Page 58 of Let It Snow (Eden’s Omegaverse #7)

Moon stares at me with an almost obsessive intensity, his eyes so much like Summer’s that they make me uneasy.

"Keep talking. I have a feeling you’re about to throw a metaphoric atomic bomb." His eyes flick briefly toward his fated mate, but Luca isn’t looking at either of us anymore, focused fully on the road. He's driving quite quickly. I hope the police won't stop us.

"I merged our souls."

Moon’s eyes widen.

"What?"

"Yes. I fused our essence into one, living in two bodies, as it is with True Mates."

"Why the fuck would you do it?! Because of Summer?"

I let out a sharp breath. "He wanted it so badly. He wanted us to be True Mates, one soul, not just Twin Souls."

"For God’s sake," Moon mutters with obvious condemnation, rubbing his temples with frustration. "That’s madness!"

"I knew he would accept it at the end. But it would always live in him as a small thorn. Another reason to feel different."

Moon exhales deeply, and for a while we ride in silence. "Snow, that’s not something you just… do out of somebody’s whim! I understand you have feelings for Summer, but it’s a bit insane. Do you even realize what kind of consequences this carries?"

Frustration escapes me in a short, impatient sound as I glance out the window at the buildings sliding past, probably part of some port district.

"If Summer dies, if Rocco finds a way to kill him, you’ll die too. You know that, don’t you? Your bond as Twin Souls was rare, something extraordinary, something most would envy. And now, you’re more like us, like everyone else." His tone carries a trace of disappointment.

"Summer wanted it that way. If I could give him that, I made it happen."

Moon breathes in sharply. "Now it makes sense why you were unconscious for so long. Your energy systems went into shock. The whole merging part."

"Yeah. That wasn’t easy," I murmur.

"How did you even do it?"

"My dad has this… subtle but powerful potency in him. It’s like something dormant, something that comes before the power is formed, a matrix.

A harbinger of magic. His matrix energy helped bind our souls.

It was an exceptional circumstance, his energy was open, ignited, flowing out.

I would never have been able to do it on my own. "

Moon just stares at me as if he barely understands, but finally he says, "I get it." After a pause he adds, "But it’s still more of a burden than a gift. You’re both more vulnerable now. It’s like you’ve lost part of the strength that came from the independence of your souls.

If anything happens to either of you, the fallout could be… catastrophic."

I scoff. "Too late now. What’s done is done. We need to get to Summer as fast as possible. We’ve been driving forever."

At last, Luca speaks. "Calm down, I can’t exactly teleport there.

But we’re close. I’ll drop you at one of the warehouses we own.

We’ll approach the soldiers at the back entrance together, and I’ll help you get inside.

I'll use my trick to disrupt their awareness, and they won’t remember what happened.

Still, the farthest I can take you is to the door of the room where Summer’s being held.

From there, you’ll be on your own. I can’t risk Rocco seeing me.

His vengeance would turn on me, Moon, and Lux. "

My jaw tightens until I feel the strain in the muscles.

"I understand. I don’t expect your help beyond that. I just hope I can handle the rest."

The car turns into a narrow alley between two massive warehouses that look more like airplane hangars and stops in the shadow of one. Luca looks over at Moon.

"Stay here. I’ll take him inside and then come back. We’ll wait together."

"Wait, Luca! What about cameras? There could be cameras at the hangar entrance."

I cut in. "If there are, it’s fine. I can short them out with a touch."

"Right," Moon mutters, rolling his eyes. "Energy mage."

No one comments further. Finally, Luca opens the door and we step out. My whole body vibrates, the weight of what’s ahead settling in. I only have one hope now—that we’ll find Summer alive and safe. I don’t let myself consider any other possibility.

We move single file past one hangar and along its side until we spot a smaller one.

As we reach its wall, Luca points out a slowly rotating camera.

Luckily, it’s not aimed in our direction.

For now. The cable running to it is high up, but that’s not a problem.

I press my hand against the wall and send a tongue of fire along it.

The cable blackens, and the camera freezes.

We continue, emerging from around the corner.

Three men stand in front of the hangar.

I notice the shift in Luca’s aura instantly.

His massive presence expands, flooding with bright blues, sapphires, orange sparks, and red currents rising.

He’s their caporegime, so of course he has a kind of command over them.

Their auras dim the moment they see him, like flames flickering lower in the wind.

Luca strides toward them with firm, decisive steps.

They’re tall alphas, the type that look like a hybrid of mafia soldiers and FBI agents, dressed in suits and wearing dark sunglasses.

Luca speaks to them in Italian, lays a hand on one man’s shoulder, and leans in.

The man’s expression twists strangely, his aura shifting into pale green with dark blotches spreading through it.

Then Luca turns to the other two, places his hands on their shoulders, and speaks again in Italian.

Narrowing my eyes, I can see thin streams of copper-colored energy sparking faintly as they flow from Luca’s head into theirs.

Their energy flickers, disrupted, thrown off balance.

Interesting. It occurs to me that Luca could do this to his entire family, to anyone he wanted.

Did he always use it with clean intentions?

Sun once called him morally gray, neutral.

Most purple alphas, with their natural bent toward violence, barely fit into the category of ‘good’ to begin with.

I even have a brother like that—Storm—whose favorite pastime was fucking our brothers’ exes.

So how much does Luca’s grayness matter? Could he ever truly be one hundred percent on our side, considering Rocco is his full-blood brother?

Meanwhile, Luca finishes what he’s doing. The three soldiers stare at him blankly, dazed, as the purple alpha turns back to me. "Path’s clear."

"Interesting skill," I murmur.

"Indeed," Luca replies shortly, pushing the door open. He glances back at me. "You’d better focus on your part now. I hope you have a plan, because Rocco will be armed. He’s second only to Ennio in speed and marksmanship we have."

"But it’s hard to kill light, isn’t it?" I mutter under my breath.

Luca shoots me a sideways look. Something flickers in his aura. He hesitates before saying,

"Don’t let arrogance get you killed, Snow. Remember, Sun mentioned your abilities to Anzo, which means Rocco may know something about them too." His tone cuts sharp, his strong, square-jawed face turning toward me.

For a long moment we just stare at each other.

Then we move down a long corridor with no doors, only a turn at the end.

"Beyond that corner you’ll find three doors. They’re in one of those rooms, probably the last one, it’s the biggest," Luca says in a low voice.

He pauses, then adds,

"Good luck. You may need it. Moon and I will be waiting in the car."

With surprising speed for his size, he pivots and walks out, closing the door behind him.

I draw in a deep breath, relieved he’s gone.

I’ve never been in a situation like this before. Living quietly in a basement, hiding from the world, does nothing to prepare you for a head-on clash with the mafia, that much is certain.

As I approach the doors, I shrug off my jacket just in case, and that’s when something catches my attention. In the crook of my arm, there’s a faint smear of blood. I bring it closer to my eyes.

Is that… a tiny puncture mark in my skin?

An unsettling thought flashes through my mind. I doubt it was Rocco and his people. Why bother injecting me with something and… then what? Wait for me to wake up and go to them? Why not just kill me.

But Moon mentioned that Luca tried a few things on me.

Was it all just to wake me up, or could it be something to tilt the odds a little in his brother’s favor?

And for sure, would Luca even know—or care—if the effect was, for example, debilitating?

He’s mafia, for fuck’s sake. Not caring is basically part of the job description.

Let’s not forget, he stood by and watched Summer get beaten and electrocuted by Anzo and did nothing.

And Moon? His True Mate isn’t exactly an angel either.

He spent years strung out, wandering the streets for a fix, the kind of addict who let his own brothers suffer in a fortress while their parents worried themselves sick under the weight of it. There are no words for that.

Can I really trust either of them?

But the more important question is…

Do I even have another choice?

As I stare at the tiny puncture, troubling thoughts race through me. Am I really a hundred percent ready for this?

And then I hear Summer’s voice, loud and piercing.

"No!!!"

And I know I don’t have any more time.