Chapter 44

Evie

Beau Chêne, Mandeville, Louisiana

T here were many different kinds of silence. The stillness of the forest after a rainfall. The breathless quiet just after sex. The peace of a cemetery. But Evie had never experienced a silence quite like the one that fell over the room after Nyx all but shouted, “You’re a witch ?” It felt almost . . . hostile.

“Umm, yes?” Evie responded, her voice lilting up on the confirmation. Why did that sound like a question? She knew what she was. Firming up her voice, she repeated, “Yes.”

Cate wore a small smile on her face as one of the women that Evie was almost positive was a goddess of nightmares (or maybe it was curses?) spat at Cole, “And you knew this?”

Evie flinched, preparing for the worst possible response. Cole told her he loved her, but what if his family having an issue with who and what she was proved to be too much for him? Besides Sandrine, she had never had someone who wanted to protect and defend her. Even the rest of the coven had tried to hide away the bits of her they didn’t like or couldn’t understand. She tensed, starting to draw into herself, her brain dreaming up all sorts of horrifying comments that could be directed her way.

Instead of doing any of that, Cole rubbed a calming hand along her back and drew himself to his full height, glowering at the woman who asked the question. “Of course I knew.”

And with that one answer, Evie knew he was it for her. Forever.

The Furies launched into a tirade that drowned out almost everyone else in the room, but Charles’ voice carried only to the small group now clustered around Cole and Evie. “I think we should discuss this separately.”

Cole glowered at his uncle, his eyes ferocious as he stared him down, his voice low but menacing. “Oh, now you listen, huh? Not when I called you to ask if I could bring Evie, who you knew was a witch, so she could get to know my immediate fucking famille ? You just thought you would bombard my goddamn queen with everyone?” His arm was locked around her waist, his accent thicker than she had ever heard it. “ Piké twa, nonc .”

Despite the fact that she was currently surrounded on all sides by Cole’s immediate family with others shouting in the room and Cole himself rumbling in Cajun rage, she had never felt safer than she did right now with Cole’s chest firmly against her cheek, his arm such a firm band around her waist that her feet were barely touching the ground. “Get them the fuck out of here or we’re gone.”

“Cole—” Charles began in a conciliatory tone.

“No, Uncle Charlie. You have five minutes to get everyone but you, Hayden, and the Moirai the fuck out of this house or Evie and I are leaving. You can bring everyone back tonight, tomorrow, two years from now, I don’t care when, but we’re not doing this with everybody here right now.”

“Cole—” Charles tried again.

“No.” Cole’s voice was firm.

Evie reached up and touched his cheek. “Love, maybe we don’t throw everyone out.”

Cole glanced down at her, his scowl replaced almost immediately by an amused smile.

“We need these people… gods… whatever. We need them, right?” Under her hand, she felt his slight nod. “What if we just told them to come back tomorrow for breakfast so I can get to know your uncle—y’know, the man who raised you so not too far out of the realm of possibility—and best friend and—” She gestured to the three Moirai now standing to their left. “What are you three? The prophets?” She shrugged. “It makes sense that you would want me to meet your family. That’s what couples do, right? Then we can avoid all of this—” Another gesture, this time to the inexplicable fistfight that had broken out between the three Fury sisters, rallied on by several onlookers. “Right now and reconvene with a united front later.” She stopped, noticing everyone staring at her. “What?”

Cole jolted, almost as if waking from a stupor. “You’re brilliant.” She gave him a haughty smirk and a slightly condescending pat on the face. Although the loving expression on his face didn’t change, his eyes darkened, his hand on her hip transforming from a protective rub to a claiming grip. She could practically see the words brat and punishment cross his mind and knew that she may not actually be able to cute her way out of his punishment this time. “Uncle Charlie, tell the troops the new game plan. We’ll meet you five—and only you five—in the kitchen.” He gave her a slight push toward what she assumed was the kitchen, his palm low on her back, almost resting on her ass, as he closed in behind her, leaving Charles to deal with the menagerie in the sitting room.

In front of them, Essi turned, her wizened face cracked into a grin. “Cole, I like this one.”

“Me too,” he responded, stepping aside, Evie safely enfolded in his arms, to let Essi and the others pass. She started to follow behind them, but Cole caught her braid in his hand, pulling her back against his chest so he could growl into her ear, “But don’t think that just because I love you means you’re not gonna get punished for that bratty mouth of yours.”

Evie gasped, loudly enough that Cole placed his hand over her mouth, clucking softly at her. “Baby, you’re gonna have to be quieter than that.” Swatting her ass, he shooed her forward. “Now, go sit at the table like a good little witch.”

With a little extra swish to her hips, Evie sauntered away. She shot a look over her shoulder just in time to see Cole adjusting himself as he stared at her ass.

By the time they made it to the kitchen, the Moirai and Hayden were already seated, and Charles had come up behind them. “I’ve managed to placate everyone. They’ll return tomorrow to meet your queen.” Charles gestured them to their seats before filling two glasses of water and placing them in front of Cole and Evie before taking his own seat. “You’ll stay here tonight, of course.”

“Awfully high-handed of you, Charlie,” Cole responded. His hand was clenched around her thigh, so she rested hers over top of it. Almost instantly, his muscles loosened, his grip loosening as he relaxed.

Evie ducked her head, trying to hide her shock. She was so used to her touch being met with resistance, even among her own coven members, which now made sense although it still didn’t make the isolation hurt any less badly. To have someone who found comfort in her touch… she could become addicted to it.

Charles merely raised an eyebrow in his nephew’s direction before turning a piercing look on Evie. “Now, Evie, it is truly wonderful to meet you. My nephew told me very briefly what happened during a phone call a few days back, but, as is his usual, he was fairly chary with the details. It seems that he is quite taken with you so I and the rest of our little family would love to hear your side of the story.”

Evie nodded, nibbling on her lower lip before beginning the story, Cole providing color commentary as needed. It took almost 45 minutes to walk his family through their childhood experiences of each other to the construction site and the powerful magic that drew them to each other and reconstituted the forest to the earthquakes that seemed to coincide with their intimacy to their decisions about ruling the Underworld. Seemingly, there was no topic that was out-of-bounds. Once they finished their story, Evie took a small sip of water.

“So am I correct in assuming that the two of you have consummated your relationship?” Charles asked, his distinguished face flushing lightly as he posed the question. “Hayden led me to believe that was the case.”

Beside her, Cole’s foot began tapping out a quick-paced rhythm of discomfort while Evie nearly choked on her water. There was definitely no shame in a consensual sexual relationship, but she hadn’t quite expected Cole’s stoic uncle to bring it up so… formally at the kitchen table. Eventually, Cole gave a sharp nod in response.

“And you discussed what would happen once you consummated your relationship?”

Evie shifted in irritation. Why did everybody think that Cole would trick her? “Yes. Cole was completely transparent with me, and I made the choice to be with him before —” she emphasized the word, glaring at Charles. “We had sex.”

Throughout the entire conversation, Charles had maintained the utmost decorum, his face stern, his words regal. At her bald use of the word “sex,” though, his face turned bright red. She rolled her eyes at his prudishness. Gods, these people had such difficulties discussing healthy sexual expression. He tried his damndest to talk through his embarrassment, but his voice was strangled. “So am I to, uh, understand that the two of you had, uh, consumm—, hmm, uh, had sexual relations yesterday afternoon?”

Beside her, Cole was barely concealing his amusement at his uncle’s obvious discomfort. Knowing that he was more or less useless at the moment, she responded, “Yes. We had sex for the first time yesterday afternoon.”

One of the Moirai sisters—Essi, she was pretty sure—leaned forward. “It would coincide with the unexpected environmental disasters that occurred yesterday.” She ticked them off on her gnarled fingers as she listed them. “The tsunami in Japan. The hurricanes that wiped the Caribbean islands off the map and devastated Puerto Rico. The New Orleans earthquakes. The Alaskan fires. The volcanic eruption in Iceland.” As Essi continued detailing disasters from around the globe that had taken place in the last day alone, Evie’s heart sank. She and Cole had done… this ?

Suddenly, she was moving. A small squeak of surprise snuck out of her lips as Cole dragged her into his lap, situating her so she was resting against his chest. “This isn’t our fault, Angel,” he murmured. “The Underworld had to be opened, or the shades will devastate this world far worse than we ever could. They’re already doing that just by being here.” He rested his palm on her cheek, turning her face towards him. “You get that?”

Evie nodded slowly. Maybe he was just trying to make her feel better, but the story he had told her about the Shade Wars made it fairly clear that the shades were the worse of two evils.

“Angel, tell me you understand.” His eyes took on that dominating gleam, his voice that confident tone that never failed to make her want to strip down and ask him what he wanted her to do.

“I understand.” The final word of the sentence was quiet, right next to his ear. “Sir.”

Cole’s body went taut against hers, a quiet growl emerging from his chest as he hardened under her. He adjusted her over him, her body blocking his erection from view. Her core clenched, and she felt herself grow wet. There were conversations going on around them, but she was having difficulties paying attention to them, a fact of which Cole seemed well aware if his whispered, “Baby, I need you to focus for a little bit longer,” was any indication.

Evie dragged her attention back to the conversation just in time to hear Addy, the youngest of the Moirai sisters, say, “The lines of fate always foretold that the Underworld would open if the reincarnates ever established a relationship. We didn’t know what that meant, but we assumed that it had some form of sexual connection required. Which, considering that Cole was always resistant to entering a real relationship with the fated reincarnate, was a good thing at the time.” She raised her eyebrows at where Evie was curled in Cole’s lap. “Although I’m assuming your stance on that matter has now changed.”

“Consider that stance very changed, “ Cole answered. “Irrevocably changed.”

A smile teased at the corners of Evie’s mouth at the firmness of his tone.

Essi’s face was serious. “We’ll need to read the fate lines to see exactly where the portal to the Underworld opened. That should be a fairly simple task. But—” She leaned forward. “Now we need to discuss Evie’s heritage. Was Cate correct in her assessment that you’re a witch?”

“Yes.” Evie nodded. “I was raised by the Barataria Coven based out of New Orleans.”

“Are you aware of the witches’ own prophecy?” Cleo finally spoke, her voice grave.

“Yes. Well, I know of it. Many of our records, including the one documenting the prophecy I think you're referencing, have been lost in the various genocides committed against us, so mostly they're oral history by this point. Interpretations are driven by those who remember, so it's highly dependent upon the individual covens. Barataria really isn't all that traditional.” Evie cast her memory back over what she remembered of the prophecy being discussed by the elders. “But there are far more traditional covens that keep to the letter of the prophecies as they understand them, including the apocalyptic one, and hold true to them. In my coven, we always considered them morality tales.”

“They are certainly far more than morality tales, Evie, as much as I hate to admit it,” Essi replied. “And they do conflict with the prophecy in which you and Cole play a critical role. The witches themselves are meant to be harbingers of the apocalypse.”

“What?” Evie’s voice was loud in the kitchen. “So the prophecy is intended to be literal? As in the covens are literally intended to roll out the annihilation of humanity? But the witch covens are supposed to be peaceful.”

"Well, the interpretation of the prophecy as literal versus not is, as you said, highly dependent upon the coven." Essi shook her head sadly. “But a witch herself can be peaceful. The covens themselves are not guaranteed as such. If I remember correctly—and I do—” For the first time since bringing up the subject, Essi chuckled lightly at her own joke, a bell-like sound that was far too whimsical to come from the wizened crone sitting next to Evie. “The witch’s prophecy is that, when the old gods return, the witches will emerge from the forest and bring the world to its natural end, although there is some fairly significant language about a witch's choice in there. All told, it’s a fairly silly prophecy, especially given that most of the so-called old gods have been here all along, but that’s what you get when it’s foretold by the Oracle at Delphi.” Her voice dropped, and she muttered something under her breath that sounded like, “Fraudulent hack.”

“And I’m assuming they think Evie and I are the old gods?” Cole sighed.

“Well, now that you poked your head out in front of Evie’s coven and identified yourself as an Aidoneus and took one of their witches, who they discovered uses death magic… yeah, I think it’s quite plausible that they make some leaps and identify the two of you as old gods.” Essi’s eyebrows rose high on her forehead in mockery while Hayden cracked up beside her.

“You done fucked up, A-aron,” Hayden cackled. “And all because you had to go retrieve your witch!”

Cole glowered at his best friend’s amusement before shrugging, somehow imbuing the gesture with pride. “I have no regrets, and I would do it a-fucking-gain if I had to. She belongs with me.”

Evie patted his cheek lovingly before turning to the Moirai sisters. “I don’t wholly understand why the witches’ prophecy would be in direct conflict with yours?”

“Our prophecy has always presumed that the Hades and Persephone reincarnates would stop all apocalyptic opportunities by opening the Underworld, collecting the shades, returning them to their rightful place, and establishing a judging system to determine where souls should live after death.”

Cleo jumped in. “Whereas the witches’ prophecy presumes that, at its core, humanity is not savable and, when a number of prophetic portents are met including the return of the old gods, the witches must ride and rain down the apocalypse. With the covens now aware that their old gods have returned, shades devastating the world at a catastrophic rate, the two of you causing all sorts of environmental disasters, and humanity being, y'know, awful, those portents keep looking like they're getting met.”

“Fucking hell,” Cole swore. “So it’s two diametrically opposed positions. The world and humans in it deserve to be saved or that humans and shades have fundamentally damned the world?”

Six of the seven people at the table began talking over each other. Of them, only Evie was silent, doing her best to digest all of this information. That night in the tree, she had chosen to accept Cole and their rule. The witches' prophecy hadn't even factored into that decision. Now, with the Moirai saying the prophecy wasn't only real but potentially imminent as well, she had to figure out whether this new information changed her mind.

“And I—” Evie’s voice cracked, but it still cut through the chaos. “And I’m the one who has to choose which prophecy to follow?”

Charles’ gaze was heavy on her. “Yes. It’s not fair to you, but yes, Evie. You have to be the one to decide. We could force the issue—force you to take the crown, force you to go through with the Moirai’s prophecy—but—” A growl followed by a sharp, “Fuck that” emerged from Cole, bringing a fond grin to Charles’ face. “I assume my nephew would object to that course of action.”

“You’re damn right I would,” Cole gritted out. “Evie gets to choose whatever the fuck she wants to do. And if she wants to burn the world to the goddamn ground? Then I’ll be right fucking beside her with the fucking match.”

“Ah, love in the time of arson,” Essi sighed. “So romantic.”

Evie blinked at the crone and realized, for the first time in her life, she had somebody else to talk to about all of the darkest things. With that came clarity: she wanted to talk to Cole. Alone. Now. “Could you all give Cole and I a moment?” she blurted.