Page 28 of Malice
“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 youwouldfinish 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’thaveto 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.
I stood there, dumbfounded. This conversation had really taken an unexpected turn.
“Maybe you should sit down,” Malice offered.
“I’m fine,” I snapped.
I was not fine, but fuck him for pointing it out.
An awkward silence stretched between us while I struggled to process everything. “Is that why Lucifer needs me or my womb or whatever? Because I’m part horseperson and therefore, like, hardwired to end the world or something?”
