Chapter 43
Belle
“You did what?” Alec yelled at me the second I told them what had happened.
Nothing I hadn’t heard before. This felt like a déjà vu. The first time I’d made a deal with the devil behind their backs and came to tell them was awfully similar. My mates had been gathered in Joshua’s loft just like they were now in the Twilight house, and Alec was yelling and kicking. The only difference was that, back then, we didn’t have Zava and the Belles watching.
Joshua clasped his hands together, his fingers intertwined, as he leaned forward. “How could you make a deal with the devil, Isabella? Haven’t you learned anything?”
“Fuck no! Whenever the devil’s cock is involved, she forgets everything.” Alec stared at me. “You want to get it back, don’t you? Missed him that much, huh?”
The Belles started their boos and eeews.
“Language in front of the kids, asshole.” I bent my legs under me as I sat on the couch.
“They’re not kids anymore, and you’re one to preach. You say fuck more than you breathe.”
I growled. “Anyway, he didn’t take the deal. You can all fucking remove the sticks from your asses and relax. Now, can we focus on what’s important?” I didn’t want to spend another second talking about Damien. I was hanging by a thread here. “The angels must bring the supes here so we can help them live without fear. There’s no point in them suffering for the sake of our beef with the devil and the damn prophecy.”
“You want to bring strangers here, with our kids, including an MC, supes that were inprisonand the Darkborns?” Alec scoffed. “What the fuck, Belle?”
I rolled my eyes. “Your cousins are in that MC. The Darkborn and her prison friends had the power to get out of Damien’s grip on their own.”
“But—”
“What about your pack, Alec?” I interrupted. “Have you forgotten about them? What if humans hunt them down and shove them in prison for all eternity without doing anything wrong?” I stared at Kayden. “How would you feel about that, Alpha?”
“I’d feel awful,” Kayden said. “That doesn’t mean we bring everybody here. There are millions of supes out there. We don’t have the resources to have them living here with us. It’ll be chaos.”
“Then we’ll start small, take as many as we can then expand gradually. We made this place a town. We can turn it into a city,” I said. “Damien can’t win this war, and our kids…sure need the company.”
“We sure do,” Nate chuckled. “You got my vote, Mom.”
Raphael raised a hand. “Me too.”
“Me three,” Bree, one of Kayden’s twins said, and he gave her a furious glare. He was very protective of the girls—duh—and he must have loved they didn’t have access to boys. The possibility of having any here must have driven him nuts.
“It’s safe to say we all do,” her sister said, laughing under her breath.
“It’s settled then.” I smiled. “Twilight City, here we come.”
Chapter 44
Belle
Professor Ferro, you never cease to amaze me.
Damien’s final words to me never left my mind. That was exactly what he’d said when we shook on our first deal before the willow tree. The deal that got us each other.
Why would he say that when it was goodbye? Why would he remind me of everything that had brought us together? To torture me, of course. To tug at the pieces of my heart he still owned. To keep himself embedded in my head like now.
A long, troubled sigh sifted out of my chest. “I wish I’d never met you, Damien Pattison.”
There was a knock on my door, and then Joshua came in. “Breakfast is ready, love.”
I nodded. “I’m coming.”
“You look tired. Maybe we should postpone today’s gathering.”
