Reapers of the Dark (Cora Roberts #4)

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

At least death has my back.

“ W hat did you do?” Lucifer snarled as he reappeared to collect us. The devil was mad at me, my mate was fuming, and my family was going to curse me—literally. But sacrifices had to be made. Eloise wasn’t pulling her punches. Plus, it was time to allow my monster to lead.

Hudson huffed. “Later. Let’s get home first.”

Lucifer grabbed our arms, and we materialized inside Summer Grove House a moment later, my wards brushing up against me in a familiar caress. I pulled away and swung around to march up to my rooms for a little respite. The disapproving males in my life were weighing my already heavy soul. I needed to breathe. My foot hit the first step, and then muscular arms looped around my waist and picked me up. I growled as Hudson walked with me back to the parlor. Dave, Rebecca, Liz, and Sebastian joined us.

Rebecca raised a brow at Hudson’s manhandling of my body.

“You want me to deal with him?” Indigo asked.

Did I? “Not yet.”

Lucifer jerked a finger in my direction. “Tell me why I smell blood magic.”

Liz snapped her head in my direction. “What did you do?”

Everyone was a critic.

I folded my arms on top of Hudson’s, looking ridiculous being held off the ground. “What I had to do.”

The House of Donn didn’t simply grab a needle and tap my vein like a normal blood letting. Nope. Cillian was a mage, and his specialty was blood magic. Where elementals had an affinity for an element, mages with blessed bloodlines could learn to command blood, shadows, the weather—their only limit was the power in their DNA. Cillian could literally make blood bend to his will. The second I agreed, he’d drawn it from my flesh. It was ten times more painful and left no marks. The sudden intrusion had left me gasping on the floor and Hudson snarling at a thousand mages.

“She gave them a vial of her blood,” Hudson snapped.

“Willingly?” Aunt Liz asked carefully.

I nodded. “They are powerful mages, their dwindling numbers merely a false rumor. With one vial of blood, I bought us the support of an army that will march against Eloise. I’m still here, and nobody died.”

“Yet,” Lucifer snapped.

“Call her father,” Dave said. “Maybe he can talk some sense into her.”

“It’s too late,” Liz replied. “She gave it willingly. Did you at least specify terms?”

I lifted my chin. “The promise of no one getting hurt.”

“That’s a loose condition, and you know it,” Hudson growled. Indigo fed me power, and I dropped my weight, sliding my feet to the floor. I twisted my foot around his ankle and elbowed his stomach. Caught unaware, he landed on his ass.

I spun to face him. “Remember who you chose as your mate. I am not a woman who will pander to your every need. I will not sit meekly by while the big, bad males fight my battles for me. If you need that, then this will never work, and you would be better off having Mercy in your bed.”

His eyes narrowed. “Don’t deflect your poor choices with barbed words, Cora. You are better than that.”

“Poor according to whom? The Devil? The Principal? My mate? Tell me why I should not take every advantage we can get to defend against and defeat Eloise Roberts? Explain to me why walking away from a thousand powerful individuals posed to fight with us is a good choice?”

He snapped to his feet and reached out a hand toward my face. I batted it away. “Don’t touch me.” My skin was itchy, like something was crawling beneath my flesh. Hate. Pain. Death.

Hudson froze. “Sacrificing yourself won’t solve our problems. You can’t stop her by making rash choices.”

“Watch me.”

I spun in a circle, catching the eyes of the stunned people I love. “Like it or don’t. It’s done, so you can learn to live with it, or leave.” The need to retreat burned in me, and I made it a whole two steps before my father appeared in front of me.

He cocked his head as he swept his gaze down my body. “You are in pain.”

My eyes stung. I was always in pain. “No lecture about stupid choices?” I snapped.

He shook his head. “I understand it.”

My shoulders sagged.

“Don’t credit her decision,” Hudson growled.

My father lifted his gaze and stared at my mate. Power flooded the room, and Indigo sighed in the heavy presence, like she was stretching her wings.

“You would do well to remember who my daughter is, Principal. She’s fire and death. No mage can command her blood. It is effectively useless to them unless they want to die. The first time they try to use it, they will understand her true force isn’t in being half angel.”

What does that mean? No, I’ve gone down enough crazy roads lately. I don’t care.

“It was still ill advised,” Lucifer said carefully, like he was trying to decipher the meaning behind Abaddon’s words. Good luck. Let me know if you figure it out. Right now, I needed a bath, followed by my bed. I was done with this day. I was done with my family. I was just done.

“Cora,” Sebastian whispered. “We worry because we love you. Everyone here is just trying to make sense of what is happening. Try to understand it from our point of view.”

Rage ignited in my veins. Seriously, my best friend wasn’t backing me? He’d witnessed the worst moments of my life. How could he not understand that these risks were necessary? I spun on my heel. Energy crackled down my arms and zapped my fingertips. My skin was tight and stretched as power rippled under my flesh.

Sebastian held his ground. Idiot vampire.

“Tell me, Sebastian, at what point is the risk worth it? When someone I thought I loved betrayed me for the promise of financial gain? Or was it when my grandmother pimped me out to the factions?” I tapped my chin as I circled him. “Could it have been a turning point when Eloise ordered Michael to tie me to a metal floor, gut me, and pour acid down my throat? No? There won’t be a next time with her. If she doesn’t get what she wants from me, I will die. So don’t presume to know what lengths I will go to end this woman. She might be blood, but she burned that bond when she betrayed me for power.”

Sebastian swallowed hard. That’s what I thought. I spread my arms wide. “Unless anyone else wants to weigh in on how I handle my trauma, I’m going to bed.” Hudson took a hesitant step toward me, and I pointed at him, stopping him in his tracks. “If you value your life, you will give me some breathing space tonight.”

His jaw ticced. Tough shit, Principal. I am not a weak woman. It’s time you understood who you’ve tied yourself to. Boundaries needed to be set, and I wouldn’t tolerate people calling me stupid without considering the whole picture. Was the deal ill advised? Perhaps. But I would never be at the mercy of anyone again; not friendship, not blood ties, and not even my heart.

The inky black expanse of sky surrounded me, the stars my guiding light as my untethered soul soared through it. Here I was whole, the missing fragments of my psyche slotting back into place. My fingers brushed through the cool misty puffs of clouds, joy filling my heart as I dipped and spun, a peaceful smile spreading across my face. Who needed the chaos of life, when death was an intoxicating retreat you never wanted to leave?

“Stay with us,” a tinkling feminine voice coaxed. “There’s no pain here. You can be free.”

Free? That sounded tempting. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt that.

“Cora, snap out of it,” a snarling woman’s voice said. It was my voice, but also not.

I stole the pieces of my soul to rebuild my world, one beautiful star at a time.

“Mate,” my inner voice snapped. No. No mate, no worries, no pressure, no pain, just no.

Soft warm fur caressed my fingers, chasing away the comforting clouds. Sandalwood and spice blanketed the scent of night-blooming flowers. I breathed it in. I was air and light, while he was earth and ground.

My eyes snapped open. A huge hot tongue swiped my cheek and over my ear. I rolled onto my side, coming face to face with Keverin. Except it wasn’t just Keverin; it was also Hudson. He hadn’t separated, and I could see the apology burning in his gaze.

“I’m still angry with you,” I whispered.

A mournful groan rumbled in his chest. I threaded my fingers into his fur. “Don’t give up on me,” I pleaded. “I know I don’t always get it right, that I sometimes act before I think.”

He blinked, and I scooted closer, burying my head against his neck and letting my first tear fall. They came in a sudden wave, and my chest ached as I sobbed. Muscular human arms encased me, holding me tighter. He held me while my world fractured into a thousand pieces. He didn’t utter words of comfort or belittle my pain, just held me.

Hudson showed up when I pushed him away. He risked my wrath, because he felt my pain. When I was at risk of letting go, he came. How could such a decent man love such a broken woman? Against the odds, I’d met my perfect match. No matter how hard I pushed him away, he would always be there. Something heavy lifted from my chest, but what was revealed made me shudder. I was not okay. I hadn’t been okay for some time, and if I had any chance of beating my grandmother, then I needed to be at one hundred and ten percent. Tomorrow, I would stop hiding. Tomorrow, I was going to see my therapist and heal.

I fell back into a dreamless sleep, wrapped inside a man that had become my entire world.