Page 4 of Sin

“Speaking of,” I chimed in, my body one never-ending ache and my patience long past waning, “Why did you summon us?”

“Because the end is here.”

Chaos let out a disbelieving snort. “Do you think we don’t know that?”

“And I need you to help me stop it.”

“There it is... the other shoe.” Malice plopped heavily onto a nearby velvet chair, looking a little worse for wear. “We don’t stop the apocalypse, Lilith. We herald it.”

“Not this time, I’m afraid. As I told Grim, I’m calling in my favor. You don’t get a choice.”

Three sets of eyes swung my way, but my gaze was locked on Lilith and her smirk. “Regardless of our interference on your behalf, it might be too late.”

“You know as well as I that it’s not. The Princes are currently still locked away, and there’s thatothermatter.”

My skin crawled at the thought of the final piece required to crown Lucifer the king of Earth and hell. “How are we supposed to stop the antichrist from being born? We don’t even know who its mother will be.”

“Yes we do.”

“We do?” Sin asked, leaning forward from his perch on the arm of Malice’s chair. “Mmm, the plot thickens.”

Lilith trailed a finger over her desk, her sharp black nail causing a deep scratch. “Lucifer won’t be successful if he can’t find her. That’s where the four of you come in. Who better to protect her than the horsemen?”

“Let me get this straight,” Chaos said, ever the stickler for details. “You want us to directly oppose Lucifer by standing between him and the one woman in existence that can?—”

“Say what she really means, War. She wants us to cockblock him.”

Chaos shot Sin an annoyed glare and kept speaking. “Give him what he wants.”

“Yes,” Lilith said simply, though it was unclear which of the horsemen she was agreeing with.

“It won’t stop him,” I said.

“It will if you beat him to the punch,” Lilith announced, looking like the cat who ate the fucking canary.

So that’s what she wasreallyafter.

“Knock her up?” Sin asked, perking up considerably. “Really?”

“If he can’t impregnate her, this little apocalypse of his will fizzle out. The antichrist is the key to clinching the deal. The oh-so-important cherry on top of the sundae. The countdown began the moment Hel released him from his prison. It must be his vessel, and it must be her firstborn.”

“So he can do this any time he likes if we don’t get to her first?” Malice asked, almost conversationally.

“Why not let him breed her and then wetake care of it? Wouldn’t that be the easier course of action?” Chaos asked.

Lilith sprang to her feet, eyes blazing with power. “You will not harm a hair on her head. If you do, all hopes of future procreation or even practicing it will be gone because I’ll have your cocks strung up like garland on my mantel.”

Sin winced and protectively cupped his crotch. “No thank you. I’m much more interested in the plan that allows for all the fucking.”

As usual, we ignored Sin and carried on as if he hadn’t spoken.

“Friend of yours, is she?” I asked, sensing what Lilith hadn’t said.

“Not a friend. Merri is more of a daughter, not by blood, of course, but she might as well be.”

“You have her here?”

“I’ve been keeping her safe. She’s working in her room as we speak.”

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