by Laney McMann
Easing his body on top of hers, he made sure he didn’t crush her. She was so small, he thought, but there was a fierceness she always had, and he loved it about her. Kade kissed him, soft fingers touching his throat, his falcon wings, coursing down his chest, through his hair, and Cole realized that everything about their relationship was mutual. They balanced each other out. There were no power plays, no one trying to control anything or dominate anyone—they just worked.
When Kade’s hands shifted underneath the hem of Cole’s jacket onto the planes of his stomach, Cole’s hands followed on her ribcage. When she tugged off his jacket, he pulled off hers.
Nothing was pushed, nothing expected. There were no awkward moments, nothing was uncomfortable. It was only heat and passion, comfort and belonging, love and truth. He was the best version of himself when he was with her. He didn’t know how else to explain it. She simply made him better.
Cole let out a breath, as Kade unzipped his jeans and tugged them off. They fell to the floor, followed by hers, and her hands coursed all over his body, her heated kisses coaxing him. Her breaths staggered against his mouth as he kissed her harder, her heart pounding against his chest. Her eyes focused only on his, and he never wanted to leave. He wanted to stay there forever in that tiny house in the woods, drunk on her, in love with her, completely absorbed in nothing but her.
His mouth trailed down her neck, to the hollow of her throat, one hand gripping the armrest of the couch above her head, and Kade’s hips moved against his, unraveling his control. She kissed him harder, tongues clashing, little sounds escaping her lungs. Cole breathed her in, lips and teeth grazing her mouth. She arched her back underneath him on a gasp, and his thoughts scrambled.
The softness of her heated skin, the sweet smell of her, and the firm pressure of her fingers against his back, drew him further in. Breaths shuddering and hitching, her pupils blew wide, and her whole body trembled underneath him, and Cole broke apart.
Staring down, her face flushed pink, chest rising and falling as her breaths slowed, a small smile graced her mouth, and he gently kissed her.
Saving the world, he thought, protecting the Planes—it was in a Primordial’s nature. They were born to serve. But until recently, Cole didn’t truly understand what that meant. Most people would damn the world for love, burn it to hell, bring it to its knees, and watch the flames lick up to the sky. It’s easy to do. Masses will willingly follow the darkness wherever it leads.
Love is harder.
It flayed you open in ways you didn’t know existed. It left you staring, in motionless awe, into the eyes of the one person in the world who can literally touch your soul.
Gazing down at Kade, her small hands softly running over his back, the warm glow of firelight cast across her face, Cole realized what being born to serve meant. It meant holding your ground even when the very ground you were standing on was breaking apart beneath your feet. It meant fighting for the good in people, the good in the universe, even when you weren’t sure it still existed. It meant saving the world, while others tried to burn it down.
And as Kade lifted her hand, gently holding Cole’s jaw, her beautiful eyes on only him, he realized the most important fact of all—it meant believing in love—even when you were terrified of losing it—even when it was the biggest risk you could take.
As Kade guided his mouth to hers again, he made a silent vow.
I will save the world to save you.
Epilogue
Kade tended the fire in the grate, shifting the logs around the way Cole had showed her with the iron poker to keep the flames going. Osiris’ little house was cozy and had started to feel more and more like a home and less like a hideout over the last few days. The weather was still cold, but she and Cole had managed to find a lot of ways to keep each other warm.
Cole had received word from Heru that Danny was on the mend, and they should expect him to be arriving at their little dwelling within the hour. Kade heard Cole whistling in the shower from the bathroom. His good mood had increased tenfold over the past couple of days. So had hers. Even with everything that had happened, they had so much to be thankful for. A knock on the front door had her smiling.
Abandoning the orange blaze, she placed the poker back in its holder and walked to the front door. Swinging it open, she smiled wider. Danny stood on the front porch with a grin and crutches, his leg in a cast, and a small duffle bag in one hand.
“What the hell happened to the yard?” His gaze swept the massive, round patch of destruction.
Kade hugged him, tears stinging her eyes.
“It was kind of a pain in the ass to get here,” he said, awkwardly trying to pat her back. “Can we do something about those rickety steps?” He glanced over his shoulder at the three makeshift stone steps that led onto the porch.
“You’re okay,” she said, choking up and ushering him inside.
“It takes more than explosives to keep me down.” He hobbled inside and dropped his bag on the scuffed wood floor.
“Apparently.” Cole stood in the bedroom doorway dressed in nothing but his jeans and an ear-to-ear grin. “You scared the living hell out of me. Please don’t do it again.”
Danny’s eyes glazed over, and he cleared his throat with a slight cough, staring at his Alpha. “I’ll do my best.”
Cole crossed the floor and hugged his best friend.
Kade’s eyes were brimming, but she still tracked every move Cole made, every inch of his body, from his damp hair to his clean toes. Inappropriate as all hell, considering the circumstances, but good god, he needed to put some clothes on.
Cole smirked at her, releasing Danny, and went into the bedroom. “So, you’re better?” He came out with a T-shirt on and socks.
“Yeah.” Danny hobbled over to the raggedy recliner and sank down. “The cast comes off soon, I hope.” He eased the seat back with the handle so his leg was propped up.
Cole’s brows creased. “Can you shift?”
“I can, but it’s like that scene from Clash of the Titans. You know, when the woman transforms from a seagull back into her human form and everything looks normal until she sees that one of her feet is a still bird’s foot. It’s not so attractive. Or comfortable. Or aerodynamic.”
Cole grinned, and Kade sat on the couch, close to the fireplace. “How long can you stay?”
“As long as you need me.”
“No offense, Dan,” Cole crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m stoked you’re here—you have no idea—you scared the crap out of me, but what are you going to do? Shouldn’t you be recuperating?”
“Where?” His dark brown brows lifted as one. “The Kinship? Giselle is still in the hospital. She’s on the mend, though. They'll be releasing her in a few days, so you might be getting more guests." He grinned.
Kade had no idea where they would all sleep.
“Jake’s sight isn't back, though,” he said with a sigh. “They’re still running tests. And Lindsey,” he glanced down, “she's not out of the woods, either. Her injuries were bad. She's conscious, breathing on her own, but she's having an issue with her blood not wanting to clot.”
“Damn,” Cole stared at his Beta. It was clear none of them knew what to say.
“There's not much I can do in Boulder. I can’t help with the kids at the Kinship if I’m on crutches. Thatcher has everyone double-bunked, so there’s not enough space, anyway, and those dorm rooms are already small. And besides that, Heru said I had to come here and stay here, so that’s what I’m doing. He already hates me.”
“He does not.” Cole laughed.
Danny eyebrows twisted. “He does, and you know he does. Anyway, another issue is no one can find Elder Cato.”
“What?” Cole walked across the small living room and sat with Kade, hugging her close to his side.
Danny shrugged. ”He was at the Brotherhood questioning Plumb,” he let out a breath and bowed his head before clearing his throat. “That’s the last anyone heard, and he ha
sn’t been seen since. Maybe he’s underneath all the debris. A couple of people are still missing.”
“God,” Cole exhaled, rubbing his face. “Heru didn’t tell me anything about Cato.”
“Not sure it matters in regard to you at this point. You and Kade are here. I think it only matters to me. Heru doesn’t want me around should Cato coming knocking again. I’m your Beta. He’ll ask questions, and I don’t lie as well as you do.”
“Thanks, jackass.”
Danny grinned. “But here’s something interesting, Jake said he ran into the guy at the Ward a few days ago—it was a few hours before the explosion at the Brotherhood—and he said Cato was a giant douche. Acted like he owned the place. Knew who Jake was even though they’d never met.”
“Sounds like him. He pretty much stole the seat of Chancellor at Stella Urbem. Cato is the reason I wouldn’t let Kade go to the Eldership when they summoned her. Even if Warden Caelius hadn’t given me the order to take her and leave Colorado, I would have broken the Doctrine and done it on my own.” He put his hand on Kade’s knee. “Hadriana is more reasonable, but an Anamolia is still a threat to us, they believe. Not sure how she would take it either.”
“Any other news?” Kade asked, wanting to mention the message he had for her from Dracon, but finding it hard to voice. “We’re kind of in our own world out here.” Not that she minded. At all.
“I can see that,” Danny smirked, “but just, well, Plumb.”
No one said anything. There wasn’t anything to say. It was too new—too fresh—too real.
“I didn’t know,” Dan said on a drawn breath. “I got your call seconds before the explosion.” He looked at Cole. “There was nothing I could have done. It was immediate. All I could do was grab Giselle.”
“There wasn’t anything anyone could’ve done.” Cole’s gaze shifted toward the floor. “There was no time.”
Danny glanced at Kade. “There was a Leygate in your house, or underneath your house, that led to the tunnels Cole and I were investigating below Crystalline and Bangerang. And that gate led, not back to your house, but to the Brotherhood’s atrium roof. That’s how your Astrum necklace ended up in your bunker apartment.” He said it like an apology.
“Yeah, Jake told me.”
“So, that’s one mystery solved.” Danny eyed Cole. “Creepy, but solved. Question is how are Leylines being rerouted into Primordial strongholds? That’s a huge issue, and it couldn’t have been—” he stopped and looked at Kade.
“I guess you have a message for me.” She braced herself.
“For both of you, actually.”
Cole’s brows notched.
“How much do you know?” Dan asked Kade.
“Jake said there was a Leygate that led from the room underneath my house to wherever Dracon was," Kade said, “and that he died.” Her voice strangled on the word. “But you didn’t kill him. That you had a message for me from him.”
“I memorized it, so I wouldn't forget," he said, still apologetic. “He was in bad shape, Kade. When we found him, and I want you to know, that even with everything he's done, there was a part of me that wanted to save him.” He glanced at Cole. “I might have if that was an option. It wasn’t. I just need you to know that.”
She nodded, throat getting thick. “Okay.”
“He said, “‘’I have given my daughter a great gift. Greater than even I realized. It will help to keep her safe from the one who wishes to control her. Tell her that.’”
Kade’s hand went to her mouth, as she turned to look at Cole.
Danny went on, “‘Tell her that … I am sorry for everything. I allowed hatred and envy to rule my life. Tell her that I love her. I wanted to tell her these truths myself, but there is no more time. I always liked Mr. Spires.’” Danny eyed Cole. “’That was not a lie. He was chosen. He is the one who holds the other key. The two Rubeums … the two … hold the keys.’” Danny stared at them. “’Don’t let the Patriarchae separate the Rubeums. Tell my daughter.’” Danny went on, “’Save her.’”
Unwanted tears rolled silently down Kade's face.
“Have any idea what that means?" Danny asked.
Cole looked like someone had hit him. "The two Rubeums hold the keys? Save her? Dracon said that?”
“Yeah. Like I said, I made sure to remember it all,” he said. “And all this time I was thinking Dracon was the mastermind—the Patriarchae, but that makes no sense now. He was so weak. He couldn't have created the Leygate grid we found in the sewer tunnels, no way, and even though he said he shifted the line so I would find him, I don't see how he had the strength to reroute the Leylines into a Primordial stronghold, or for the matter, how he would’ve known where to run it. He wasn’t accepted into the Brotherhood fold as a kid, remember? He wasn’t strong enough. That was his whole issue with Turning against us.”
“But the Sparrows, as in his own brother, and parents, were in the Brotherhood once upon a time,” Cole let out a breath, “which gave Dracon too much information about where and how we lived in general. Not like we’re dealing with a true Devil’s Child. Dracon was a Primori once. Granted, like you said, he Turned because he wasn’t strong enough to move on within the Ward, but still, his parents would've taken him to visit his brother from time to time. He could have gotten to know the common house pretty well.”
“I guess.” Danny didn't sound convinced. "Doesn't explain the lines in the sewer tunnels, though.”
“I’m not arguing that. Dracon didn’t create that grid.” He eyed Kade, gently wiping the drying tears from her cheeks. "You okay?”
“Yeah.” She stared past him into nothing. The fact that her dad, her real dad, and her mom, were Primori in the Brotherhood before Kade was born was still mind blowing. Her life had been set out to be entirely different than it was now. She couldn’t take it in.
Cole stood up. “Okay, well, help me get some firewood, I guess. We’ll … let this new information sink in, and, shit, I don't even know." He shook his head. “The two Rubeums hold the keys?”
“Yep.”
Cole rubbed his eyes. "Can you manage firewood?”
Danny glanced at his leg propped up on the recliner, and in a cast, and then at his crutches. “Yeah, I can manage that.” He pushed out of the chair and hobbled to the front door behind Cole.
“Hold up.” Cole shifted the cinderblock piece-of-shit steps so they were slightly more stable before he let Danny use them on his crutches, and wandered to the side of the tiny house.
“What the hell happened over there?” Danny pointed toward the barren radius of forest.
Cole didn’t look, he didn’t want to see it again. “When I found out about Plumb.”
“Oh,” Danny exhaled. “It’ll grow back.”
“That’s what Kade said.” He stopped near the woodpile.
“So, you good? Otherwise,” Danny asked, “I mean, you okay?” His bright green eyes seared into Cole’s the same as they had since they were little kids.
“You scared the shit out me, Danny.” Cole let out a breath. “You have no idea. When I found you—when I saw you on the roof—just lying there, I thought …” He stared at his best friend.
“Sorry. Really.”
“I know. Not your fault. So, yes, I guess I’m okay.” He half laughed. “As okay as I can be, right?” He loaded logs into his arms.
“I’m sorry I scared you. The last place on Earth I expected to find myself was trapped on the roof of the Brotherhood. I mean, holy hell. It was all of us. Me, Giselle, Lindsey, and Jake. Talk about a clever trap. It had to have been Dracon, though. I can't figure out for the life of me how he could've pulled it off. He was in such bad shape, Cole. I mean, he died at my feet. The Leygate we took…” He shook his head, grabbing some wood from the pile on the side of the house. “Genius.”
Cole took the wood out Danny’s hand. “Give me that. You’re not breaking your other damn leg.”
“You asked me to help.”
“I didn’
t mean literally.” He piled Danny’s wood pieces in his arms on top of the rest. “And genius, my ass.” He stared at his Beta. “Do you remember anything I told you while you were unconscious?”
Danny didn’t look at him. “I heard a lot of weird things, felt a lot of weird things, but half of it had to have been from whatever pain killers I was on.”
Cole shook his head, staring Danny straight in the eye. “It wasn’t Dracon. Your instincts are correct. Trust them.”
“I do, but ... no way, Cole. I couldn’t have heard you right when I was unconscious.”
“How did I know to send you a call telling you a bomb was headed for the Brotherhood seconds before it hit?”
“That’s completely—“
“Insane? Yeah, it is. Apparently next to the word insane in the dictionary there is a picture of my dad. And next to the word lunatic. And psycho.”
“Wait … hold up a second. He blew up the Brotherhood? Your dad? He died, Cole. I’m completely confused. How did he do that?”
“Detonator.” Cole piled all the wood onto side of the porch. “Motherfucker is the Patriarchae. Not Dracon.” He rubbed his face. “Heru found him hiding out in the Gesuati in Venice. A swarm of Nefarius chased us through the city, and when I wouldn’t fall into rank beside the lunatic, he told me I had to choose between him taking Kade and killing her or him hitting the Brotherhood. When I refused to hand Kade over, he pushed a detonator button. Unlike Dracon, my dad is far from dead. For now. And it takes no brain power for me to know that my dad created the blacked Leyline grid in the sewer tunnel. I guess he was protecting Dracon. I knew it felt wrong—the energy down there—all of it. It was him. That's his work. Brilliant son of a bitch.”
“Oh, my god,” Danny said under his breath. “I mean … I knew, no offense, Cole, but I always knew the guy was whack. Look what he did to your back and all of your training, but … explain.”
