Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
MERRI
The common area of Sanctuary hadn’t even come into focus before Lucifer’s blazing eyes were inches from mine. He was pissed.
“What part of call for me if you need me did you not understand?” he gritted out, taking my chin between his fingers.
“Unhand her,” Grim growled, crowding in close.
“It’s okay, I’ve got this,” I told him, my eyes darting to the side to meet his. “Trust me.”
I could tell it went against every instinct, but he finally dipped his chin in a nod and stepped aside.
Navigating multiple relationships was never going to be easy, but given the natural rivalry between the horsemen and Luc, it was even more important that I take the lead in these kinds of interactions.
It wouldn’t bode well for any of us if they started ganging up on each other.
The rest of my mates were all here, giving me space to fix things with Luc.
It made my heart warm and light to know they were present and aware of what I needed, even if it hadn’t included them in the actual request. Malice stood quietly near the table where the weapons had been placed, his eyes on me with no expectations.
I could feel his emotions broadcasting like a strong radio frequency.
He just wanted to see me and know I was okay.
The rest could wait. The same was true for Chaos, who was nearby, a steady presence by my side.
Grim didn’t stray far from us either, ready to intervene if need be, but Sin had stolen his attention as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
“What happened?” he asked, right before Grim demanded, “Did you get it?”
I was barely able to make out Sin’s, “Of course I did,” before Luc pressed his nose to mine and stole my full attention.
“I mean it, crabapple. How can I prove myself if you won’t give me the chance? I am every bit as capable as they are. Arguably more so. Let. Me. Help. You.”
It was then I realized how right he was. Even if I hadn’t been consciously doing so, I was struggling to trust him.
Gaze dropping to his lips, I said, “I’m sorry. Grim just took the reins, and everything happened so fast after that. I didn’t even think about calling for you.”
Shoulders slumping, he stepped back. “And that’s the problem.
You’ve been so busy pushing me away that I’m little more than an afterthought.
For any of this to work, really work, I have to be on equal footing with the others.
I understand that the four of them have always been a package deal, which puts me at a disadvantage, but that will never change if you don’t make a concentrated effort to do so. ”
His words were soft and just for me, but they were no less devastating. I felt awful.
Yes, he was a brat. But he was trying to be a better man.
He’d set aside everything he’d been working toward to be with me, which included learning how to become a team player with people he’d long considered his enemies.
What more proof of his intentions did I need?
No one was perfect, and Lucifer was my mate every bit as much as the others. He deserved better from me.
Reaching for him, I threaded our fingers and tugged so he came back to me. “I’m sorry. Truly. You’re right. I will do better.” I rose onto my tiptoes and brushed my lips over his in a chaste kiss.
Lilith’s voice broke the spell between us as she stormed into the room, the rest of the group hot on her heels. “Is everyone all right?”
Just like that, the room went from an intimate hush to a chaotic reunion of desperate and fearful mates. News of our return must have just spread.
“Everyone’s fine,” Grim announced with calm authority.
He must have known that assurance coming from him rather than those of us who’d been taken would carry a bit more weight. Mates had a habit of being a bit overprotective of those they were bound to. I should know; I was one of them.
“Can someone explain to me how my mate was torn out of this sanctuary right in front of Kingston’s face?
She was in her fecking robe. A few moments earlier and she’d have been naked.
There was no warning. No alarm. How did this happen?
” Caleb asked, fury in every word, as he hurled questions at Lilith while addressing the entire space simultaneously.
“It shouldn’t have been possible,” Lilith answered softly. I knew my aunt well enough to know she was shaken by the unexpected turn of events. She’d never show such vulnerability publicly, but she would carry the weight of this perceived failure for a long time.
“That’s not an acceptable answer, Lilith. You’ve made it abundantly clear this is your domain, and we all believed we were safe and shielded. Obviously you lied.” Hades may have sounded calm, but there was a distinct aura of anger coming off him.
“Don’t blame her. None of us could have known,” Crombie protested, placing a comforting hand at the small of her back.
“No, they’re right. This realm is supposed to be unbreachable. I’m sorry. This never should have happened.”
It was Moira’s turn to step forward, the witch uncharacteristically subdued.
“It reeks of blood magic. The sheer amount of power required to pull specific beings from multiple realms . . .” She shook her head.
“This was big magic. Not the kind of thing one does lightly. It required planning. And a coven.”
“How is it we required a celestial event to simply find Alek, but they just poof”—Kingston snapped his fingers—“cast a spell and ripped five people through space?”
“There’s no poof about it. They would have had to make a massive blood sacrifice in order to do this. Like, dangerous levels of blood. A human would never have survived. This would take multiple days, maybe even weeks of preparation.”
“Can they do it again any time soon?” Lucifer asked, echoing my thoughts.
“I hope not, but I never thought they’d be able to do something like this in the first place, so I wouldn’t bet against them.”
My stomach turned to a pit at the idea of being taken against my will again. The next time, we may not be so lucky.
My fear must have been echoed in the others because the mood in the room shifted once more. Now I sensed the same bloodthirsty resolve Grim and I had shared after our encounter with the horsewomen.
The attention shifted away from Moira and landed on Sin.
“We need to finish attuning the final weapon. We have to be ready to launch an attack of our own,” Chaos said.
“About that,” Sin said. “Anyone got any ideas on how we’re supposed to attune this one?”
After a beat of awkward silence where we all stood around shaking our heads and hoping someone would offer up a suggestion, Kingston nudged Moira with his elbow.
“Come on, Glinda. Vision up the answer for us.”
“You know my visions don’t work that way, dog breath.”
“How do they work, then? They just show up when they want?” Caspian asked. “Are you sure you weren’t a pesky mermaid in a past life? They were always just popping up and making trouble.”
“Fate can be a real mean bitch,” Moira replied.
“Uh, maybe we don’t talk shit about the Fates right now. You know, all things considered.”
Hades’s little dog yipped in agreement from the other side of the now ever-present portal to the underworld. “The boss man is right. The Mother is no joke, but neither are her sisters. This is not the time to get on their bad side. They might start cutting threads for funsies.”
Kingston blanched. “They do that?”
“Don’t get him started,” Moira warned. “Anyway, I’d love to have a vision about this and get to choose when it happens, but that’s just not what happens. It would be so much more convenient if it was.”
“Something has to trigger it,” Hades mused. “Visions don’t occur at random. They always serve a purpose.”
I looked from him to Moira. “What was going on right before you had the vision?”
Moira made a face and shrugged. “I have no idea. I was sort of in the middle of things myself.”
“Right . . .” I muttered, trying to recall the exact sequence of events. So much had happened since then, it was like trying to wade through silly putty.
“Sunday asked out loud about attuning the blade,” Asher offered, proving once again that he was always paying attention. There was a reason he’d been the de facto leader of the resistance since the beginning.
“Isn’t that what I did?” Sin asked.
Asher shrugged. “Maybe it has to be Sunday specifically, since she and Moira are the closest?”
Sunday flinched under the collective gaze of the others. Clearing her throat, she gave it a try. “How do we attune the blade?”
Nothing.
The disappointment in the room was palpable.
“Wait!” Sunday said. “I touched it. I touched the blade right after.”
She rushed to the table, reaching out and placing her hand on the dirty guillotine blade.
Again, nothing.
“Loki’s mighty ball sac,” Alek grumbled.
“Oh my God, you guys,” Remi said, smacking himself on the forehead. “It’s so obvious. It worked when Sunday touched the War weapon because she’s tied to it.”
Sin narrowed his eyes. “Uh, hello. I am literally Famine. Couldn’t be more tied to this one.”
“No, well, I mean yes, but no. Sunday is War’s daughter. So by that logic, this time it should be—”
“Me.”
Eyes on me, every person in the room waited as I walked toward the weapon. I reached out and pressed my palm to the blade, waiting for a burning sensation or to be knocked back by the power, but I felt nothing out of the ordinary.
Moira, on the other hand, looked to be feeling a whole lot of things all at once.
“It’s happening!” Remi shouted. “Somebody get ready to catch her.”
“On it. Go ahead and trust fall, I’ve got you.” Kingston was a wolf of his word, and her tiny body slumped against his effortlessly.
What felt like an eternity later, Moira blinked and shook her head as she came back to herself. “Fuck, that’s always a rush. Who needs cocaine when you’ve got the Sight?”
“Well, Miss Belladonna, what do you have for us?” Caleb asked.
She righted herself with Kingston’s help, then cleared her throat. “The blade has to be washed in the blood of a billionaire. But not just any rich asshole. One who has reformed and promised not to let greed control their heart.”
“Well, we’re fucked,” Remi said, throwing his hands in the air. “Everyone knows billionaires are basically the most corrupt, selfish motherfuckers of all time.”
A delicate cough came from the ghost behind the portal. “Actually, I might know a guy.”