16. Kase

Iwhisked the eggs together nervously, warily glancing toward the kitchen entrance. Last night was amazing—more than amazing. It was and will forever be the best night of my life. I just wasn’t sure how Evangeline would feel about it in the light of day. I didn’t force myself on her, but she hadn’t exactly invited me into her bed initially. What if Evangeline regrets allowing me to mark her? It would tear me apart if she did, but I knew that I would survive. Jett had, so I hoped to be just as strong as him and persevere until Evangeline was ready. I just prayed it wasn’t an issue.

Jett strolled into the kitchen and grinned at me knowingly. “I wasn’t in the room, but that was hot as fuck last night. Did you knot her? I know you marked her.”

“It isn’t nice to kiss and tell, Jett. I respect Evangeline more than that,” I replied. Even as I said the words, I was unable to keep a satisfied smile from my face.

“She’s our mate. We have no secrets,” Jett replied as he pulled a Red Bull from the fridge and cracked it open.

“That shit would explode your heart if you didn’t heal,” I commented.

Jett shrugged, unconcerned. “It tastes delicious and jump-starts my day, and since it can’t explode my heart, I don’t see why it is any of your concern. Stop poking at me because you’re nervous about Rylan finding out what you did.”

My eyes widened. Fuck. Rylan. I hadn’t considered how he would react to the new development.

Jett chuckled again. “Uh oh, someone hadn’t thought about that, I see.” He came to where I was standing and peered over my shoulder into the bowl of eggs. “Also, I think they’re sufficiently scrambled. You put any more air in them, and they’ll fly away.”

I stopped whisking the eggs and set them down, nudging him away from me. “Fuck. No, I hadn’t. I’ve been worrying about Evangeline’s response. I completely forgot about how Rylan would take it.” I didn’t regret mating with her, but part of me did feel a bit guilty that Rylan hadn’t been involved. My mind quickly shifted back to Evangeline when I felt her wake up. I tossed some butter and dumped some eggs into the pan to make omelets. I had already cooked up the bacon, mushrooms, and onions to go in them.

“She feels fine,” Jett said reassuringly. “I’d worry more about Ry.”

I listened as she moved around her bedroom and then left the room to come downstairs. Right, everything’s cool. It’s just another ordinary day. As she entered the kitchen, I focused on the omelet so I didn’t burn it.

“Morning!” she chirped.

“Morning, angel,” Jett replied. “Can you tell Kase you’re fine with what happened last night? He’s feeling a little unsure of himself.”

I glared at my packmate as Evangeline circled the kitchen to stand beside me. I didn’t need him to help me.

“Why are you unsure?” Evangeline asked.

I added the ingredients to the omelet, carefully folded it, and turned the heat down to let the cheese melt without burning the egg. “I just wasn’t sure if you would regret it in the morning,” I replied softly. Evangeline softly grasped my chin and turned it so that I was looking at her. All I saw in her eyes was love.

“I have no regrets about what we did last night, Kase. I’m glad you came to me, and I’m glad that we’re officially bonded.” She stood up on her tiptoes to kiss me softly. “I think your omelet might be burning,” she whispered against my lips.

“Shit!” I quickly took the pan off the flame. “I can make you another one,” I said quickly.

“Aww, that was for me?”

“Well, yeah,” I replied. “I wanted to make you breakfast. Are you sure you’re ok with what happened?”

“Positive. And you don’t have to make me another one. It’s not that burnt.”

“Yes, I do. This one can be Jett’s. It’s his fault anyway for ratting me out,” I replied, shooting him another glare as I flipped it onto a plate.

“Hey, be mad all you want, but wasn’t it easier to lay it all out on the table than obsess over every single emotion she has until you finally burst and ask for yourself?” Jett replied, accepting the slightly burnt omelet from me.

“He has a point,” Evangeline replied.

“Go. Sit,” I replied, swatting her ass away from the stove. “Coffee is on the table.” She sat next to Jett and poured herself a cup of coffee while I started on her omelet.

I heard a door close upstairs, and dread filled me. Rylan was awake, and I wasn’t sure how he would react, but I wasn’t anticipating it to be good. He was our pack leader; if anyone should have marked her first, it was him. He had a valid reason to be pissed.

“Good morning,” he greeted us when he entered the kitchen.

“Morning,” we replied.

He took three more steps toward Evangeline and froze when he saw her neck. He was on me in seconds. “What the fuck did you do? I thought we already talked about marking her against her will!” Rylan shoved me away from the stove and stalked after me with his fists clenched at his sides. His eyes were pure flames. He was after blood.

I scrambled away from him with my hands held in front of me. “It’s not what you think, Ry. Just calm down and let me explain.”

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Evangeline screamed as she jumped between us and tried to shove him back.

“Stay out of this, Evangeline,” he growled as he carefully moved her out of the way and then continued to stalk after me.

“I will not stay out of it!” she replied, stubbornly moving between us again. When Rylan tried to grab her again, she darted out of reach. “He didn’t claim me against my will. I gave him permission!”

Rylan’s anger fizzled out, and the fire in his eyes died as he stilled. Cautiously, I moved toward him, placing myself between him and Evangeline. I knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but I still felt the need to protect her. Although at the irritated way that she huffed behind me, maybe Rylan needed the protection.

“It was consensual, Ry, I swear. I’m sorry that it upset you, but I won’t apologize for it happening,” I told him.

His eyes moved to Evangeline behind me, and I could see his pain. “Congratulations,” he said gruffly before turning on his heel and leaving the kitchen. I heard the back door open as he left the house and hung my head.

“Fuck,” I whispered.

“What was that about?” Evangeline asked. “Why is he upset that I let you mark me?”

“He is our pack leader. Technically, he should have been the one to claim you first,” I replied.

“I couldn’t control my hound when he marked you,” Jett explained.

“I didn’t have a control problem, at least not in an excusable way,” I said as I went back to the stove to flip the egg before it burned again.

“I should talk to him,” Evangeline replied.

Jett caught her and pulled her into his lap before she could chase after him. “Let him lick his wounds a little longer, love. His pride hurts, but he will get over it and see that this is a good step in the right direction. Soon, we’ll be a complete mated pack.”

“But now I feel bad. I don’t want Rylan to feel left out, or like I don’t want to be mated to him.” I felt the depth of her sadness over Rylan’s response, and while I knew, ultimately, this was my fault, I still felt the urge to punch him. We heard the door open and stopped talking as Rylan returned to the kitchen.

“Lucifer just called. He said he was going to summon us and bring “the angel” along.

“Guess we’ll have to skip breakfast,” Evangeline said as she got off of Jett’s lap and walked to Rylan’s side. She laced her fingers through his and looked up at him. “I’m ready when you are.”

I exchanged a secret smile with Jett when I saw his shoulders relax, and he squeezed her hand. It would all work out. I felt the summon from Lucifer hit me in the chest. If we didn’t follow it, its pressure and pain would get stronger in time. I don’t know anyone who has successfully ignored his summons.

“Right, let’s see what he needs,” Rylan said.

We followed the summons, and I couldn’t tell where we were when we landed. It didn’t look familiar, but a quick check of my internal map placed us somewhere in the South Pacific. I looked around the slab of rock that jutted out of the ocean and saw Lucifer standing nearby. Beyond him were five empty elevated stone thrones.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“This is a neutral location that was set up for this meeting,” Lucifer replied. I wasn’t allowed to bring anyone but the four of you. They only wanted Evangeline, but I explained that there was no way her mates would allow her out of their sight, so they dropped that demand.”

“Who is “they”?” Rylan asked.

There was a flash of light, and suddenly, five angels filled the thrones. “They,” Lucifer replied, waving his hand toward them. I looked at each angel individually, and my pack must have been doing the same because we growled when we saw who filled the last seat.

“Gale,” Evangeline muttered under her breath.

“Know him?” Lucifer asked.

“That’s the angel who tried to force himself on Evangeline,” Jett replied quietly.

“Off to a great start, then,” Lucifer replied. He jerked his head so we could follow him and approached the thrones. “I was under the impression that I would meet with her,” he said loudly.

“As if she would waste her time,” the angel in the center scoffed.

“You have five minutes to tell us what this is all about,” the angel to his right said.

For now, Gale stayed silent as he kept his eyes glued on Evangeline. I saw when he noticed her new mate mark because his face twisted with rage.

“A demon has grown in power recently. He threatens the very fabric of our existence. If we’re to defeat him, we will need to work together.”

“We will not fall for your tricks, Lucifer,” the center angel announced.

“After all this time, Michael, do you think I would bother you just to play tricks?” Lucifer asked. “I have no use for them.”

“As if we could trust you,” the angel to his right spoke up again.

“Faith, you only have to listen to my words to know that I am telling the truth, but if you don’t believe me, perhaps hearing it from one who was more recently one of you will make you believe me,” Lucifer replied as he gestured for Evangeline to step forward. Now that I knew her name, I ran through my knowledge of the angels and remembered that Faith was the angel of truth.

“Ah, yes. The fallen angel you claimed is the fated mate to a pack of your hellhounds,” Michael sneered. “More trickery. Angels don’t have mates.”

“Charity could tell you otherwise,” Lucifer replied, gesturing to the angel on the opposite end of Gale. She sat straighter on her throne as she studied Evangeline, who now stood by Lucifer’s side. She gave Michael a brief nod, causing his scowl to deepen.

“Who knows what is possible after an angel loses their grace,” he said, waving his hand to dismiss our bond.

Rylan’s growl filled the area, and Lucifer’s hand rose to silence him. “Will you not hear what she has to say, then?”

“Of course we will hear her,” Faith stated. “It’s the reason we’re all here.”

“Speak,” Michael ordered.

Evangeline bristled at their apparent disdain for her and glared at Michael. “What Lucifer says is true,” Evangeline began.

“Very informative, thank you,” Michael interrupted, chuckling. The other angels laughed with him like his joke was the cleverest joke they’d ever heard.

“Perhaps if you stopped running your mouth for two seconds, I’d be able to tell you more,” Evangeline growled.

Dark clouds rolled in as Michael vibrated with rage. “You dare speak to me like that?! You will do well to show respect!”

“Respect is earned, not owed,” Evangeline replied evenly. The storm clouds grew, and I shifted nervously on the balls of my feet, sure that a fight was about to break out.

“Michael!” the angel who hadn’t spoken yet barked. “The sooner we let her speak, the sooner we can be done with this nonsense. Stop delaying our departure with your ego.” He turned to Evangeline and nodded. “Continue with your tale, child.”

Evangeline gritted her teeth and nodded. “The demon Zabiza isn’t just after Hell. He also has his sights set on destroying Heaven. He has already recruited angels. Neither realm is safe while Zabiza lives. Together, we may be able to stop him. Apart, neither side will stand a chance.”

“And how would you know that?” Gale asked, finally speaking.

“Because I work for the Femme Fatale Freakshow, and a hit has been placed on him because of this,” Evangeline replied.

“So not only did you fall because you were a hound whore, but you’ve also become a murderer. And let’s not forget you were quick to get into Lucifer’s good graces,” Gale seethed. He looked at the angels and mock whispered, “She’s probably already crawled into his bed as well.”

Hellfire suddenly engulfed Gale, causing him to emit a high-pitched girly scream that made me chuckle before it was extinguished. Gale frantically patted his body to chase the flames away, but they were already gone.

“Careful who you speak about in your quest to discredit Evangeline,” Lucifer warned. “After trying to force yourself on her, I have it on good authority that a place is being created for you in Hell as we speak if you continue on your current path.”

“More lies!” Gale yelled. I noticed as he spoke that Faith’s eyes narrowed. He may think he was fooling his peers, but the angel of truth was on to him.

“Regardless of my circumstances, I speak the truth as I know it,” Evangeline said. “Will you not fight with us?”

The angels exchanged glances. “We will not,” Michael announced with an air of finality. “At this time, we do not see how this demon could threaten Heaven. This is a Hell problem, and I expect you to clean up your own messes, brother.”

Lucifer snorted at Michael, calling him brother, but his eyes were on the angel sitting between him and Gale. “Cassiel, as the angel of balance, are you not concerned? Can you not sense the impending war?”

Cassiel studied Lucifer over his steepled fingers, then looked at Evangeline. His eyes slid briefly to Gale before moving back to Lucifer. “I agree with Michael. At this time, I sense no issues that would require our maker’s attention.”

“Cowards!” Evangeline growled. “When Zabiza comes knocking on your door, and your brothers and sisters betray you, remember that you had the opportunity to stop it from happening before it even started and chose not to. You’ll only have yourselves to blame. I only hope that when you seek our help, we are big enough to put aside our egos and do what needs to be done for the greater good.”

Evangeline turned her back on the angels, which only served to piss them off more, and walked back to Rylan’s side. “How the fuck do we get out of here? They’re useless.”

Lucifer’s boisterous laugh filled the area. “You guys really fucked up by letting Evangeline fall. She’s a true treasure and a fine soldier for the greater good, even after her fall. That should tell you something.”

He also turned his back on the angels to join Rylan and Evangeline. Jett and I backed slowly to them. I didn’t trust them not to pull something when all of our backs were turned, especially Michael and Gale.

“Bring her to the club tonight, and we will talk more,” Lucifer instructed. I felt his power hit us as he teleported us back to the house.