Page 18 of Chaos
“What about them?”
“The five main lines all intersect here. It’s a place of immense power, which is why Hecate claimed it in the first place.”
“You’re not a magic user though, so why did you want it?” I asked.
Malice shrugged. “It’s picturesque and secluded.”
I raised a brow, not buying that for a second.
“What? You never know when you’re going to need an ace up your sleeve. I saw the potential.”
“You’re not wrong,” Chaos said. “And aside from things with wings, the ability to fortify and defend an island is much greater than a penthouse.”
I took umbrage with that. My penthouse was a fortress. Mostly. But now it was so much rubble, so perhaps he had a point.
“Are the wards strong enough to protect from above as well?” I asked.
“Technically speaking, yes. But the Knights are a different breed. It may not hurt to give them a boost. As I said, I’ll have Christian look into it.”
“Does he know what we are?” Sin asked.
Malice shook his head. “His family has been led to believe that I—or as they assumemyfamily—descend directly from the goddess Hecate herself.”
“And the fact that you have no magical ability?” I pressed.
Malice sneered. “Have you seen what I can do with a virus? Iammagic.”
Sin snickered and whispered, “I am the night.”
“So his loyalty is misplaced, he’s blood-bound to remain here, and he’s potentially serving you against his will. Sounds bloody perfect. What could go wrong?” I said dryly.
“Oh ye of little faith,” Malice countered.
“Where has faith ever gotten us?”
“Christian’s loyalty is to his goddess and the land she’s tasked his line with protecting. As far as anyone cares or is concerned, his values and mine are aligned. Anything that could threaten this land is something that must be dealt with. Therefore, a request to strengthen the wards against demonic entities seeking to claim this seat of power for their own nefarious deeds is not simply a request from me, it’s an obligation to his goddess. There will be no issue.”
Sin, who had finally donned his shirt, stood and walked over to the bar cart, poured himself a generous helping of whiskey—not Brimstone, unfortunately—then knocked it back.
“There better not be.” His voice held such a serious note we all sat up and took notice. “You may not want to admit it, but Merri is important to us. She’s important to me. Even if she wasn’t the vessel, I’d care about what happened to her.”
The declaration was so novel the three of us were rendered speechless. We were horsemen. We didn’t care about mortals. They were sometimes tools, but always casualties. In other words, they were dispensable. Necessary evils. And while Merri was a succubus, she was still mortal in the sense that she could truly die. We would survive the apocalypse. She would not.
There was no happy ending here. Even if we did stop Lucifer, we were still who we were. All of this would start again. What place did she have in our lives?
I cleared my throat, not sure what to say to Sin. No matter how he felt about her, he couldn’t keep her. It wasn’t in our nature.
“She’s not yours, Sin,” Malice said softly.
“Not yet, but she could be.”
Chaos and I exchanged a look, recognizing the mulish set of his shoulders. Sin was a child who’d just been told he couldn’t have a toy. Now it was the only thing he wanted.
There was no winning this argument. Not now. Time to redirect.
“She can’t be anything if she’s dead.” I trained my stern glare on Chaos. “Sin did his duty. It’s time for you to do yours.”
Sin smirked. “Not if I got one past the goalie already.”
