Chapter 53

Cole

Budapest, Hungary

B y the time they finally touched down, it was 11:30 at night, Evie was antsy, and Cole was prepared to do anything legal and many illegal things to get them to Hayden's flat.

The guard at the private airport boarded the jet, eyes darting around. His mouth opened, probably to ask for their passports, but then he caught sight of Evie, tousled and still aroused from the flight attendant's interruption half an hour before. Eyes bulging, he approached her, clipboard extended.

Cole growled, stepping in between them. “What do you need from us?” At almost six-and-a-half feet, he towered over the smaller man. Behind him, a small snicker sounded at what he was sure was an absurd sight. Tall man crowds Hungarian gnome away from the beautiful witch. Sounded like something out of a children’s fairytale.

The guard swallowed nervously, his gaze tracking up Cole’s chest, all the way to his furious glare and scowl. “I’ll coordinate with your pilot for the flight plan and paperwork, sir. You, um, you may go. I do not require anything from you.”

Fuck right, we can . Although he had expected a bigger—well, any, really—fight about passports, no chance he was looking that gift horse in the mouth. “C’mon, mon ange , allons-y .” He extended his hand to her. Her hand slid gently into his, fingers entangling with his own.

All told, it only took about 30 minutes from touchdown to stepping on to Hungarian soil, his Angel wrapped in his arms. Despite his past experiences in Budapest, it was much more tolerable with her.

Evie blinked up at him, eyes bleary with sleep and banked desire. “Where are we staying?”

“A little place in the city. Hayden’s home away from home away from home.” Cole smiled gently down at her and bundled her closer, lifting her into a bridal carry. “It’s okay, Angel, I’ll carry you to the car.”

“You just don’t want anybody to see me walking around outside of your arms. I know your game, love.” The retort was mumbled into the collar of his jacket.

“I don’t think you mind my games, though.” Cole crossed the parking lot to the hired car where the driver opened the door to admit them. He dropped slowly into the back seat, careful not to disturb Evie.

With one hand, he pulled up the messages that came in from Hayden while they were on the plane.

Did you know that there’s a website dedicated to all of the weird and unexplained weather anomalies that have happened since you and Evie got together?

https://wtfisupwiththeweather.com

Maybe you two should stop fucking until you claim your throne so that you don’t cause the universe to implode?

Wait, this all stops once you guys claim the Underworld right?

Then he sent the meme of Anakin and Padme. Cole snorted. His best friend was a child. His fingers flashed over the keyboard as he sent back a straight forward response:

Fuck. Off.

At his laugh, Evie glanced up at him from the book was reading on the eReader application on her phone. She hated almost everything about the electronic device and seemed steadfast on either losing or destroying the thing, but her hatred for it had waned a bit once he showed her that she could read pretty much any book she wanted any time. His witchling was a bookworm who read everything she could get her hands on. “What?”

He tilted his phone towards her, letting her see the message chain. Even in the darkness of the car, he could see both the blush staining her cheeks paired with uncertainty at the destruction caused by their ravenous sexual appetites. He understood it, felt a bit of guilt about it too, but there was no way he could have gone cold turkey celibate with her near him. If he was this overly possessive of her with regular sex, he couldn’t imagine what he would be like if they had waited.

Her attention shifted back to the book she was reading, a smutty one about rockstar vampires based on his quick scan of the page she was reading. With Evie distracted, he turned his focus back to his own phone, backing out of his message chain with Hayden to the group chat between him, Charles, Hayden, the Moirai.

Arrived safe and on our way to the flat. Will call in the morning.

Once it sent, he dumped his phone on the seat beside them, only to happy to disconnect from prophecy-related matters for a few seconds. Stunning, historic architecture blurred around them as the car made its way into the heart of Budapest, but Cole couldn’t be bothered to pay any attention to it. Instead, he stared straight ahead, running his hand over Evie’s hair thoughtlessly, thinking his way through the day ahead of them.

The car ride passed in blissful silence broken only by Evie’s quiet taps against the screen to turn the page. After about thirty minutes, they finally pulled up to a lightly-colored stone building discreetly tucked on a side street along the Danube in central Budapest. With a word of thanks to the driver, Cole gathered Evie from the car and strode towards the locked iron doors of the building.

“You know I can walk, right?” she commented mildly, tilting her phone down and glancing up at him.

“Yeah, I know you can walk.” He smirked down at her. “But I like carrying you so you’re just gonna have to get used to it.”

She wrinkled her nose at him, and he was pretty sure she mumbled the word “bossy” under her breath.

The night guard buzzed them in through the locked doors into the lobby. The room was ornate but not ostentatious. Plush rugs covered marble flooring while, above them, a colorful trompe l’oeil ceiling drew the eye with its illusions of dimension. A large, white stone fireplace, lit with a blazing fire, graced one wall while, across from it, a guard in a pristine uniform that looked like it had never seen a wrinkle or speck of dust observed them warily.

Cole strode across the lobby to the guard, opening his mouth to introduce himself and Evie, but the guard stopped him. “Mr. Aidoneus?” he read from a small log sitting to his right where Cole could see a scribbled scrawl that looked like his name next to two small photos of him and Evie, respectively. The guard’s gaze shifted to Evie. “And Ms. Dyeus?”

Cole nodded, thankful that Hayden had arranged everything before they got here since the pilot hadn't been able to collect the key in advance of their flight. “That’s us. Mr. Sopor told me you would have the key for us when we arrived.” Although he tried to sound civil, after Cate’s alarming visit the night before, an almost 12 hour flight and the interrupted celebration of Evie’s agreeing to marry him, his voice was gravelly, and he knew his exhaustion and irritation were blazing from his face. It was pure dumb luck that his amped up emotional state, arousal, and unbelievable sleep deprivation weren’t forcing magic out of him like a bad battery.

Without any additional fanfare, the guard scanned Cole’s passport and had him sign the log-in book before handing him an antique key. “Here is the key to flat 1007P where you and Ms. Dyeus will be staying. The only elevator bay that accesses the penthouse is just down the hallway. You’ll need to scan your fingerprint through the elevator’s biometric scanner to get to the flat, which is on the tenth floor. Mr. Sopor provided us with your fingerprints earlier today so the system is already set up for you and Ms. Dyeus.”

For a split second, Cole briefly wondered how Hayden had gotten Evie’s fingerprints but disregarded the question. “Thank you,” he said, taking the key from the guard and trudging over to the elevator bay. Their bags would be delivered in the morning since he had been too impatient to get them here to pay much attention to their luggage. Since neither he nor Evie had worn many, if any, clothes to sleep in the last several days, he wasn’t particularly concerned about pajamas.

Fortunately, the biometrics worked perfectly, and the elevator delivered them to the penthouse with no stops along the way. The elevator slid open, revealing a small entryway and a singular door marked 1007P, which he opened using the key provided by the guard. The dark space within was illuminated only by the lights of Budapest streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows across the room. The city's nightlife revealed tastefully-selected furniture, an open floor plan with a wrought iron staircase leading to an upper floor, and a far-removed, partially-open door that he hoped against all hope was a bedroom.

Sometime during the elevator ride, Evie’s eyes had slid shut. She murmured against his chest in her sleep. At the sound, he glanced down, sleep-deprived irritation almost completely forgotten as he walked them towards the open room. Please let it be a bedroom. He nearly moaned whe he saw the king-size bed visible from the door. A relieved sigh escaped him as he stripped them both of their flight-worn clothes and snuggled Evie and himself under the plush covers, her back pulled into his front.

As if she knew, even in her almost sleeping state, that he was relaxing, Evie made a satisfied sound and pushed further back into him. He kissed her gently before dropping his head to the pillow. Within seconds, his eyelids fluttered shut, and he slid into a deep sleep.