Page 88 of Malice
“If you’re going to stay, you’ll be silent,” I shot at him. “We’ve got enough to deal with at the moment, and the absolute last thing either of us needs right now is you riding our arses.”
Grim’s eyes seemed to shine with unholy light as the corner he sat in was suddenly overcome with shadow. “Just pretend I’m not here, then.”
Merri let out a humorless chuckle. “Easier said than done.”
“Eyes on me, hellcat. Don’t look at him.”
She obeyed like it was her job, and fuck if that didn’t do something to me. Before I could respond to the way my heart stuttered at the eye contact, I fell into her subconsciousness, wading through memories and snippets of dreams as though it were the ocean.
Dreams were not like lived memories; they were fragments at best, which meant I was only catching whispers. Still, they were enough for me to be sure that Lucifer had, in fact, infiltrated Merri’s mind. Even if I hadn’t seen the tosser’s face as he worked harder than an antibacterial wipe during a pandemic to seduce her, I’d have known it was him.
Slipping out of her mind and back to the present, I cut a glance at Grim, correctly assuming he’d want confirmation.
“And?”
“It was Lucifer. No doubt about it. I’m surprised he used his real face, though. That seems rather lazy.”
“He probably didn’t see any reason to hide. Besides, he always has been something of an attention whore. He’d hate it if she went and fell for someone other than him. He needs the credit.”
“True,” I mused, my gaze returning to Merri’s pinched expression.
“I feel violated,” she muttered, hands rubbing up and down on her arms like she was warding off a chill.
“You did nothing wrong. He is a master of lies and seduction. There was no way for you to know that’s who he was.” Grim’s gentle words surprised me, but he was right. Lucifer was so skilled at deception that he’d have you sacrificing your friends and family because he asked you to and then thanking him when it was done. I’d seen it.
“I almost...” The words died on her tongue.
“I know,” I murmured. I’d caught the tail end of his last visit to her. “If he’d been successful, this would be over.”
“But he wasn’t.” Grim stood, his shadows spreading out beneath him as his anger built.
Playing with one of her cuticles, Merri spoke low enough it was obvious she didn’t think we’d hear. “Maybe I’m already pregnant, and it wouldn’t have mattered.”
Grim, as was his wont, did not give her the grace of pretending he didn’t hear. “You’re not.”
Her shoulders slumped almost instantly. “Well, fuck.”
“Yes. That about sums it up,” Grim agreed.
“How do I keep him out? He’s going to be angry if I make it obvious I know who he is.”
My gut said we needed to keep her occupied at all times. One of us would have to be in her dreams, guarding her even when we weren’t fucking. But the reality was, we didn’t get to decidethat. It wasn’t us who visited Merri’s dreams; it was her who visited ours. She ran the show.
My brain buzzed in the way it always did when I was on the brink of a new and, dare I say, brilliant discovery. There was something to Merri being in control of the dream realm. I just couldn’t quite see it clearly.
“For the time being,” I began, “you will need to play along with him. Keep him on the hook, and never let him get what he wants. I’m guessing he’s already attempted to get your location and find out as much information as he can?”
Taking her lower lip between her teeth, she worried at it before answering. “Yes. Now that you mention it, he did seem to pry, but so carefully it always made sense. I explained it away as my brain working through things.”
I nodded. “Of course, because that’s what he wanted you to believe. Not that I love to give the devil his due, but he’s earned each of his monikers. He’s had plenty of time to hone his craft.”
She huffed out a breath. “So I just play along and let him lead me like a lamb to the slaughter? What if he catches on?”
“Then you force him out.”
“How?”
“The same way you end any other dream. You wake up.”
