Chapter 2 #3
My eyes darted from her to the others’ expectant gazes. I’d have wrung my hands together, but one was still intertwined with Malice’s. “Well, I mean, I tried . . .”
My gaze settled on Crombie who’d been completely silent to this point. Surprisingly, he was the only one in the room not staring at me. His attention was wholly focused on Sin.
“His mind is a jumble. I’ve been inside it a handful of times and only once did I go beyond initial feelings. He’s complicated.”
Evander nodded. “Yes. He always was.”
“I didn’t see anything relating to the horsewomen, not that I know of. He kept saying I was made for him, but that’s not news. Auntie Lilith, you knew that from the start.”
I had a momentary freak-out at just how intimately my aunt had known the newest of my mates and then immediately shoved the realization away. Whatever happened well over a millennium ago was none of my business. And I certainly wasn’t ready to address the Lucifer-shaped matebond in my chest.
Lilith waved a dismissive hand. “That was entire lifetimes ago. Whatever I once knew is hardly relevant now.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, racking my brain for something useful.
Eventually I shook my head and shrugged.
“I’m sorry, I wish I had a smoking gun, but all he wanted to talk about was how misunderstood he was.
He was too focused on trying to get me to fall for him so that I’d help him make his antichrist.”
“Since when does babymaking require love? It’s biology.”
Moira wasn’t wrong.
“It was important to him that I wanted him as much as he wanted me. He . . . it sounds naive, but I think he wants to be loved.”
Chaos stepped into my line of sight, possessive anger flashing in his eyes. “He can’t have you, Red.”
Fuck this was going to get messy when he found out just how wrong he was. Nothing in me was looking forward to that conversation. I’d only just gotten them back, the last thing I wanted was a new reason for them to throw me away. Especially when it was entirely out of my control.
Stupid Pandora.
“So where does this leave us? She doesn’t have any information. We can’t find my mate or his son. What are we supposed to do?” Kingston asked.
“It’s not just Sunday and Pan they wanted,” Caleb said. “They’re collecting their children.”
“That means Dahlia,” Hades murmured, mostly to himself.
“And you, Asher,” Kai added.
Gabriel made a soft sound in his throat. “They may not be after him since they already have Pan. But they certainly need Dahlia and Merri if they want a full set.”
“Over my dead body,” Chaos snarled, going full War and making the entire room tremble as his power arced through it.
“Easy tiger,” Hades murmured. “My pregnant mate is just as much of a target as yours, but bringing this realm down on our heads isn’t going to keep either of them safe.”
Grim’s hold on my neck tightened and I caught his shocked inhale. Something about Hades’s words had set him off, but I wasn’t certain what exactly had done it.
“What do we do about Lucifer?” Thorne asked.
“There is nothing we can do. Not until he shows his face. He’ll be down for a while yet, hopefully. Merri drained him in order to escape.” Grim’s words were tight, preoccupied. Never a good sign when it came to him.
“So we protect the two remaining children. Keep them out of the hands of their mothers,” Alek said, tension lacing each and every syllable. His energy was so erratic it made me think of bombs with their countdowns nearing the end.
“It’s not enough,” Hades said.
“It’s all we can do at the moment. Until something changes, we are hamstrung.
Protecting them has to remain our number one priority.
If the horsewomen want them, then we have to ensure they do not get them.
It may be our last chance of surviving this war.
” Evander got to his feet and adjusted his cufflinks.
“And what about Sunday and Pan?” Caleb asked.
“We hope Pan realizes he has power enough to help keep Sunday and the baby safe.”
Gabriel huffed in something like amusement. “Pan has more power than his captors realize. If he taps into it, he might do the hard work for us.”
Asher gave him a droll look. “When do things ever go our way? We might as well start wishing on falling stars and throwing pennies in wells.”
“I have an idea, or at least the makings of one,” Moira said, her focus turned inward. “The locator spells haven’t worked, but what if we try to get ahold of Pan a different way?”
“Get ahold of him for what?” Malice asked.
“To let him know what he really is so he can tap into his power. Kingston pointed out that he’s limited by his beliefs and there’s nothing in his current situation that is likely to change that other than the truth.
If we had a way to contact him, we could fill him in and see if he can’t make a jailbreak on his own. ”
“The group chat doesn’t work over those kind of distances,” Asher said with a shake of his head.
“I wasn’t thinking group chat.”
“So what were you thinking?” Malice asked.
“Astral projection worked for me and Sunday when we were trying to reach Thorne.” Moira’s gaze landed on me. “I don’t think we can astral project to another realm, but . . .”
I sighed. “She’s talking about a dreamwalk.”
“Do you think it’ll work? Can you find him?” Kingston asked, his hope so bright it hurt.
“I don’t know, but I can try.”
The relief the others felt at my words should have made me feel good. Like a valued member of the group pulling my own weight. But the truth was, all I felt was a heavy sense of pressure. What happened if I failed? I didn’t want to let any of them, least of all Malice, down.
“Great. Well then, I guess we will call this meeting to a close and regroup after Merri tests Moira’s theory.”
Before Hades had even finished speaking, Kai had dashed from the room. The rest of them left in a steady trickle until the only people who remained were me, Sin, Auntie Lilith, and Crombie.
“Did you need something?” Lilith asked, raising her brow.
“Lilith, something is wrong with your pet. He hasn’t stopped eye-fucking me since I walked in here.”
My aunt sighed, glanced at Crombie, and then shook her head. “Oh yes. I’d almost forgotten. Sin, darling, I have a favor to ask.”
Now Sin and I were the ones with our brows raised.
“You want a favor from me?”
“Technically, my Drystan does. Come on, poppet. Be a big, brave boy and use your words.”
Crombie’s lips twisted in a snarl of displeasure at her teasing before he schooled his face back into its intense mask, and he pulled something from his back pocket. He closed the distance between himself and Sin with heavy steps.
“Would you . . . that is . . .” The fae prince blushed, cleared his throat, and tried again. Shoving the black t-shirt and metallic marker he was holding toward Sin, he blurted, “Can I have your autograph?”
I laughed, shaking my head as I left my rock star alone with his adoring fan. Malice and I needed to chat if I was going to attempt to pull his son into a dreamwalk.