Page 60 of Sin

I mutely raised a brow, matching his expression. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“Fuck you, Malice.”

“I think you mean fuckher. And if you’re lucky, Sin will have already gotten the job done while we were down here arguing. Nice work, by the way.”

Confusion swept across his features.

“You punching him and then sending the two of them off together so she could care for his wound. Brilliant.”

A scowl marred his brow before he wiped his expression clean. “Yeah. Whatever. Clean up this mess, will you?” He gestured with his head toward the ash on the floor. “Since it is your fault and all.”

He left me there, staring at the pile of demon remains, but I didn’t mind. I had far more to think about than how to breed Merri. We’d never be successful if the Knights were able to get to us. Granted, they hadn’t realized who they were up against, which worked out in our favor since I knew we were all still weakened by Helene’s ritual. Thankfully they’d all been decimated this time, but what would happen when more followed in their wake? Surely her location was now known. Wasn’t it? I needed to overhaul the security measures in this place, perhaps find a coven willing to work with us on setting more powerful and demon-proof wards. Before all that, I’d build Merri a server even I couldn’t hack into. It would at least buy us time if not hide her entirely.

We still had one ace up our sleeve. No one else knew Merri had the power of the four horsemen behind her.

Yet.

Chapter

Seventeen

SIN

Merri was uncharacteristically quiet as we made our way to my room. I’d expected a full-on rant from our resident brat over needing a babysitter, but she was still incredibly rattled from tonight’s attack. The energy coming from her twisted my gut uncomfortably. This wasn’t her usual level of frustration or irritation mixed with hunger. All I felt was shock and unease.

Opening my door, I gestured for her to enter my domain without words. She didn’t need me to flirt and seduce right now. Merri needed a friend. Could I be one? I’d never tried. Nothing like jumping straight into the deep end to find out.

“Are you . . . okay?” I finally asked.

Merri blinked at me and raised a brow.

“Right. Stupid question,” I muttered.

“I feel like I should be asking you that,” she said, either not hearing me or choosing to ignore my words. “You’re still dripping blood.”

Fuck me. In all my concern for her, I’d forgotten about my destroyed nose. What was wrong with me? My face was my moneymaker. I needed to be beautiful so I could feed.

Well, to be fair, it didn’t matter what I looked like. My incubus charm could turn me into a walking wet dream no matter what my physical features were, but it was always easier to lure in prey when you had what I’d once heard Lilith refer to as “pretty privilege.”

“Sit down, Sin. You’re bleeding all over the place.” Merri snapped into caretaker mode, latching onto the role like it was a life preserver as she rushed into my attached bathroom.

I did as she said, taking off my bloodied shirt and balling it up before using the fabric to stop the bleeding. Dammit, that one was a favorite of mine. I’d finally worn it enough it was perfectly broken in.

“You don’t have to—” I started before she forced my head back and shoved a wad of toilet paper against my nose. “Ouch, kitten. I’m gonna heal on my own. You don’t have to make it hurt worse in the meantime.”

“Incubi don’t have healing . . .”

“Horseman. Basically a god,” I said, all smug and proud. I even cocked a brow for good measure.

She didn’t crack a smile, roll her eyes, or even give an indignant huff.

“What’s got you so shaken up?” I asked, not really understanding why someone like her would be affected by a handful of demons. Okay, technically they were Knights, which made them like uber demons, but still. She lived atIniquitywith Lilith, of all creatures. The original demon herself. It can’t possibly have been her first rodeo. While a sanctuary, surely a fight or two had broken out during her time there.

“If Chaos hadn’t found me . . .”

“But he did. And you’re safe.”

Merri gave me a look before softly admitting, “I don’t think I ever realized what it was like. Beingunsafe, I mean. I’ve always been the thing people were afraid of. I was the monster who’dsuck your soul out of your body and leave you nothing more than a husk. Something to be feared and never trusted. I... ” She let out a heavy breath and shook her head, as if at a loss for words. “You all kept telling me I was in danger, but I don’t think I truly understood what that meant. Not until tonight. Not until I realized I could fall victim to the same sort of power I employ.”

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