Page 8 of Malice
A wicked smirk spread across Drystan’s lips when I flicked a glance toward him as I worked to find the right words. “Uncontrollable desire for one’s bonded. Physical pain that can only be assuaged by contact with her chosen. A withering away of body and mind the longer the bond is left incomplete.”
“Sounds fun,” Remi said with a grimace.
“And if the bond isn’t satisfied?” Hades asked, his eyes shrewdly narrowed.
“Then all parties will perish. As I said, the magic of the bond refuses to be denied. Succubi magic is parasitic at its core. Our bonds are no different, at least until they are fully formed.”
“So it’s the old fuck or die trope.”
Asher rolled his eyes at Remi’s assertion, but the wolf wasn’t wrong. He simply wasn’t as eloquent as I.
“Does this remind you of something?” Asher asked Remi.
“Sounds a helluva lot like a feast.”
Asher nodded.
“Feast?” Hades asked.
“Sort of like a heat,” Asher explained, “but the vampire version.”
“Fuckfest,” Remi confirmed. “Doesn’t stop until she gets enough, if you know what I mean.”
“We’re forgetting a vital piece of this puzzle,” Hades interjected.
I slid my gaze to him, knowing exactly what piece he was going to mention. “Go on.”
“They can fuck her until she’s boneless, but if she’s not fertile, that doesn’t help. And that brings me to another point. Why would Lucifer’s vessel for the antichrist be a succubus? It seems counterintuitive to me.”
Shaking my head, I sighed. “There’s a lot about my kind that has been lost to the ages, and some of those secrets best remain hidden. Suffice it to say that Merri is absolutely capable of bearing a child under the right set of conditions.”
“And are the horsemen aware of those conditions?” Asher asked.
“They don’t need to be. From my last conversation with Merri, I have nothing but confidence that things will sort themselves out in that regard.”
“And as to the Lucifer part of the equation?” Hades pressed.
I fought the impulse to fidget. Generally, I was very guarded about the secrets I revealed, preferring to offer crumbs as needed rather than laying everything out in the open. But given that we were all staring down the barrel of the apocalypse, I suppose this was one truth I could part with.
“Merri is part of Eve’s bloodline.”
Remi let out a garbled noise. “Eve. Like... Eve of the garden and the apple?”
“For fuck’s sake, yes. Do you know of another?” Drystan snapped.
“Well, I mean, there are about a million Eves...” Remi stopped talking when the rest of us pinned him between our combined gazes. “Right. Zipping it.” Then, under his breath, he muttered, “Eve is a really common name.”
“And I’m assuming, given that correlation, that something about her bloodline makes her more susceptible to Lucifer’s seed?” Hades asked.
I nodded. “Merri may not be a reincarnation of her many times removed great-grandmother, but her blood calls to Lucifer just as strongly as Eve’s did. He’s been obsessed with her since the garden, and the infatuation only continued through the ages. Eve was the first mother. Her line has always been blessed in that regard. Lucifer will always be drawn to her descendants.”
“Because of his obsession with her?” Asher asked.
“Because Eve’s line is the only one who can create his antichrist.”
“So your plan was to what, throw her at the horsemen and fill the oven before Lucifer could?” Remi asked.
As much as I loathed the cocky wolf, he was quite astute. “Yes.”
