Donn didn’t stand. Didn’t move. Didn’t release my hair. “What do you think he’s going to do when I steal a kiss from your lips, Cora?”
My head snapped around. “Never?—”
He slammed his lips against mine and clutched the back of my neck to keep us together. I felt utterly stupid for falling for it.
The resounding roar shattered the glass, and people ran screaming around us as my lethal mate drew closer.
Donn broke the kiss. “Until next time, Cora.” Then he was gone. Again. And I was left to pick up the pieces with my over-the-edge psychopathic mate, who was blinded by rage.
I cursed everyone and everything, because I did not have the time or the inclination for antics. I stood and held my hands up, coming face to face with a very pissed-off man who was vibrating with the need for violence. My wings stretched against my skin in warning.
“Don’t fall for it,” I growled. “You know this was business.”
“You’re mixing it with pleasure,” he snarled.
Rude.“No, I’m not, but you are. For this to work, you have to trust me.”
His fingers curled around my wrist, anchoring me to him as the stadium emptied. I glanced behind him, finding a huge crack down the middle of the ice. My bet was on it getting reported as an earthquake.
“It’s him I don’t trust,” he snapped. “I leave you for a few hours, and his mouth finds a way to be on yours.”
I tipped my head back and groaned. “It was an act for your benefit. Donn was more enraptured with the sin bin than my lips.” His flesh rippled. “Don’t do this. Not here,” I warned. I hadno doubt there were cameras facing us right now, ready to share this show with the world.
His jaw flexed as he fought with the power inside him. Power he hadn’t learned to control and harness yet. “Fine, then we’ll do this at home.”
Magic curled around us, and with a power only gods and full-blooded angels commanded, Hudson shifted time and space to move us from Nashville to White Castle in the space of a heartbeat.
I yanked my hand free and took a step back toward my sofa. At least he’d brought us to our apartment. Privacy was impossible, but I preferred that the supernaturals in the house not have a front-row ticket to our fight.
I pointed at him. “You have some explaining to do, mate. The power in your veins has grown.”
“I’m a reaper, Cora. I follow death.”
Oh, well, fuck. I was utterly and completely screwed, because now I wasn’t just the daughter of death—I had the literal power of it running through my veins, making me a perfect tracker for my mate to keep tabs on me, no matter where I was.
He stalked toward me and backed me up against the sofa. I flopped back, and he pinned my hands above my head. “But that doesn’t explain why you have an unnatural boost of power directly tied to mine. What did you do?”
A shiver skated down my spine. Something inside me shifted, stretching like it had more limbs than it should.
“I…” My throat closed. Somewhere in the dark, a hundred trapped souls turned toward me.
What did you do, Cora?
For once, I had absolutely no idea.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Some days demand bows and ribbons. Others demand blood and sacrifice. Occasionally, they are the same day.
Asea of terrifying tiny boxes had invaded my home. I fiddled with the sage-green ribbon and cursed as the bow slipped again. Hudson chuckled while he perfected his in one smooth movement.
“I thought you’d be good at this,” Dayna said with a frown.
“Why, because I’m a girl?”
“No, because you’re a doctor. Didn’t you learn how to stitch?”
“Can I stab them with sharp pointy things? If so, this activity just got a lot more interesting.”
