a limited player game. I had suggested playing doubles, but my aunts apparently had more important things to do—things I wasn’t allowed to come along for. So the traitors had left me.

Hudson leaned back in the chair across from me and folded his arms with a smirk. I learned the hard way not to play poker with this man. I always lose. Now, we stick to board games where my heart racing could be a good or bad thing. It was about as fair as it was going to get with a bunch of supernaturals with stellar senses.

Harry floated over Hudson’s shoulder. “He has Z and Q, Miss Roberts, but no U.”

My ghostly, suit-wearing friend was keen to see me win after witnessing a game of poker, where I ended up naked very quickly. It was cheating, but I needed every advantage I could get. Of course, this only worked when I was the only person who could see him, and he’d already forgotten that status had changed.

Hudson glanced over his shoulder at Harry. “Do you always help her cheat?”

Harry floated back, and a flush filled his cheeks.

“Stop harassing my ghost. You use your supernatural senses to help you win.”

“It’s not the same,” Dave said.

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the board, scanning the words scattered across it. Wait, there it was. Not seven, but eight if I used the S from Rebecca’s “elopes.” She got extra points for the themed word linked to weddings. I was studiously ignoring the topic she chose and avoiding any words that invited discussion around the nuptials I refused to entertain. Poking my tongue into my cheek, I placed my letters down.

My three opponents watched with matching frowns as I formed the longest word yet.

“Accismus?” Dave muttered. He tilted his head like he was trying to remember what it meant.

“Use it in a sentence,” Hudson demanded.

I shook my head. “I’m not required to do that.”

“You think it’s made up?” Rebecca asked him.

They should know me better. Hudson stared at me so hard it was like being stripped bare to my soul. My heart pitter-pattered in my chest. Normally, that look preceded us getting naked. The idiot mistook it as panic for cheating.

“I challenge,” Hudson declared.

“You sure?” Dave asked. “You and Cora are neck and neck. If you lose, she will take the lead.”

My lips twitched. Take the bait, mate.

“I’m sure.”

Fool.

Dave pulled out his phone, and his eyebrows rose. That’s right.

“You lose. It’s a word.”

“What does it mean?” Hudson asked.

I chuckled. “It’s the act of pretending to be unbothered by an object or invitation, when the person actually desires it.”

“Like a wedding,” Rebecca sing-songed.

I shot her a scowl. “Or a certain persistent wolf shifter with the skill to make your pretty head spin.”

“Touché.”

Maggie bounced into the room with a tray of homemade snacks. Oh boy. Not a cookie in sight. My heart sank. At least nothing was glowing today. There was still hope they weren’t too awful. An egg yolk wobbled on top of a piece of pink meat. I watched as it slid off the mini bun in slow motion, revealing something bright yellow on the base. I stood corrected.

There was a separate plate for Rebecca, something wrapped in cabbage leaves. At least it concealed whatever concoction was lurking inside. Our plates had the deliciousness on full display.

Dave snatched a fully constructed bun and popped it into his mouth. No outward reaction. Not that you’d expect anything less from the pack’s chief of security—he took stoic and made it his god.

Maggie clapped her hands. “It’s steak tartare and mustard. Do you like it?”

That didn’t sound too bad, I thought as my hand stretched toward the plate.

“Is the egg meant to be raw?” Dave asked.

My hand paused, and I diverted to a chunk of tomato with mozzarella and fresh basil. She couldn’t possibly have made those three simple foods taste bad. It was basically a build-a-burger.

Maggie clapped her hands. “Yes! That’s what Gordon Ramsay says.” Chef Ramsay is her new guru. He would have a few choice words to say about the culinary delights in this bed-and-breakfast, but at least we could distract him with fangs and fur.

Rebecca plucked up her cabbage roll and took a dainty bite. Slimy, thin, pale tubes slid out and dropped on her plate. Worms? No, she wouldn’t have.

“It’s a Chinese recipe. I might have overcooked the bean sprouts.”

Bean sprouts made far more sense. Rebecca squinted at the cabbage roll before popping the whole thing into her mouth and chewing thoroughly. We sat and waited for her opinion. She ate the whole thing—that was a positive sign.

“You are an affront to all vampires,” Dave declared. Rebecca still needed to drink blood; she would die if she didn’t. If I had to guess, I would say she had been tapping the vein of the persistent shifter occupying the room next to hers.

“So, do I get the job?” Maggie asked.

“What job?” She worked for me, so who was poaching my teenage bobcat?

“The wedding party.”

Hudson’s gaze caught mine. I loved Maggie, but I couldn’t have my married life being punctuated by her cooking. I didn’t think the pack would forgive me, even if I saved their children from certain death. It could all be undone by a raw egg yolk.

“You can’t cook, because you are in the wedding party, and I need my girls with me to fuss and make sure I am pretty all day long. Plus, Rebecca needs help with the bridesmaid outfits.”

This is what I call taking one for the team.

Rebecca blinked while Maggie jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “Best news ever.” Then she ran off, leaving us with our trays of suspicious snacks.

“That was quick thinking,” Hudson said.

Cora Roberts—mistress of “fake it till you make it.”

“So unless you have something magic going on with your five letters, I think Cora won,” Rebecca said, bringing us back to the game. Go me. “And while we are on the topic of your wedding, have you settled on a date?” She raised her brow and gave me a pointed look.

“This quarter apparently,” I muttered as I swiped the tiles into the little bag.

“You don’t need to look so surly about it,” Hudson said, sitting back in his chair. “You agreed to marry me.”

“Did I?”

He tilts his head and narrows his eyes. “At the pack meal in The Pit.”

Think, you idiot. “I agreed I was your mate.”

“Which is the same thing as marriage in your terms. You know that.”

I snapped the board closed. I didn’t have the energy to explain to an alpha male how very different these cultural things were. He might be here in my house, living under my roof, but he wasn’t being sensitive to how I would expect to find myself engaged. I glanced at my bare ring finger. It’s not that I wanted a massive proposal on the top of the Eiffel Tower. But I would have liked a little less you, woman, mine and little more will you be mine?

I stood, and Hudson rose with me. “I’m going to bed.”

“I have a few pack related things I need your eyes on,” Dave said, backing away.

Hudson eyed me with a frown. I spun and stalked toward the stairs. What was wrong with me? I didn’t do emotional. I wasn’t that girl. Strong fingers caught my wrist, and he spun me to face him. I was on the third step, so we were, for once, at eye level.

“You changed your mind?” he snarled.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

I glanced toward the parlor at the supernaturals attempting to look everywhere but at us. They were failing.

“You never asked me.”

Hudson’s eyes slammed together. “I did.”

“No, Principal, you did not ask me to marry me on my terms. You declared I was your mate and waited until I agreed before moving ahead with the wedding plans.”

He looked stunned for a hot minute, then started to drop to his knees. I grabbed his chin and kept him upright.

“No.”

He jerked his head back. “You are saying no?”

Lord, give me strength. “I don’t want to be an afterthought. Do you have a ring in your pocket? A big speech about how I am your one true love? Did you think through the setting with care to make sure it was memorable?” I looked around the house expectantly as he pressed his lips into a thin line. “That’s what I thought. I shouldn’t have to ask for this, but we have different cultures, so I am trying to be upfront and honest.” I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his in a soft kiss. His hands landed on my hips, and I withdrew.

“Let me make this clear,” I said as I stared into his hazel eyes. “I am marrying you. I am only marrying you. And I will only do this once. It’s not a decision I have taken lightly. I am irrevocably in love with you, and that will last the rest of our lives.”

He smiled. “Good.”

“But,” I continued. His smile fell. This wasn’t an ultimatum, it was about principles.

“While I might not need flowers and fairy tales, I’m still a sucker for romance. Our engagement and the moment I said yes should be firmly implanted in a core memory. Right now, it’s a cringeworthy B-grade romance movie, complete with the scorned woman and disapproving family members.”

“You want extraordinary.”

“I deserve extraordinary from the man I love, and so do you.”

He dragged in a slow breath, nodded, and released my hips. “That, I can do.”

A genuine smile lit my face as I turned and walked up the stairs to our rooms. I’d laid down the challenge, and knowing Hudson, he was going to smash it.