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

“Where do we have it wrong?” Hades asked, gentler than I’ve ever heard him. Hmm, it seemed being a mated man had softened the god of the underworld. I’d have to keep that in my pocket and use it to my advantage at a later date.

“The horsemen. They’re not looking for their partner. They have found her and are with her right now. I made certain of it.”

“That’s a good thing, right? Means things are further along than we thought,” Asher asked, glancing between Hades and me.

“Yes and no,” I allowed.

“Is this about the child?” Remi asked.

My brows raised. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be as hopeless as I’d originally thought.

“You know the one from the Book of Ted?”

I scowled. So much for that theory. “You clearly don’t understand the book.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because it’s written in some ancient as fuck form of demonish. You try reading it,” Remi retorted.

“I don’t have to read it. I wrote the bloody thing.”

They stared at me as though I’d just whipped off my clothes and started prancing about like an elephant.

“And you couldn’t have mentioned this sooner?” Asher asked.

“No,” Drystan answered for me, challenge radiating through him.

“How did we misinterpret it?” Asher conceded.

“Lucifer isn’t looking for a child. He’s looking for Merri so that he may conceive one.”

“Fuck,” Hades muttered. “He’s going to use that sweet little succubus to make the antichrist.”

“The horsemen are currently trying to beat him to the punch and ensure her womb is already occupied.”

“How’s that supposed to work?” Hades asked. “Merri is a succubus, and succubi are notoriously infertile.”

I smirked. “Not if they’re bonded to their partners.”

“Bonded? Succubi don’t have bonds,” Hades said, his disbelief palpable.

“Don’t we? Just because it’s something you haven’t witnessed doesn’t mean it was never so. One could argue the lord of the underworld had never bound himself to another until Persephone.”

Hades made a sound somewhere between a huff and a snort. I’d take begrudging agreement over further protest.

“When you say bonded, do you mean like mated?” Asher asked.

I raised one shoulder in a shrug. “It’s complicated.”

Remi threw his hands in the air. “Of course it is. Why change things now?”

“Mate bonds are like a strike of lightning. Instantaneous and irrevocable. Even without a mating mark, the call to be together is stronger than anything else. For us, a bond is woven slowly, the threads creating a powerful connection over time. Fate is still at play, and a sense of...” I trailed off, waving my fingers through the air as I searched for an appropriate word, “magic.”

“Magic?”

I nodded. “Put simply, once a bond has started to form, it will not be denied. Not without great cost.”

“What do you mean, it won’t be denied?” Hades asked.

“Exactly that. It will force the issue if it feels it is being ignored.”

Remi cleared his throat, but Asher spoke first. “How?”

A wicked smirk spread across Drystan’s lips when I flicked a glance toward him as I worked to find the right words. “Uncontrollable desire for one’s bonded. Physical pain that can only be assuaged by contact with her chosen. A withering away of body and mind the longer the bond is left incomplete.”

“Sounds fun,” Remi said with a grimace.

“And if the bond isn’t satisfied?” Hades asked, his eyes shrewdly narrowed.

“Then all parties will perish. As I said, the magic of the bond refuses to be denied. Succubi magic is parasitic at its core. Our bonds are no different, at least until they are fully formed.”

“So it’s the old fuck or die trope.”

Asher rolled his eyes at Remi’s assertion, but the wolf wasn’t wrong. He simply wasn’t as eloquent as I.

“Does this remind you of something?” Asher asked Remi.

“Sounds a helluva lot like a feast.”

Asher nodded.

“Feast?” Hades asked.

“Sort of like a heat,” Asher explained, “but the vampire version.”

“Fuckfest,” Remi confirmed. “Doesn’t stop until she gets enough, if you know what I mean.”

“We’re forgetting a vital piece of this puzzle,” Hades interjected.

I slid my gaze to him, knowing exactly what piece he was going to mention. “Go on.”

“They can fuck her until she’s boneless, but if she’s not fertile, that doesn’t help. And that brings me to another point. Why would Lucifer’s vessel for the antichrist be a succubus? It seems counterintuitive to me.”

Shaking my head, I sighed. “There’s a lot about my kind that has been lost to the ages, and some of those secrets best remain hidden. Suffice it to say that Merri is absolutely capable of bearing a child under the right set of conditions.”

“And are the horsemen aware of those conditions?” Asher asked.

“They don’t need to be. From my last conversation with Merri, I have nothing but confidence that things will sort themselves out in that regard.”

“And as to the Lucifer part of the equation?” Hades pressed.

I fought the impulse to fidget. Generally, I was very guarded about the secrets I revealed, preferring to offer crumbs as needed rather than laying everything out in the open. But given that we were all staring down the barrel of the apocalypse, I suppose this was one truth I could part with.

“Merri is part of Eve’s bloodline.”

Remi let out a garbled noise. “Eve. Like... Eve of the garden and the apple?”

“For fuck’s sake, yes. Do you know of another?” Drystan snapped.

“Well, I mean, there are about a million Eves...” Remi stopped talking when the rest of us pinned him between our combined gazes. “Right. Zipping it.” Then, under his breath, he muttered, “Eve is a really common name.”

“And I’m assuming, given that correlation, that something about her bloodline makes her more susceptible to Lucifer’s seed?” Hades asked.

I nodded. “Merri may not be a reincarnation of her many times removed great-grandmother, but her blood calls to Lucifer just as strongly as Eve’s did.

He’s been obsessed with her since the garden, and the infatuation only continued through the ages.

Eve was the first mother. Her line has always been blessed in that regard.

Lucifer will always be drawn to her descendants. ”

“Because of his obsession with her?” Asher asked.

“Because Eve’s line is the only one who can create his antichrist.”

“So your plan was to what, throw her at the horsemen and fill the oven before Lucifer could?” Remi asked.

As much as I loathed the cocky wolf, he was quite astute. “Yes.”

“It’s not terrible, as far as plans go.”

“How confident are we that they’re going to be successful?” Asher asked.

“As confident as we can be.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but even if they are successful, wouldn’t that just piss Lucifer off even more? You know, give him an even stronger reason to carry on with his war?” Hades asked.

“Perhaps, but it also creates a more even playing field. If Lucifer gets his antichrist, then it’s game over for all of us. If he doesn’t, there’s still a chance we can win.”

“So what do we do in the meantime? I, for one, don’t intend to sit around and wait. If I learned anything from Mommy Dearest, it’s that the only person who gets to decide my fate is me.”

I smiled at Asher. “I hope that’s true. And to that end, if you intend to be on the front lines of the upcoming battle, then you need to get to safer ground.”

“What do you mean?” Asher asked.

“Darling, you’re shacked up on the edge of the hellmouth. Do you really think this is the smartest place to gather your army? This is one of the first places hell’s army will break through. You’ll be overrun before the battle begins.”

Remi leaned closer to Asher and whispered, “She’s mean.”

“Can I kill him?” Drystan asked, not bothering to lower his voice.

I bit back a smile. “No, pet. We need him.”

“Lilith is right,” Hades said, ignoring Drystan. “We are running out of space to house everyone. Lilith found us, which means Lucifer will be able to as well.”

“How? There’s no reason for us to be on his radar at all. And even if we were, he doesn’t know where we are.”

I sighed. “Lucifer can trace me at will. He won’t do it until he’s exhausted all other options, and I can only hope he’s too preoccupied with finding Merri to give chase, but when he decides to, he will come for me.”

“Wait, are you telling me you brought war to our doorstep?” Remi asked, jumping out of his seat. “What the hell kind of ally are you? Why didn’t you just pick up the phone and call instead of putting us all in danger?”

“Now can I kill him?” Drystan tried again.

I shook my head and sighed. “Remington, war was already on your doorstep. It’s only a matter of time before you all find yourself in the crosshairs once more. And I stayed away as long as I could.”

Asher’s sigh joined mine. “She’s right. We were just giving her shit for keeping her distance. We don’t get to be pissed now that she’s here. And really, it doesn’t change anything except the timeline.”

Remi pointed at me. “You aren’t invited to the new fight club.”

“Fight club?” Drystan asked.

“He means their next hideout, my darling.”

My fae prince huffed. “As if we’d want to spend any more time with these miscreants than absolutely necessary.”

“Well, do you have any suggestions on where we should go next?” Asher asked. “I’m all ears.”

If I was honest, I wasn’t sure where they could successfully settle their army. No place on earth would protect them indefinitely. But I knew one thing: the final battle loomed ever closer, and we all needed to prepare for the worst.

“I don’t know. Until we figure something out, we must hope the horsemen are successful.”

Remi stood and stretched. “I’ve never been so excited for someone else to get laid.”

“Oh, I don’t know if that’s true,” Asher said with a smirk. “Remember that one time...”

“I stand corrected. I’ve never been so invested in someone other than us getting laid.”

Rolling my eyes, I looked to Hades. “Show us to a room? Drystan may actually kill this one if we have to hear him speak another word. My protection only goes so far.”

With a laugh, Hades strode to the door. “Follow me.”