Page 10 of Malice: The Mate Games (Apocalypse #3)

Chapter

Eight

MERRI

I n a room so filled with testosterone, it was a challenge not to back down as I made eye contact with each of the horsemen.

But I had to wait them out, see which one would answer me, and above all, which would give me the truth.

Not that I was about to take their word for it.

I’d learned my lesson there. And if Malice and Sin hadn’t meant for me to use the skills they’d taught me, then maybe they should have thought about that beforehand.

“Well?” I finally demanded when no one said anything after several drawn-out moments.

“We work in specifics, dearest. Where would you like us to start?” Malice drawled, but I could sense the unease lurking in the words.

“Okay. Let’s start with what you four chuckle-clowns were discussing when I walked in.”

By this point, Grim had settled himself against a serving table set against one wall. He was the picture of male elegance, with his long legs crossed at the ankles and his ungloved hands resting against the wood on either side of his hips. “We want you to resume the dreamwalks.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Only because you don’t understand the danger.”

The chuckle that rumbled from Chaos infuriated me. He hadn’t spoken a word, but I heard every one that was implied in that low sound. He thought I was being ridiculous.

“Laugh all you want, but when you realize I’ve taken you all prisoner with my power, you’ll feel differently.”

Malice narrowed his eyes, expression serious. “What do you mean by that?”

“Do you know why my kind doesn’t dreamwalk anymore?”

“Patriarchy,” Sin offered, his voice back to normal though dried tracks of blood remained just beneath his nose.

I rolled my eyes and continued. “Because we’ve used that as a tool to enslave our victims. With every visit, the noose around their neck grows tighter and the bond stronger. It’s forbidden for a reason. The way you want me? It’s not because you actually care for me. It’s manufactured. It’s a trap.”

I waited for the explosion of voices. For the outrage. Instead I got bawdy laughter.

“Why the hell are you laughing?” I asked, irritation sparking within me.

“C’mon, kitten. You know I’m immune to you. There’s no way you’ve manufactured anything between us.”

“Sin’s right. I’m too strong to be ruled by your power,” Chaos added.

“We all are,” Grim agreed.

I couldn’t believe their arrogance. “Oh yeah? Tell that to the guy who passed out. Actually, there were two of you who did that. I distinctly recall Sin appearing mostly dead after our first time together.”

Sin held up his hands, palms facing me in supplication. “Okay, okay. We’re sorry. We didn’t mean to imply that you aren’t strong as balls.”

“Balls are weak.”

Sin rolled his eyes. “Strong as ovaries. Better?”

“Thank you.”

He laughed softly as he continued. “We just meant that we are horsemen.”

“You love to point that out.”

“No, you’re not getting it. We’re horsemen. Not mortals. All those other fools that fell victim to succubi? They were humans. Weak for their mortality. We’re not.”

Could it really be that simple? Lilith had been so sure when she’d warned me.

I’d asked her what it would mean if I continued, but then her knowledge of how the bond worked was based on humans.

Yes, she was aware I was with the horsemen, but no one had ever attempted such a thing with them before.

So anything she said was based on theory and assumption, not fact.

What if they were right? The bond wasn’t possible because they were too powerful.

That would be an ideal situation. I could continue my dreamwalks, feed nightly, and ensure my succubus had no reason to hop back into the driver’s seat anytime soon.

It sounded pretty on paper, but the truth was, demonbond or not, I would still get more attached to these guys if such visits continued.

And I couldn’t allow that to happen unless I knew I could trust them.

“And what about your little competition?” I asked, gut churning as I got to the real reason I’d tracked them down.

“Which competition is that? We always have some wager or another going between us,” Grim asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. How about the one where the four of you are all in a race to impregnate me? Ring any bells?”

As my words landed, I recalled what Sin had taught me and sent out my power to infiltrate their minds.

Unlike the last few times I’d tried such a thing, I met no resistance.

It was like the one time I’d slipped into Malice’s mind and stumbled upon his memory.

And I could only assume that had something to do with how much I’d fed the night before. The more I fed, the stronger my power.

Lucky for them, I wasn’t here to snoop around in their innermost thoughts. I only needed the truth from them.

“We aren’t competing with each other,” Sin said, the clear ring of honesty hanging on every syllable.

“Oh, aren’t you?”

He shook his head. “No.”

I searched his emotions, reaching out with my power and filtering through all the noise to find the root of his words.

Was it truth or deceit? All I was picking up from him was relief and quite a bit of confidence.

Although I couldn’t help but note that the longer I stared at him without speaking, his confidence wavered, making me think that while he may not be outright lying, there was definitely more to it than what he was telling me.

“Sin, you’re keeping something from me.”

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. That couldn’t be good. Sin was unflappable on his worst day.

“What’s going on?” I asked, my pulse picking up as the tension in the room rose.

It was Grim who spoke, pulling my attention from the incubus currently sweating bullets under my scrutiny.

“We aren’t competing with each other, but we are competing with someone. Sin was telling the truth, but in this case, omission is the same as a lie.”

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I confronted them about this. Wait, yes I was. I thought they’d keep on gaslighting me. So for any of them, but especially Mr. Evasive himself, to cop to the truth had completely caught me off guard.

I held up a hand. “Sorry, let me get this straight. The four of you”—I pointed to each of them respectively—“are working together to get me pregnant before some fifth unknown person can do the job?”

“He’s not exactly unknown,” Malice muttered, his eyes locked on the cuticles of his left hand.

“Well, he sure as hell is where I’m concerned.” Anger was taking control of my focus now, keeping me from using my gift in a productive way. I took a page out of Sin’s book and closed my eyes, taking a centering breath.

“How appropriate,” Chaos grumbled.

My eyes snapped open. “What was that, tough guy?”

“Hell.”

“I’m gonna need you to give me a little more than that. God, it’s like pulling teeth to get information from anyone here.”

This time Sin chimed in. “It’s pretty obvious when you think about the person we’re protecting you from, kitten.”

I scoffed. “Person? If I recall correctly, you told me it was the, and I quote, legions of hell . That’s a pretty extensive guest list, pal. So maybe you can narrow it down for me.”

“For fuck’s sake, it’s Lucifer,” Malice snapped, his eyes glowing with violet fire as they met mine across the room.

My mouth fell open as his words hung in the air between us. Lucifer wanted me to have his baby?

“Why would he want that? That makes no sense. I thought he just needed me to finish the apocalypse, not procreate with him.”

Grim squeezed the bridge of his nose, looking every bit like an annoyed professor. “Procreating with you would finish the apocalypse. Just not in the same way it would if we were to do it first.”

“You’re speaking in circles,” I shot back, arms across my chest like they could contain the heart currently racing beneath my ribs.

His eyes slowly lifted, pinning me beneath the weight of his quicksilver stare. “If Lucifer succeeds, he will have the antichrist he needs to seal the deal.”

“What’s stopping him from knocking up any random woman? Surely it doesn’t have to be me. There’s nothing special about me.”

The look on Grim’s face was almost piteous, and before he opened his mouth, I knew I’d been dead wrong. “You’re his vessel. Made specifically to serve his purpose.”

“Made? Like in a test tube?” I shuddered, hating the idea that I was a science project.

“No, Red. Not in a test tube. Your mother knew exactly what she was doing when she conceived you. Your fate has been sealed since before you were born.”

I flicked my gaze to Chaos and felt only sadness and truth in his mind. “She... You know who she is?”

Sin stepped closer to me, one hand raised as if he was going to touch me, but he stopped himself. “Take a seat, kitten. This is going to be a lot.”

Panic tightened my chest as my skin ran hot and then cold, my pulse rushing in my ears. “I’m okay. Just tell me.”

“Your mother...” Grim started, his voice holding the same gentleness I’d heard when he spoke to his plants. “She’s one of us.”

“One of you?” I was fucking confused.

“Not literally,” Sin rushed to explain.

“A horsewoman. Famine, specifically,” Malice drawled, his gaze sliding to Grim and energy radiating annoyance.

“She’s one of our female counterparts,” Chaos added. “There are four of them, same as us.”

My brain didn’t know which fact to focus on first, so I couldn’t exactly blame myself for the direction it settled on. “Wait, does that make you four like my uncles or something?” I had to put my hand to my mouth because my stomach was actively protesting the idea.

“No. No. Nothing like that. None of us share blood. We are more a brotherhood than anything,” Grim said, understanding dawning across his features. “Think of it like you would a team. We work toward the same goal. Share the same type of power.”

“And all want to end the world.” Sin sauntered over to the freestanding wooden globe near the fireplace and gave it a spin.