Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
GRIM
“ W here have you got off to, wildflower?” I murmured, stalking through the halls after finding Merri’s room empty.
The cameras we used to keep tabs on our little captive had been down since the earthquake. Malice was doing everything he could to get them back online as fast as possible, but without his computer, we were flying blind.
All her usual haunts were empty, and with each one I checked, my ire mounted.
One tiny succubus should not be wreaking this much havoc on my life.
“Fucking Lilith.”
As I shoved through the gym door, I had a scolding poised on the tip of my tongue. She shouldn’t wander around without us knowing her plans. It was risky enough when the cameras had been working and we could keep an eye on her. But even then, the last time she did that, she nearly steamed herself to death.
But as with every other room, no one was there. Not even a wisp of perfume lingered as evidence of her presence.
“Fucking hell.”
It should not be this difficult to locate a single woman. The penthouse was large, but it wasn’t unending. Where the hell could she be?
Deciding this was no longer solely my responsibility, I took the stairs two at a time and bellowed for my brothers. If my day had to be interrupted with this nonsense, so did theirs.
“All right, all right, keep your shirt on, old man. I was taking a nap and having the nicest dream,” Sin drawled as he padded down the hall, sleep rumpled and groggy.
“How nice you were able to take a nap while the rest of us continue to work on getting this place up to scratch again,” Malice groused, joining us in the hallway.
Sin squinted at him, annoyance coloring his expression. “What do you want me to do, Mal? Fuck the holes in the wall? I’m not exactly built for repair work. Though I do have a great handyman outfit at the ready for when roleplay requires.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Mal asked.
“Yes. He is.” The sigh in my words had to betray my irritation, but Sin just grinned at us both.
“As a heart attack. I have a whole costume box. Construction worker, fireman, police officer, and my favorite... cowboy.” He waggled his brows. “Oh! And how could I forget my priest costume? That one is a frequent flier.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t say pilot,” Mal muttered.
“Oh, he’s a frequent flier too.”
“I fucking despise you.”
“Right back atcha, wankstain.”
“Wankstain?”
“I keep a running list of all the insults you hurl at me so I can use them back.”
“Fuck’s sake, will you two stop squabbling like a couple of children and focus for one damned second? I can’t find Merri.”
That shut Sin up quicker than I’d expected. He was coming to care for her. I could see it in his eyes. Good. That was good. He had a job to do, and I gathered it would be easier if he fell for her.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“I don’t bloody know. That’s why I called you two out of your rooms. I think she’s gone.”
“Gone where? Perhaps she just nipped to the loo?” Sin asked, adopting a fake British accent. He withered under Malice’s and my twin glares. “What? I was feeling left out. You two sound all posh and cultured. I was just trying to fit in.”
“No,” Mal said.
“But I just sound so stupid. Did she go to the baaaathroom?” he put such emphasis on his American accent I nearly cracked a smile. “See? Stupid.”
“If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck...” Mal said, brows lifted.
“How do we find her?” I barked, tired of their shenanigans. “Mal, what can you do? You said she’s got some kind of tracker. Did you implant it when she was sleeping?”
Malice looked at me as if I’d just insinuated he’d performed a heinous offense. “No, I did not implant anything inside her whilst she was sleeping, Grimsby. Who the fuck do you think I am?”
I cocked a brow in answer.
He rolled his eyes, ignoring my silent dig. “She did steal her phone back. I can track that. The satellites haven’t fallen from the sky?—”
“Yet,” Sin supplied helpfully.
“—so the GPS should still be working.”
“Should?” I grumbled.
“Well, we haven’t checked, now have we?” Mal pulled his own phone from his pocket and tapped the screen a few times. “Ah, there you are, ma petite. What in God’s name are you doing in a place like... ooooh. She’s safe.”
“How do you know that?” If my fists were clenched any harder, my knuckles would’ve cracked.
“She’s with Chaos.”
“Wait, he took her out on a date?” Sin asked, his jealousy evident.
“No, fuckwit. Does that sound remotely like something Chaos would do?” Mal countered.
“So why is she... ohhhh. Bad girl, kitten. Sneaking out without permission.”
“If he doesn’t know she’s there, she isn’t safe at all. Get your things. We’re going to find our girl,” I said, stalking down the hall and toward the elevator.
“Our girl?” Sin asked in a loud whisper.
“Guess he’s not as impassive as he pretends.”
“Wait, was that him being impassive?”
“Just get your shit, Sinclair.”
I heaved a sigh and squeezed the bridge of my nose. Maybe the end of the world wouldn’t be so bad if it would save me from a lifetime spent with these bellends.
Fifteen minutes later, the three of us stood at the mouth of the alley that led to Max’s. Honestly, I don’t know what I expected, but finding Chaos practically devouring her up against the wall was not it.
Malice let out a low whistle while Sin complained, “Why is everyone getting some except for me? Don’t look at me like that. You know I’m right. I’m the sex machine, Chaos is the war machine, Grim is the death machine, and you... well, I guess you’re the snot machine.”
Chaos was so lost in Merri he didn’t even hear the conversation taking place, which only pissed me off more. We could be anyone. Lucifer’s minions were legion. They could show up anywhere at any time, as they’d fucking proven a week ago when they broke into my fucking penthouse. Sure, he was blocking her with his body, but they were vicious. The damage they could do was very real.
She let out a soft moan and dug her fingers deeper into his hair as he began rocking his hips into her.
“That’s it,” I growled. “This has gone on long enough.”
Mal stepped forward. “Allow me.”
Then he cleared his throat loud enough to make Chaos stop, his body stiffening before he pulled his lips away from our charge and looked over his shoulder at us.
“Fuck.”
“Oh please, don’t stop on our account. It was just getting good,” Sin said.
Malice glared at him. “That’s enough out of you.”
“You’re such a prude.”
“Excuse the hell out of me for not wanting to watch them fornicate in a fucking alley.”
“Fornicate? How old are you? Also, you are Pestilence. Since when are you prissy about a little dirt? Germs are supposed to be your thing.”
In a voice almost too soft to hear, Malice muttered, “She deserves better.”
Chaos placed Merri back on the ground and turned to face us, the flush on his cheeks and the raging tent in his shorts making it all too clear how unhappy he was with our interruption.
“What are you doing here?”
I strode down the alley, eyes locked on Merri, where she peeked around Chaos. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“Don’t be mad at him. It’s not his fault.”
“Oh, trust me, wildflower. I know exactly who deserves all my blame.”
Merri winced, but I continued speaking. Some of my anger had waned now that I could see for myself she was unharmed, but the threat to her safety remained.
“We need to get you out of sight. There are too many creatures looking for you. What the hell were you thinking, running off like that?” I scolded.
“You said I wasn’t a prisoner.”
I gritted my teeth against the wave of frustration that accompanied her argument. “You aren’t. But that doesn’t mean you’re not in danger. Bloody hell, Merri, you were almost kidnapped a week ago. What more is it going to take for you to believe the threat is real?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
My mouth snapped shut at the unexpected apology. I was so used to her stubbornness that I wasn’t prepared for her to be agreeable.
“If it makes you feel any better, I never planned on leaving the building. I thought I’d catch him in the lobby, and then I didn’t, and I don’t have a key, so I couldn’t go back up to the penthouse, and I just sort of figured I would be safer with him than on my own, so I just kept chasing him.”
Her ramble was adorably earnest, and I found myself relaxing further.
“Why were you following me in the first place?” Chaos asked.
A fierce blush stained her cheeks as she looked at him. “To tell you thank you for saving me.”
I could feel the wind leave our collective sails at that. It was hard to stay mad at someone who was being so sincerely vulnerable. Sort of like scolding a puppy.
“Can we continue this conversation somewhere less... outside?” Sin asked, his shoulders tight and gaze darting from side to side. “I can feel the angry energy coming from Max’s. What happened in there?”
Chaos shrugged. “I ended the fight in one punch.”
“Ah, yes. That will do it.” Mal jerked his head toward the street. “Let’s get a taxi back. We can discuss the dos and don’ts of excursions in the future, Merri.”
As we stood on the pavement waiting for a taxi, I finally let the rest of my tension bleed out. She was safe and back where she belonged—with us.
Merri was less relaxed, caged as she was by the four of us. I could tell she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, that she knew us well enough by now to know that she hadn’t heard the end of this. If I was a kinder man, I might try and assuage her fears, but where was the fun in that?
She had to learn her lesson somehow.
When the taxi arrived, Merri was the first to scramble in, seating herself as far away from me as possible. It stung to know I repelled her so, but it was for the best. Death wasn’t typically welcomed with open arms.
After everyone was settled, I took my place and told the cabbie where to take us. From my vantage point, I could already make out the building that housed my penthouse. I took a risk and glanced at Merri, her beauty calling to me even though it shouldn’t.
Without any warning, a deafening boom rattled the windows and caused the taxi to swerve.
“Christ, not another one!” the driver cried.
“That wasn’t an earthquake,” Chaos replied, his tone ominous.
My focus went to where we were headed, the top three floors of the building now engulfed in flames, black smoke curling high into the sky.
“What was it?” Merri asked, craning her neck to see around one of us and out the window.
“My fucking penthouse.”