Jeremiah rolled his eyes.
“It’s perfectly fine to wait for a while,” Sanjay added, dropping a kiss on Ann’s knuckles.
“Or to not want any,” Carrie continued, glaring at Jeremiah.
“We’re all getting ahead of ourselves.” Arc chuckled. “I just know she’s coming soon and she’s Carter’s mate. I don’t know if she’s the Core or if he is, or if it’s another one we don’t know about yet. Let’s just celebrate this and let them figure out the rest for themselves.”
He patted my shoulder with a reassuring smile.
He was right. I didn’t have to think about all this now. Soon, my mate would be here. And no matter what happened then, we’d have our whole life to figure out the rest.
Chapter 24
Lola
“Were you ever going to tell me?” Carter asked, his voice soft as his thumb rubbed slow circles on my stomach, his other hand flat on my hip.
I released a long exhale, my shoulders sagging when my back met his chest. The house that I had viewed as a prison for the first few days I’d been living here now felt comforting and soothing.
Crazy what not even forty-eight hours had done to my relationship with Carter and my overall feeling of this place. He was not just a Divine jerk anymore. He wasmyDivine jerk.
“I would have,” I said. “Eventually.”
He scoffed. “Eventually?”
Rolling my eyes would have been pointless. After all, my face was focused on the vegetables sizzling in the pan in front of me. “I knew I couldn’t hide them forever. But there’s a lot of things I’m still keeping to myself for now. I’ll open up in time.”
He gave a slow, acknowledging nod, his chin resting on the top of my head. His hand grabbed a small piece of string on the counter next to the stove. Sliding his fingers under my hair, he worked to tie it up in a high ponytail.
“What are you doing?”
“Was it to hide your ears that you always kept your hair in a braid?”
“Yes.”
My neck and ears now visible, Carter’s finger brushed along the shell reverently, following the unusual shape. The touch sent a shiver down my spine.
“Why did you hide them?”
“My reasoning feels stupid now,” I said witha defeated sigh.
He grabbed the wooden spoon from my hand and started to move the food around in the pan. “Tell me anyway. I think they look adorable.”
“They also tell the world about who I am,” I countered. “AboutwhatI am. When they know, people expect me to be something I’m not. Expect me to have incredible powers or stuff like this. Which I didn’t when I was still bound to serve Hell, because my powers and abilities were bridled.”
“But they’re not anymore.”
“I know. But people not knowing also allow me to have an edge on others. To fight back when they don’t expect me to even be able to defend myself.”
“So, it’s always about survival with you,” he said, but his voice was soft. Understanding.
I scoffed. “Aren’t we all aiming to just survive in this dumb world?”
His fingers landed on my chin, tilting my head enough for our eyes to meet. “Why would I go for survival when I can actually breathe for the first time?”
Shit. He was good. Who would have thought he’d be such a sweet-talker?
I arched a brow. “Seriously?”
