Page 29 of Sin

“Oh right. That.” Sin shrugged. “So he wears his cute little gloves. Problem solved.”

“On his dick?” Malice asked with a lift of his brow.

“Not conducive to reproduction,” Chaos chimed in.

Sin’s shoulders drooped. “You’re right. But you know, he doesn’t have to be the one to knock her up. That’s what I’m here for. I can take care of putting a baby in her. You three can warm her up. The more aroused she is, the better, right?”

“If it’s that simple, Sinclair, why haven’t you gotten the job done yet?” I asked, leaning against my desk as I stared at him sprawled in one of my good chairs.

“You didn’t tell him?” Malice asked.

“Tell me what?”

Mal waved a hand, opening the floor for Sin to proceed.

“So... our girl Merri is celibate,” he said after a second, his expression shifting as if he was confused by the words coming out of his mouth.

“A celibate succubus?” Chaos’s words sounded as if he’d just asked “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Sin nodded. “Stupidest thing you ever heard, right?”

“You have to be joking.”

Fucking Lilith. She couldn’t have shared this tidbit of information with usbeforesaddling us with the girl?

“She’ll come around,” I said, rising from my chair and walking to the windows.

London had always been one of my favorite cities, but it was especially stunning at night as the lights of modern-day buildings accentuated the contrast between old and new. There was a reason I’d made it my primary residence. I’d roamed these streets an uncountable number of times, taking souls, sparing others, a wraith playing at being alive. Now if I wanted to continue existence as I knew it, I’d have to help ensure one of us created life rather than snuff it out.

The irony.

Death tasked with the continuance of life.

Somewhere, God was having one hell of a laugh.

If he was even paying attention. Something told me it had been a long time since he peered in on the first of his creations.

“She won’t if you all keep being pricks to her.” This from Sin, the accusation clear in both his tone and expression.

“I’ve had minimal contact with her. Surely you can’t mean me.”

And by minimal, I meant none. I hadn’t seen the girl since we collected her.

He leveled a stare at me. “She calls you Grumpy Brit Number One. Yes, it means you. Chaos, you storm around the place like you’re ready to toss her over the balcony at any moment. Mal, you’re... well, you.”

“Grumpy Brit Number Two?” he supplied.

“You said it, buddy.”

Chaos chuckled. “And here she just calls me Moody.”

“Well, she’s accurate, if not particularly creative,” Sin mused.

He seemed to have forgotten that the rest of us weren’t built to exist on seduction and lust. I hadn’t been with a partner since my disastrous relationship with Helene. I’d thought, stupidly, that Death was the only one meant for me because of her nature. I realized now the whole thing was a stroke of madness on my part. We’d been doomed from the start, both of us far too selfish to ever make us good partners. But oh, how I’d craved the ability to touch another being aside from my brothers. To know firsthand what they’d been talking about when sharing their various exploits.

I shoved the thoughts away, along with the frisson of loneliness that always accompanied them.

Death did not get lonely.

---