Chapter 28

Cole

Garden District, New Orleans, Louisiana

T hey were halfway up the stairs when the landline rang. The thing had never rung before three days ago, but apparently everybody had the damn number now. Cole choked out a snarl and ignored it, walking towards his study with Evie tucked into his side. Thankfully, after three rings, the shrill chime stopped. He had just opened his office door when the phone rang again.

“Should you get that?” Evie asked, glancing up at him.

“Nope. It’s probably just a telemarketer.” He ushered her in. “They’ll stop eventually.” Blissful silence followed his words, and he smirked in victory.

“If you’re sure—” Her skeptical response was cut off by the beginning of the third wail of the landline. She giggled at what he was sure was a fully mutinous expression on his face. “It sounds like they’re not going to give up. Go. Answer the… telemobile?” Her lips pursed into a cute moue as she struggled for the right name for the phone. “Whatever. I think that’s what it’s called.” Pushing herself to tiptoe, she kissed his cheek gently and then dropped back to standing. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Fine.” He went still as the line went quiet for the third time. “Or—” ? Nope. There it went again. “Fuck, fine.” He gave her a light kiss, which quickly turned into something dark and passionate, Evie pinned against the wall with one leg around his waist, before he tore himself away. “I’ll be right back, Angel.”

She nodded, her eyes glazed, her mouth slightly parted.

Fuck . It took everything he had to make himself walk away from the beautiful, aroused woman still leaning against the wall like it was the only thing holding her up. “Don’t go anywhere.” With one final look, he stalked out of study to the master bedroom where the phone was still jingling merrily like the antiquated cockblocking hunk of junk it was. He snatched the handset out of the cradle, brought it to his ear, and snapped, “What?”

A long pause followed his terse greeting. “Well, hello to you too, my boy.” His uncle’s voice finally came through the speaker, a low laugh underlining his words. “Did I interrupt something?”

Cole pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “Hey, Charlie.” This was going to take longer than expected. He hadn’t briefed Charlie sufficiently on anything that had happened that night at the construction site. And he sure as shit hadn’t told him about openly declaring war on the Barataria Coven, at minimum, and the whole witch population, at maximum. Jesus Christ . He dropped into the chair beside the end table holding the phone. “No, you didn’t interrupt anything. At least nothing that can’t be picked back up after the call.”

“Hmm.” Charlie hummed into the phone. “I’m sure your lady friend for the day can wait.”

“What?”

“Cole, my boy, you’re not getting any younger.” Ah, there it is . This was Charlie’s old song and dance, so well-practiced that Cole could practically recite the speech back to his uncle verbatim. “I know that marriage isn't something you want, but you need to at least think about the greater good. If you and the reincarnate don’t take your seats in the Underworld and put the shades littering the human world back where they need to be, the world and everyone in it are going to be destroyed. Including you and whatever woman you’ve chosen for the given night. It’s time to grow up.”

Cole’s head snapped up in surprise. That was new. Usually, Charles was circumspect about Cole's social reputation. Formal, awkward, and slightly disapproving, yes, but never attacking. He opened his mouth, but his uncle wasn’t done.

“You don’t have to love her or even be loyal to her, but you do have to find her. You have to do what needs to be done. You and your fated wife are the only ones who can.”

Even the idea that he would be unfaithful to Evie was disgusting to him. An angry knot formed in the pit of his stomach at the thought of touching any other woman or, worse, any other woman touching him. “Well, I got good news for you,” he interrupted his uncle, who had moved on to his more practiced lecture materials on duty and honor.

“This is what you were born—” Charles stopped. “Wait. What did you just say?”

“I said I had good news.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I, uh, I found her.” Cole leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, the headset still pressed against his right ear. “That night I went to the preserve. She was there.”

There was a brief second of silence from the other end. Then his stoic, formal uncle let out a wolf whistle so loud it echoed in the speaker and reminded Cole of every one of his soccer games that his uncle had ever attended when he was a kid. “That’s wonderful!” Charles exclaimed. “Who is she? Where is she?”

“Her name is Evie,” Cole replied.

“The Dyeus girl?”

“Yeah.” Cole inclined his head in confirmation, even though his uncle couldn’t see him. “We confirmed it last night.” He rubbed the side of his head, trying to figure out how to broach the subject of what she was with Charles.

“How do you know she’s the reincarnate?” His uncle’s tone was curious.

Cole froze. How did he not prepare for that question? He had expected it, sure, but the surprise phone call meant that he couldn’t explain it with any dignity.

“Cole?” Charles asked. “Did I lose you?”

“No. No, I’m here, Charlie.” He pinched the bridge of his nose again, hoping the sharp pressure would force his brain to work more quickly than it was. But no dice. “I know it’s her, because… you remember that girl I started dreaming about when I was a kid? The one I asked you about.”

“Yes… ” Charles’ trailed off thoughtfully. “The little red-haired girl you were convinced was real?”

“Yeah, her.” Cole bit his cheek then let it rip. “She’s real.”

“What do you mean ‘she’s real ?’” Charles sounded condescending even through the phone. “Cole, she was a dream.”

“No,” Cole retorted. “No, she wasn’t. And I know because she’s sitting in my study right now.”

Charles’ voice dropped. “Are you sure it’s her?”

“More sure than I’ve ever been of anything in my life.” Cole glanced at the open door. “I know her—the way she looks, the way she sounds, her laugh—better than I know myself. It’s her.” The final word pitched up in excitement, a fact that his uncle caught on to almost immediately.

“You’re happy,” Charles observed. “You’re happy it’s her.”

“Yes.” His answer was succinct. “You know how I’ve always felt about that girl. How badly I wanted her to be real. And now she’s in my house with me, and everything feels right. Death magic is one of her sources too.”

For the third time that afternoon, his uncle surprised him. “Holy shit.” The profanity was quiet but still audible.

Cole tugged the phone away from his face and stared at it in shock. He could count on one hand the number of times he had heard Charles swear.

“That’s wonderful, my boy.” Charles finally spoke again. “I’m so happy for you that you found your Evie.” Clearing his throat of the emotional gravel, he continued. “You said she’s with you now?”

“Well, she’s in the study, but yeah, she’s home with me now.” His heart thumped in excitement at the idea of them making this their home rather than just his.

“Does she know who she is to you?”

“Not yet.” Cole scraped a hand through his hair, his foot tapping unconsciously against the floor. “I was just about to tell her when you called.” He dropped his voice. “But I need some advice.”

“Oh?” The surprise from the other end of the line was palpable.

“Yeah, oh,” Cole chuckled. “I don’t remember some of the particulars of the prophecy—” Charles let out an exasperated groan that Cole couldn’t help but snort at. “But I don’t remember how exactly we open the Underworld.”

“Now don’t you wish you listened all those times we talked to you about your fate?”

“Yeah, sure, Charlie. Whatever you say.” Big eye roll to that one. “Can you help me or not? I want to tell her everything. I want her to choose me, and I want the choice to take the crown to be hers as well. And I can’t do that without having all the information.”

“You really care about this girl, don’t you?” Charles pondered softly.

“She’s everything to me,” Cole replied bluntly. “I want her to have everything she’s ever wanted. Which means that this, all of it, me, the crown, and all of the immortality and other royal deity bullshit that comes with it, has to be her choice. So… will you help me or not?”

“I’m proud of you. I’m so proud of you, my boy, and your father would be too.” Charles cleared his throat once more. “The texts say that the reincarnates will open the Underworld through… ” Here, he paused. Coughed. “Through—” Another louder cough.

“You need to go get some water, nonc ?”

“No,” Charles barked. “No, I’m fine." Another pause and then he finished in a rush, "The reincarnates open the Underworld through sexual congress."

“I’m sorry. What?” Cole blinked rapidly. Like that would help him process what he had just heard. “We have to have sex to open the gates of the Underworld.”

“Yes.” Charles sounded relieved that Cole hadn’t asked him to repeat himself. “Yes, precisely.” His voice dropped. “To completion.”

“Fuck’s sake, Charlie.” Well, there was no way he was ever going to forget that horrifying combination of words said by the man who raised him. Had Charlie ever even had sex? He was inclined to guess no if he referenced coming as ‘to completion.’ Cole shuddered again but pushed forward. “What if we were to have sex before she made her decision? What would happen then?”

“Well, the prophecy isn’t all that precise regarding motivations or decisions,” Charles answered, back on solid ground now that he was talking about family lore rather than sex. “But I would imagine that any sexual congress—” His voice dropped low again as he said the words. “Would trigger the opening of the Underworld.”

Cole’s mouth dropped open, and he stared at the wall in alarm. He had all but been inside Evie at least three times in the last two days, and, each time they touched, it got more difficult to stop. If she wasn’t ready to accept the responsibility of the Underworld, if she wasn’t ready to let go of her home, her sisters, her life the way it was before they found each other… He groaned. Fuck .