Her voice slowly escalated throughout the entire speech, leaving her breathless by the end after barely taking a breath between her words. But what really came through in her words and tone was her desperation and fear for me.
I knew she wasn’t raising her voice at me to be belittling or disrespectful. She wasterrifiedfor me.
And she had a point. If I was the one thing made to defeat them, I couldn’t blow it. But did Divinus hold the answers for us?
All I could think to do was grab her, quickly pulling her in against me and wrapping my arms around her. A surprised huff of breath came from her at the quick move. I held her tightly, waiting just a few heartbeats before her own arms wrapped around me and her body sagged against mine.
I was truly so lucky to have befriended her.
Her voice quivered as her fingers pressed into my back. “I can’t lose you. I just found you.”
My eyes pricked at the way her voice cracked on her last word.
The truth was that I didn’t want to lose her, either. I didn’t want to lose any of these beautiful souls that I’d come to claim as mine. My family. The very people I’d longed to have at my side my entire life.
But they were the exact reason I knew I needed to take action. We couldn’t sit back and just wait for the curses’ next attack. Waiting only made us sitting ducks, and I’d had enough of that.
Chapter 2
ALEXANDRA
Gently,I pulled back enough to look into her eyes and wiped a stray tear from her cheek as she nibbled on her lip. “You won’t lose me, bestie boo. I’m too stubborn to be taken away from you so easily.”
She rolled her eyes, huffing out a laugh as she sniffled. “You’re right. If anyone took you, they might send you back instantly. They might even pay us to take you off their hands. Even a grim reaper like my grandpa.”
The grim reaper as her grandpa. Somehow I kept forgetting how interesting her family was, beyond her mother being the queen.
I shot her a wink. “Exactly.”
Lucien’s cedar scent wrapped around me a few seconds before his arms did, enclosing around both me and Alora. “Group hug, ladies.”
A smile stretched across my face at his warming presence. That was my guy, butting in with humor whenever the situation got too heavy.
We shared a laugh before I pressed back against him, forcing him to release us. “Let go, crazy. We still need to figure out where we’re going next.”
I managed to get his hands off Alora, but not me. My ass pressed snuggly against his hips, but he refused to let go of me and put any distance between us. His lips swooped down to rest against the shell of my ear as his hot breath fanned across it. “I know exactly where I’d like to be, angel.”
“Gag,” Alora muttered with amusement tinting her tone. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and I elbowed Lucien in the gut.
I’d take his dirty talk all day long in private, but when we were around others, there were just some things that were better kept to ourselves. If Aloraeverheard about these things, it would be from my lips and in private, with lots of wine.
The sound of a loud smack came from behind me, and Lucien released me with a yelp.
“Can you please behave and maybe act like we’re in the middle of making an important decision?” Kylo asked with indignation, staring at Lucien with annoyance as I turned around to take in the scene.
Lucien rubbed the back of his head, glaring at Kylo before swinging his gaze to me and pouting. He blinked rapidly, really laying on the puppy-dog eyes as he muttered, “Angel, are you just going to let him hurt me whenever he wants?” He lifted his hands to his heart, and I rolled my eyes at his theatrics. “If so, it really feels like you’re playing favorites here, and that wounds me.”
“When did I become the mom of the group who was supposed to keep her kids in line? I thought you called Elwin mommy,” I sassed back before blowing him a kiss and turning back to Alora.
I watched Lucien smirk out of the corner of my eye, to make sure he took my joke in stride. His deep chuckle that blended with the chorus of laughter from everyone else let me know that he did.
“So, tell me more about this aunt of yours in Divinus and how exactly she’s going to help us,” I said, pinning all of my attention back on my friend. “I’m very curious how your family is from Hell but you somehow have family in Divinus. Don’t skimp on the details,” I demanded, entirely enthralled with the mystery that was her family.
A smile tugged at her lips at the mention of her aunt, and I already knew that if Alora loved her this much, I would too. My bestie was very selective with who she let bask in her love.
“My aunt Zurie is my mom’s best friend, and she’s mated to the archangels in Divinus. She moved up there after the war for control over Hell, which is when her mates came down and found her.”
My eyes widened. That was a hell of a lot to take in and process for two short statements. She said it in such a matter-of-fact way, though, like she was telling me the lunch menu for today.
