Epilogue 2
Teleportation was never a challenge for me, at least not until tonight. That bloody witch I called my ex-lover had drained all of us nearly to the point of collapse. I almost hadn’t had enough juice to make the jump from her lair to my penthouse. The months of imprisonment had been rough on their own, not to mention the toll her little ritual had taken.
I braced one hand against the wall, struggling to catch my breath as that subtle shift of energy told me the others would be popping in any second. Pushing myself upright, I wiped my forearm on my brow to remove the dots of cold sweat beading there and forced myself to walk normally over to the fully stocked bar cart. If ever there was time for a drink.
My fucking palm shook as I reached for the decanter of Brimstone whiskey and poured three fingers into a highball glass. They couldn’t see me like this. Weakness wasn’t an option.
One by one the other three horsemen appeared, all of them wearing haggard expressions, Sin looking worse than the other two.
His needs were a little different than the rest of ours, given his incubus nature. He didn’t just have to nourish his physical body, he had to regularly feed off sexual energy as well. Other emotions would keep him going, but nothing would truly sate him the way that lust would.
“I don’t know what just happened, but I’m pretty sure we owe Hades a debt,” Chaos grumbled. “I hate owing anyone anything.”
“Would you rather we be lying there in those cells, drained and blinking mindlessly up at the ceiling? Maybe a bit of drool running from the corner of your mouth?” This from Malice, who’d already taken a seat and was pretending his body wasn’t failing him with every ounce of bravado he had.
I was familiar with the spell Helene had used, but only in a theoretical sense. The aftereffects of what she’d done to us, what she’d harvested, were yet to be seen. My hand spasmed around the glass, some of the amber liquid sloshing and spilling onto the polished wood in front of me. Pressing one fist against the tabletop and bowing my head, I forced myself to take a deep, restorative breath. That bitch had to pay for what she’d done to me. To us. There was no way I could let her treachery stand.
Sin groaned, his body folding in on itself as he slid to the floor from where he’d been propped against the wall.
“Guys, I hate to ask, but I need?—”
“No,” we all bit out at the same time.
“But I’m in a real bad way and?—”
“Not a chance,” I muttered.
“Mal? Buddy? Come on.”
Malice shook his head. “I don’t think I could get it up, even if I was willing to let you feed on me.”
“C?”
“Has the answer to that question ever been yes?” Chaos countered.
“Well, no. But this is an extenuating circumstance. I’ve never gone this long without feeding. I’m in serious need. Come on. Be a pal. Just a quick session. Go put some porn on, rub one out, and let me watch. Is that really too much to ask? You won’t even know I’m there. I won’t make a sound, swear. I’ll close my eyes. I don’t even technically have to watch, I just need to be in the room.”
“No.”
“I’d do it myself, but you know it doesn’t work that way. I can’t eat myself. It would basically be cannibalism.”
“We said no, Sin,” Malice said firmly, halting any further protest with a hard stare.
“Fine, but if I die here, you three are going to have to?—”
“Sin, you can’t die. You’ll be fine until we get things sorted here,” I offered, my voice tired. I faltered a bit as my head swam, but I managed to catch myself and gingerly lower my body into a chair.
“You okay, Grim?” Chaos asked.
“No, I’m not fucking okay. It’s a bloody disaster. She siphoned our power, weakened us all, and managed to set him free while she was at it.”
“Do you think they realize she successfully started the apocalypse yet?” Chaos asked, jerking his head toward the floor-to-ceiling windows to indicate the outside world.
“Gabriel has to know. There’s no way this escaped his notice. Especially once Lucifer’s chains were broken.” I pinched the bridge of my nose as a throbbing headache began between my eyes.
A hint of sensual amber curled in my nose, and when I glanced down at the table next to me, I saw a piece of black parchment instead of the empty surface I’d been expecting. When I lifted the paper, a fiery red scrawl appeared.
I’m calling in that favor you owe me, Grim darling.
Iniquity. Midnight.
Don’t be late.
L
“What do we do now?”Sin asked, his brows pulled together.
Balling up the note in my fist, I gritted my teeth and took a steadying breath. Training my gaze on Sin, I snarled, “Now we get revenge.”