Page 32 of Shadows of the Soul

I blinked back the tears. Perhaps my Hudson issue would resolve itself before we reached home. He’d move off my property and leave me in peace. Alone, but in peace. That peace didn’t look as appealing as it had twenty-four hours ago.

I don’t need protection. I’m more than capable of handling my own enemies.

I’m worried you don’t recognize your enemies, even when they call themselves Lucifer and threaten your family.

Then leave.

He huffed a laugh, causing Dave and Dayna to glance behind them.

I might be angry with you, Cora. But you won’t get rid of me that easily.

He yanked at the chain and broke the necklace before depositing it onto my lap. “This has run its course.”

I stared at the slender chain, feeling a sense of doom at his words. Perhaps we had run our course? What was the alternative? That he kept pushing until I broke and spilled my secrets? He thought being on first-name terms with Satan was bad? His head would explode if knew the truth.

Warm hands cupped my cheeks, and Hudson pulled my face toward his. “Stop it,” he warned. “Stop catastrophizing. No secrets will chase me away, Cora. But I am allowed to be frustrated in the meantime.”

“What did I miss?” Dayna said, peering at us.

“They fucked,” Dave answered.

“We are mated,” Hudson declared.

“We are seeing how things go,” I corrected.

“Ooh, are we going to get a show?” Dayna asked.

“What the hell? Why would you think that?”

“Well, your lover is holding your head like it’s a precious diamond and he’s naked.”

“No show,” I gritted out.

“Prude.”

I didn’t take my eyes from Hudson’s. He was everything that made me weak, and that made him dangerous. I decided then and there that I didn’t care. I’d been living a half life. I wasn’t happy. I was existing, but I wasn’t happy. I needed more. I needed him. And now that I’d had him, I wasn’t sure I could ever give him up.

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

What you do under the influence of the full moon is your business.

Five hours and two naps later, we pulled into a classic diner complete with a black and white tiled floor, red vinyl booths, and rotating ceiling fans that did nothing but move the stifling air around us. The carnivores were hungry and demanded a combo of meat and grease that increased my cholesterol by being in the same room.

“What can I get you?” Marla, a slender teenager rocking platinum pigtails, asked.

Aunt Dayna scooped her wild honey blonde hair off her shoulders and tucked it into her flower power headscarf. “Garden burger with fries, and a chocolate shake,” she said.

“Same,” I added.

“Triple bacon cheeseburger, extra fries, a portion of onion rings, and a chocolate shake,” Hudson said.

“Same,” Dave said.

Marla gave Hudson a weird glance before sauntering off.

We’d grabbed some clothing for Hudson from a tiny town market, but our choices were limited, meaning he was wearing a lemon T-shirt, two sizes too small for his wide chest, and a pair of khaki shorts which rode up too far. To finish the ensemble, he’d stuffed his feet into navy and white striped boat shoes.

---