“Okay.” Hudson figured it was just easier to agree.
“Adam is mated to the master of hell.” Stryker held up his hands. “Now that sounds much scarier than it is. Mal is an unbelievable good mate to Adam. He doesn’t even mind when Adam kidnaps me to go realm hopping.”
“That’s not a good thing,” Bryce pointed out. “Your mate is going to strangle Adam one of these times.”
“Anyway,” Stryker said with a grin. “Adam has a whole gaggle of minions and demons so we’ll save that for another time.”
Sure, why would Hudson want to worry himself with demons? This had to be one awful joke.
“Now Levi is interesting,” Stryker continued. “He’s a gargoyle mated to Mason, who’s human like us. Mason’s twin,Jason, is mated to the demon Tristan. And Logan is a lion shifter and as you just saw, Dean is a mage.”
Oh God! He had seen that. “Noah?”
“Black cat familiar,” Stryker answered. “And next came me and my amazing mate, Gavin, who’s a thunderbird shifter.”
“Leo is a thunderbird too?” Hudson guessed. Gavin and Leo were brothers so that made sense, right? Or could brothers be different shifters? This was all way too much for Hudson’s exhausted brain.
“Right-o!” Stryker replied. “Leo brought Aaron, oracle, with him, and they called in your mate, Bastian.” Stryker took a deep breath. “And that is a lot to explain at one time.”
“We usually try to ease new humans into it,” Bryce commented.
Hudson nodded. “Easing into it might be best in the future.” Because his mind was whirling.
“I hate to be the one to mention this, but you left out one important little detail,” Sam said.
“No way!” Stryker argued. “I counted!”
“Luci?” Sam asked.
“Damn it!” Stryker stomped his foot.
“Bastian mentioned Luci before. I think as a threat to Noah,” Hudson offered. Ha! Hudson knewsomethingat least.
“Luci is the best. He’s so sweet, and loving, and he spoils us rotten,” Bryce told him.
“Oh! Luci is male? I shouldn’t have assumed that he was a woman.” Hudson knew better than that.
“It’s just easier to use a nickname. People get weird when we call him Lucifer,” Stryker responded with a grin.
Hudson snorted. “TheLucifer?” Now he knew Stryker was joking.
“Lucifer is a very good friend of ours,” Bryce said sternly. “Until you get to know him, we ask that you not judge him by human tales and lies.”
“Wait! Are you serious? Are you friends with Lucifer? Satan? The king of hell?” Hudson asked, a little bit horrified.
“You do remember that nearly half our family lives in the hell realm, correct?” Lawson questioned. “Including my brother. We don’t judge anyone for where they were born or their species.”
Honestly, Hudson hadn’t had time to process everything that Stryker had revealed to him. And hell? It was scary just to think about that.
“Lucifer is the biggest sweetheart in the world,” Bryce said. “And his mates, Cary and Gage, are so fun and cute.”
“Lucifer is sweet. Mates Cary and Gage are fun.” Hudson nodded. “Guys, I think I need a bit of a break on all the reveals.”
“But it’s so cool!” Stryker danced around. “Just think about it. Your entire life, all this has been around you and you didn’t know. Now you get to know everything.”
“Because Bastian…” Hudson cleared his throat. “Bas is my mate?”
“Bingo!” Stryker looked so proud of Hudson for figuring that out.
