Page 42 of Malice: The Mate Games (Apocalypse #3)

Chapter

Thirty-Two

MALICE

N ever in my wildest dreams did I think I’d end up on the side of... feelings. But here I was, fighting with Grimsby over a woman. The problem was, her statement had been so truthful I could taste it. She was my soulmate, even though Grim was right—that shouldn’t be a possibility for any of us.

It made a twisted sort of sense. She was destined to be mine. Of course I hadn’t been able to resist her. The fault wasn’t mine; it was fate’s. What a fucking relief. I’d been so stunned by the realization that I hadn’t been fully present in the room until Merri was already on her way out.

I knew there would be hell to pay for that, but it was hardly the first time I’d had to make amends with my hellcat. We’d sort it out. Hell, I’d grovel if I had to. Can’t say I’d ever done it before, but how hard could it be to figure out?

The thought of lowering myself to grovel actually made my skin crawl.

I’d come close to it once, long ago, when I’d begged for Odette to let me have contact with my son.

I had nothing to apologize for in that situation, so perhaps begging brought me lower than groveling ever would.

For Merri, I was reasonably certain I’d drop to my knees, crawl across the floor, and kiss her pretty toes if it meant she’d forgive me.

Fuck.

A groveling expert, I was not, but I was fairly certain I shouldn’t be hard at the thought of it.

Maybe I was picturing it wrong?

Shaking my head, I strode down the hall and back toward the main staircase.

“Do you really think she would have gone to her room?” Chaos asked, trailing behind me.

“No, probably not. She most likely wanted to get as far away from the four of us as possible.”

“We should search the grounds, then.”

“Agreed, but let’s be diligent and check her room anyway. Just to be sure. Merri’s contrary enough she could have popped up there for spite.”

Chaos offered me a curt nod and took the stairs two at a time, leaving me in his wake. I might be eager to mend things with my succubus, but I wasn’t in a rush to swallow my pride.

“She’s not there. Don’t waste your time,” Sin said, emerging from Merri’s room, shoulders slumped. “We really fucked up. I even checked under the bed and in the tub. No sign of her.”

A knot twisted in my stomach at his words.

Logically, I’d already surmised that would be the case, but hearing it confirmed made it real in a way I wasn’t yet ready to deal with.

The idea that Merri might actually be out of reach was too horrible to contemplate.

But the wards hadn’t been breached, I’d know. She hadn’t left us.

Not yet, anyway.

“She wouldn’t be wandering the grounds alone, would she? Not after the attack,” Sin murmured.

I cocked a brow. “Have you met our girl?”

“We should split up like we did the last time she went MIA.”

“Look at you go, G.I. Joe. Using your fancy soldier words,” Sin said, slapping Chaos on the shoulder.

“G.I. Joe wishes he was as strong as me.”

“As strong as I ,” I corrected, unable to help myself.

A low growl rumbled from Chaos, but I wasn’t worried about him at present. I needed to ensure my mate was accounted for.

Your mate. She’s your mate now?

The word felt right, even if my brain stuttered every time it was said.

For as much as my words earlier had been for Grim, they’d been a reminder for myself as well.

The horsemen might not have been made to have a mate, but that didn’t mean our course couldn’t be altered.

Just because something had always been true didn’t mean that it would continue to be.

I was intimately familiar with evolution.

Too familiar, in fact, to ever believe I was exempt from it.

One had to adapt to survive, and it would seem that Merri was crucial to that process. Did I want to reflect on how necessary Merri felt to my survival? No, I absolutely did not.

“I’ll check in with Christian and see if he’s seen her. She’s grown rather fond of him over the last few weeks.” I headed for the front door, not waiting for either of them to tell me their plan. I trusted them to handle it.

It was a short job to his cabin, and as it turned out, there was no need for me to knock on the door. As I approached, Christian was coming around the back, a pair of dirt-stained gardening gloves adorning his hands.

‘“Ah, monsieur, what can I do for you?” He began removing the gloves as he drew closer to me.

“Have you seen Merri today?”

His eyes widened, mouth forming a little O before he shook his head. “No, I am afraid not.”

“Damn,” I bit out, frustration and panic spiking.

“Is something the matter?”

Glancing around, I searched for any hint of her. A flash of red, Merri-sized footprints, a dropped hair elastic. Anything would be better than what I came up with.

“I had really hoped she’d be here,” I admitted.

“Did you two have an argument?”

“You could say that. Technically, I wasn’t the cause of the issue.”

“Ah, well, I wish I could help you, but I have been gardening all morning, and I have not seen her.”

I blew out a breath and ran a hand through my hair as I recalibrated my options. “Right, well... I’ll let you get back to it then. If you do see her, come find me.”

Christian nodded, pulling the gloves out of his back pocket and shoving his hands into them. “Of course.”

Where are you hiding, hellcat?

I glanced around the grounds, hoping inspiration might strike. Or better yet, that she’d come walking my way. I’d gladly accept her fury if it meant that she was safe in hand. Preferably my hand.

I’d only just left Christian and begun a search around the back of the chateau when I felt it. That hook tugging and twisting my insides.

I’d wanted a sign, but this was not at all what I’d had in mind.

“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no.”

Something just stepped through the wards.

“Merri!”