Page 16 of Chaos
Malice chucked a throw pillow at Sin’s head.
“Children,” I intoned, my warning clear.
“Sorry, Dad,” Sin said without any hint of genuine apology. “Malice is still weakened from Hel’s little game. He hasn’t had the opportunity to recharge like Chaos and me, so when she fed from him without the rest of us there to share the burden, his body couldn’t handle the energy drain. It powered down, just like one of his machines.”
Chaos appeared lost in thought.
“What is it?” I asked, recognizing the look in his eyes due to years of familiarity. He was like a bloodhound scenting a new trail.
“Why should we trust Lilith?”
I wasn’t sure what had led him to this line of questioning, but I knew that his strategist's brain picked up on things I didn’t always notice right away. “Why shouldn’t we?” I countered.
Chaos held up a finger, as if ticking off items on a list. “One, she’s a demon. Two, she’s a demon. Three?—”
“Yes, fine. We understand. But we’re not exactly the good guys either,” Sin argued.
Chaos shrugged off his assessment. “I think we need to at least consider the possibility that Lilith is not to be trusted and that she sent Merri to us knowing exactly what would happen.”
While it was true that Lilith was as manipulative as the rest of us and that a sneaky move like that was absolutely in herwheelhouse, something about Chaos’s suggestion rang false to me.
“Lilith hates Lucifer. Why would she do anything to help him?”
“He has a point. A woman scorned and all that...” Sin spread his legs wider, and it seemed the satisfied smirk was a permanent resident on his face now.
“If she wanted to help him, she could have simply deposited Merri on Lucifer’s doorstep. She has no quarrel with us.”
“That we know of,” Chaos muttered.
“I think you’re missing the big picture, War. She didn’t drain me. She boosted me. Your logic is flawed.”
“And she didn’t kill me,” Malice offered.
“She fed on us all. Did any of you feel lingering weakness?” I asked, knowing the answer. No. Perhaps I’d been briefly incapacitated, but that could be said for anyone in the throes of pleasure.
Sin and Malice were quick to shake their heads. Chaos took a bit longer.
“I suppose you’re right,” he said eventually, but his expression was still uncertain.
“Enough of this. We’re focusing on the wrong thing,” I snarled. “Merri isn’t a threat to us. She’s ours to care for, and that means we need to all be at full strength before the next Prince is released.”
As one, three sets of eyes landed on me.
“What?”
“Ours to care for?” Malice repeated, one brow raised. “Since when did impregnating the girl require catching feelings?”
My gut twisted. “Care for. Like one would care for a plant. Feed it, water it, keep it safe from harm.”
“Uh-huh,” Sin said.
I growled low in my throat, and a dark shadow flowed from beneath me, moving over the floor like an angry tide.
Sin spun sideways in his seat, lifting his legs off the ground to avoid coming into contact with the oily darkness. “Can no one take a joke anymore? Yeesh.”
“You’re pulling focus from the real issue at hand, Sinclair. The next Prince is due any day. Regardless of how any of us feel about her, Merri needs to be protected. We need to prepare.”
“Prepare for what?” Malice asked. “They don’t know where we are. And even if they did, we’re already on an island. They can’t exactly sneak up on us this time.”
