I hummed but did not look away from the photo.
“He wanted to find the Blood Sidhe that killed his birth parents, but he also wanted to protect you.” She added.
The Blood Sidhe that killed his parents? A few months ago, a Blood Sidhe had attacked Frankie and Daniel while on a mission. That couldn’t have been a coincidence.
Blood Sidhe could pull blood from people’s pores with a thought. They used it for pointless purposes. But they were smart and compelling. They did not target indiscriminately.
“Maybe try to be kinder to your brother, Franny. Hmm?” Momma G patted my cheek and slinked away upstairs.
Hugo and I were sharing a room at the end of the house, across the hall from Jae and Hart. The incubus was tucked away in the bathroom, using the ensuite to shower.
A folded pile of fabric caught my attention, placed lovingly on the pillowcase on my side of the bed. I brushed my fingers over the dress, holding the delicate fabric as if it was priceless. Letting the shimmering darkness slide over my skin like water.
“It reminded me of you,” Hugo said, his voice startled me, and I whirled around, hugging the dress to my chest.
Hugo had changed clothes in the shower. He wore a pristine, slim-fitted black shirt. The top button had been left open to show a flash of golden skin.
“It's for me?” I clasped the dress tightly.
Hugo blushed. “If you don't like it, I can return it.”
“No!” I protested, tightening my grip around the dress. “I love it.”
It looked like starlight, twinkling distant planets and darkness too deep to comprehend.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
“We need to talk.” He sat on the end of the bed, his expression grim.
I stopped my casual perusal of his body and gave him my full attention.
“Why didn't you tell me who you were to me? That day in the hospital?” His tone was even and without judgment.
I felt nauseous. My eyes drifted to the corner of the room.
“Mara...” Hugo said softly to get my attention. “I’m not mad. I'm not hurt. I'm confused. I want to know what you're thinking and feeling.”
I blinked rapidly. “You rejected me.”
“I rejected Frankie because I had found my true mate.”
“You should have recognized me.” My voice was tiny. Weak. I hated it.
Understanding blossomed over Hugo's face. He pushed his bangs out of his eyes.
“I didn’t want a mate.” I continued. Ignoring the pain that flashed through Hugo's eyes. “But every night, I’d visit your dreams, and you'd see mine, and I felt like I knew you. You belonged to me. I didn’t want to see you hurt. I wanted you safe, even if it meant that you weren't with me.”
Hugo nodded in understanding, silently urging me to continue. I stared at the beading on the edge of my dress, so I did not have to look into his eyes.
“I told myself that I was safer alone, but I found myself standing in the cold and wet outside your window. Just to see if you were awake. Healthy. Healed.” I laughed bitterly. “And you used that weakness as an excuse to reject me.”
“I thought you were an enthralled human,” Hugo explained. I waved my hand to dismiss his words.
“I know it's not rational.” I pleaded. “Everything you did was because you wanted to be my mate. Everything I did was because I didn’t want the Hunters to find out what I am.”
“They wouldn’t kill you.” He said strongly.
“Hunters kill Demons. They're celebrated for it.” I shrugged. “You’re a Cambion. You can't tell me that you've never been treated differently because you're part hellion.”
Hugo shook his head. “Hunters only hunt evil.”
“Who decides what evil is?” I asked.
“I don't know.” He admitted, before turning back to the door. “You should get ready. We have to go soon.”
Fool's Gold was located in an abandoned and then refurbished department store on the border of Queens and Brooklyn. The first floor of the club opened up to a massive sprawling central staircase that was cordoned off with velvet tape. As far as I knew, the upper floors were inaccessible to humans.
Fool’s had made an unpopular choice in the otherworld community, by refusing to hide in one of the Folds between worlds, and instead the club rested entirely in the Human Realities.
While it was known as a predominantly Demon club, I had been once or twice and had noticed an abundance of Fae as well.
Fools was tacky, with a side of bad taste. The walls were carpeted shag in a lucid purple with neon green piping. The floor was concrete, painted into tiger stripes. Every inch of the place was designed to insult your senses and the tiny part of your mind that took life too seriously.
We took a cab, which dropped us off in Ridgewood and we bypassed the queue at the club—much to the grumbled protests of everyone in line.
Jae hung back, his violet eyes were dim.
“Are you okay?” I asked, stopping at his side. Hugo and Hart slowed down and turned to us both to see what was happening.
“I'm fine.” Jae swallowed deeply.
“You're not.” Callum Hart stated. “You’re around too many people. You've got limits, Jae.”
Anger flared in the Nephilim’s. “I’m fine.” He repeated, sounded out the words.
I glanced at the bouncer, as an impatient and perplexed expression implied that our welcome would be taken away if we didn’t get a move on.
Hugo had obviously had the same idea. “Jae, Callum, go over to that diner over there. We'll text if we need back up.”
Jae exhaled reluctantly and opened his mouth to argue. He turned to me and nudged my shoulder.
“Don’t start any fires,” Jae warned.
I pouted. “Why doesn’t Hugo get a warning?”
Instead of answering, Jae smirked as Hart pulled him across the road to the glowing lights of the Soup Spoon Diner.
The Human bouncer at the door waved us through, and we did not encounter trouble until we reached the VIP lounge at the very top of the sprawling staircase.
Hugo moved gracefully, but sensually. Every shift of his hips was an invitation. My incubus spent so much time hiding, it was a marvel to see when he was switched 'on.'
A Leviathan, a Demon belonging to the Fourth Circle, Envy, was manning the velvet rope to the third-floor private area.
Hugo and I allowed our eyes to flash, mine black and his ice blue, to show our inner Demon. The Leviathan unclipped the rope and ushered Hugo through, but placed a hand on the center of my bare sternum to push my body back into the hall.
“Hey!” I protested loudly, rearranging the thin straps of my dress.
“No.” The Leviathan shut me down. “Only one Drude has ever walked through these walls, and good things never follow.”
I popped my hip to one side. “It was one bottle of Grey Goose.”
“Into the mouth of a teetotal player for the Yankees.” The Leviathan pointed out, baring his teeth. “We did not need that bad press.”
“Dirk made me do it.” I fluttered my eyelashes. The Leviathan remained unaffected.
I pleaded with Hugo for help, over the spindly man’s shoulder. Even though it clearly pained him, the incubus stepped back.
A wave of Lust clouded the air, a subtle incense. The Leviathan straightened. Hugo reached forward and ran his index finger down the lapel of the man's cheap orange uniform blazer.
“Can you let her in?” Hugo purred. “As a favor for me?”
Even I felt myself getting sucked in. He was good. I was almost jealous.