Chapter 24
twenty-four
CALLUM
I considered calling Merrily, but decided the conversation would be better to have in person.
Liv met us in front of Mer's cozy mansion, and all three of us went in together. Kat's fingers were threaded through mine, and though she had offered to wait in the car, Liv and I both turned her down.
She was a part of our circle, too.
Whether she liked it or not.
Liv rang the doorbell so Merrily would know we were there, then typed the code into the keypad and opened it.
"Let me do the talking," Liv said.
"It would be better coming from me, since I know all of the details," I countered.
"Neither of you have an ounce of tact," Kat pointed out.
Liv looked over her shoulder at Kat while she opened the door. "You can do it."
"What? I barely know her!"
"Liv's right. You're nicer than either of us," I agreed.
Kat flashed me a glare. "You two just don't want to admit that you've known her secret for ages."
"Of course we don't. Merrily is terrifying when she's angry." Liv didn't bother denying it.
"How is she terrifying?"
I explained mentally, so Merrily wouldn't hear her response.
She wasn't a fan of her power, even though that wasn't the one she suffered because of.
"Her power is death, Kitten. She can drain the life out of immortals, and she can't control it.
Her skin's sensitivity isn't the only reason she doesn't touch people. "
"Holy shit."
"You know I can hear you, right?" Merrily called from another room.
"Hey, Mer." Liv didn't bother trying to sound cheerful. "Kat's going to explain why we're here."
This conversation wasn't going to go well. All of us knew it.
"Fuck you," Kat muttered to Liv.
We found Merrily curled up on one of her many couches with a book, before the conversation could continue. I couldn't tell if she looked suspicious or amused. Some of both, maybe.
We all sat down on the sectional nearest to the couch Mer occupied, and Liv nudged Kat.
Kat sighed. "Liv and Callum have known that you're fated to Grayson Darke for a long time now."
Merrily said nothing. Her face didn't reveal any emotions, either.
Kat gave her a minute before continuing. "We found out this morning that he's looking for a mate. We assume it's to get more power in the Cabinet. Gwen signed a magical contract agreeing to seal a mate bond with him as soon as Simon was dead."
Merrily remained statue-still.
A tense moment of silence followed.
Then another.
"If he's looking for a mate, he's not looking for power," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "He's looking for someone else to feed on."
Someone else to feed on?
That would mean...
"Oh, fuck," Liv swore.
Merrily squeezed her eyes shut. "Shit."
"I'm confused," Kat said.
"As fated mates, they have an unfinished mate bond," I explained. "Like we did. If their souls are connected, he can't feed on anyone else, which means he's been visiting her dreams every single night."
"When I need a break from him, I sleep during the day and stay up all night, so he can't reach me," Merrily explained softly. "I've been avoiding him a lot over the past few months."
Kat's eyebrows shot upward. "You've been starving your fated mate?"
"Not starving. He can still function, and he does what he has to in order to catch me while I'm asleep every few days. He's even texted me about it. When it gets bad, he just can't access his magic, and is probably pretty grumpy"
"So he thinks his power is crapping out?" Kat asked.
"He thinks he's really fucking obsessed with me," Merrily admitted.
Liv leaned toward Merrily. "How do you know that?"
"He came to my house a few years back." Which could mean anything from five to fifty for us.
"He demanded to know what I was doing to him, why he couldn't stop thinking about me or reach anyone else's dreams. I told him I wasn't responsible for his obsession and threatened to kill him if he kept visiting me at night.
He called my bluff and said he'd start a war, and that he'd visit me as long as he wanted to. "
Liv leaned closer.
Kat's eyebrows were high.
I was entirely unsurprised. With the lengths Merrily had already gone to avoid him, it would take a lot to surprise me.
"I haven't seen him since then, other than at meetings. We don't talk, obviously. I've never kept him out for this long. I'll have to sleep tonight," she said. "But if he's already signed a contract, maybe that's my way out."
"Gwen's not going to marry him," Kat warned. "She's still in love with Jonah, and she's going to delay the ceremony to give herself time to win him over."
"She's what?" Liv demanded.
All of us looked at her.
"We ran together for hours this morning." Her voice was defensive. "We're friends, and he's decent company. He's going to help me get over my ex."
"He walked out of the meeting when she asked him to bond with her so she didn't get stuck with Darke," I told Liv.
It seemed like she would care.
I looked back at Merrily. "You need to consider very carefully whether or not you're going to intervene. Grayson is the only way you will ever have relief from your magic."
Her answer was softer than a whisper. "I'm never really going to be able to be with him, so what does it even matter? I'll always have the same problem you do, but so much worse."
If she lost control during sex, she could kill whoever she was with.
Even her mate.
"If fate can give you guys soulmates, don't you think it can protect us from your magic somehow?" Kat asked.
All three of us looked at her.
"You can't kill yourself with your magic, or hurt yourself with your magic, right? What you feel is the price of it, not the magic itself. Why wouldn't that be true for your mate, too?"
I stared at her.
So did Merrily.
Liv shrugged. "Try to hit her with your power, Callum."
"No. I won't use it on her." I'd promised myself that long before I ever met her.
"You used a little on us to show us what it feels like, and it barely hurt," Liv pointed out. "I think Kat can handle a few seconds of pain."
"It might not hurt me at all," Kat added.
"Merrily can't make an educated decision until we know for sure, and you guys are our only way to figure it out." Liv was teaming up with Kat.
It was cute that they thought they could convince me. "No. Now that we've filled Merrily in, we need to go to the challenges before they start. We'll need to run interference if Darke tries to stop Gwen from announcing her year-long engagement to him.
"I'll work on it," Kat told Liv, as she rose to her feet.
Merrily did too.
"Can I catch a ride?" Merrily asked, her arms wrapped around herself for support. "I don't think I can drive right now."
"I've got you," Liv agreed.
"You can come with us, if you don't want to be deafened and potentially killed by Liv's driving," Kat put in.
"Don't make me hit you with my magic." Liv held a hand out threateningly, as if she needed her palm to wield her power.
I pushed her hand away from my mate as I stood, maneuvering Kat around me.
Merrily picked Liv's passenger seat over our back seat, and we all headed out.
The walk to the pit was uneventful, and we all acted like we didn't notice Liv scanning the crowd for Jonah as we made our way toward our seats.
Grayson Darke met us on the path before we reached the chairs, his expression impassive as he looked straight at Merrily, who was at the front of our group.
"A word, Love?" he asked, his voice low enough that none of the other members of the Cabinet would be able to hear, including Darius.
"No thanks." She tried to step past him, but he stopped her with a hand to her arm.
I would've intervened... but she needed to figure things out with him.
His eyes narrowed. "Please."
It wasn't a question.
Merrily narrowed her eyes back.
Liv threw her arm over Grayson's shoulder.
He stiffened, his shadows recoiling from the wild, buzzing energy that undoubtedly accompanied her touch.
I fought back a snort. Kat bit her lip to hide a smile.
"Darke, we all know you can't get enough of our little Mer, but if you don't want us to kill you, I'd suggest letting go of her arm," Liv drawled.
Grayson's jaw clenched, but he slowly released her.
"Mer was just telling me how she's been having a hard time sleeping, but I'm sure she'll be turning in around eight tonight. Right?" Liv looked at Merrily, who nodded reluctantly.
"Great. Lovely chat." Grayson forced a smile and removed Liv's arm from his shoulders before striding back to his seat.
"What the fuck was that about?" Dare muttered, as Merrily took her seat next to him.
"Nothing," Mer murmured. "It's fine."
"Can I kill him yet?"
"Unfortunately, my answer is still no."
Darius clenched his jaw and looked back out at the pit.
So he was more involved in this situation than we had realized.
I supposed that made sense, given the way they helped each other with their power.
"If she loses her chance at being with her fated mate..." Kat trailed off.
She hadn't lived enough to understand the true consequences, but there was no world in which I would allow that to happen. Even if Merrily fucking hated me for it, I would intervene, meddle, and downright burn the city to the ground before I let her fated mate bond with someone else.
"We won't let it happen," I said. "Liv and I haven't discussed it, but we're more likely to abduct her and haul her to the demon's lair ourselves than let him mate with someone else so she can keep longing for Dare."
"You could just tell him that they're fated mates. That encounter was steamy enough to make me think he'd abduct her himself."
"I'll consider it."
"Jonah saw Liv put her arm around him and wants to know what's going on," Kat said, as I sat down with her on my lap.
Sable always came out so we could all scratch her fur during the challenges, rather than leaving Kat to sit on my thigh through all of the challenges. There still wasn't an extra seat. Probably because I hadn't pursued it. I preferred having her close.
"Tell him Liv's planning to marry Grayson in Gwen's place," I drawled.
Kat grinned. "I'm not playing with his emotions. He likes Liv, even just as a friend."
"I hope that situation doesn't go poorly."
"You and me both."
Gwen announced her year-long arranged engagement to the demon king, and was met by deafening silence from the crowd around us. After her speech, I glanced at Grayson and found him staring at the back of Merrily's head, shadows dancing around him more dramatically than usual.
He clearly didn't give a shit about my mate's sister. There was a simple loophole that would allow him to get out of the contract for any reason, so he didn't have to go through with the ceremony, either.
Maybe I wouldn't need to get involved after all.