“Lucifer.”
Fuck. I hated being right.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Love is the only sanctuary the storm cannot touch.
Istared at the man who had ingested the fires of Hell to become strong enough to protect me. What happened to flowers and chocolates? Midnight walks on the beach?
Was it returnable? Was it permanent? Did it need to be topped up? What were the long-term consequences?
“He is truly a worthy mate,”Indigo purred.“Now we can fly as angels and sin like demons in the sky.”
I blinked. Sky-born sexcapades? That seemed like a recipe for disaster. Next time, it might not be a bat that got tangled between us; it could be something worse, like a swarm of frisky ghosts or my grandmother riding a broom.
Hudson tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. “You have a thousand questions swimming in your eyes, Cora.”
“What does Lucifer get out of this?” He might be my uncle, but he was, at his core, still a fallen archangel and the devil—albeit not the evil being the church enjoyed painting him as. He’d pissed off his god and got assigned a nightmare job role as punishment.
Hudson swallowed. “You first.”
I frowned. “I didn’t make any deals with Lucifer.”
“No, but you have another secret to confess.”
My gaze dropped to his feet, and my heart raced. Could I spill the Serpents’ secrets now that my mate’s power was uncertain? We’d made the agreement under the assumption Hudson was in charge. I hoped he hadn’t done anything to jeopardize everything we were working for.
“Whatever it is, Cora, I won’t run. What more do I need to do to prove I am in love with you?”
I took a small step back and swept my gaze over the enormous wings. “You didn’t have anything to prove in the first place.”
“Perhaps not, but I will take every risk to protect my mate.”
I squeezed my eyes closed.Here goes.“There’s a secret organization.”
Hudson hummed, causing me to flick my eyes open. He folded his arms and arched a brow, waiting for me to continue.
“It has six members, each representing a faction.”
“But there are only three factions,” he pointed out.
I nodded. “Yes, but more recently, the spirit community needed to be involved, along with the angelic one.”
“That makes five. What is the purpose of this group?”
Look at him counting my truths and getting down to the root of the issue in one breath. “At first, I thought it was to govern the factions and bring everyone together to ensure no one abused their power.”
“They failed.”
I nodded and avoided his eyes. “Agreed, but they’re working together to drag Eloise from the brink of war.”
“How?”
“Uncertain, although a lot is riding on my deal with Donn to remove the power he’s given her.”
“So this secret organization is basically mirroring what we are doing openly in your house?”
I paced the forest floor. “Yes, but that’s because I recently learned that they have a deeper function.”
