“Do you feel ready, kitten?” Sin asked, leaving the choice in my hands.
“She’s ready,” Grim said, surprising me with his confidence.
Usually his speaking for me would have rubbed me the wrong way, but this time it made me feel warm inside. Holding his gaze, I dipped my chin in a slow nod. “I’m ready. I’ll see you boys tomorrow.”
Chapter
Thirty-Five
LUCIFER
“She wants me. Everything’s falling into place.”
Chapter
Thirty-Six
MERRI
The last twenty-four hours went by entirely too quickly. I’d been on a high when we’d finished our practice the day before, but with every passing minute, it drained away until I was left an anxious mess. Would I be able to betray Lucifer so completely? More importantly, why did I feel like it was a betrayal? I was trying to escape. He had me in his clutches. Did I have Stockholm syndrome?
Fuck.
I’d already entered the dream realm, but I’d yet to pull anyone else. I just needed a second to get my bearings. The risk here was all mine. The horsemen couldn’t die. Lucifer probably couldn’t either. And if I didn’t succeed in weakening him, he’d take it out on me in ways I could never imagine. He was Satan, after all. Despite his protests to the contrary, not every story about him could be false. There had to be kernels of truth in there somewhere, and those kernels were enough to keep me from underestimating him.
First and foremost, I needed to create a space for us that would make him feel connected to me. Give him some semblance of comfort and ease. The Garden of Eden was the firstto come to mind. Beautiful, serene, and most of all, important to him. I hoped it would signify my attentiveness to what he shared with me.
If there was any setting where he’d be more inclined to let down his guard, I truly hoped this would be it. I was gambling my life on it.
“Okay,” I breathed, shaking out my sweaty palms and jumping around a bit like a boxer before a match.
From one moment to the next, I went from alone to surrounded by my four bodyguards. That’s what they’d be tonight.
“Wow, you really piled on the ambiance for Old Scratch tonight, didn’t you, kitten?” Sin muttered, clearly annoyed with the world around him.
“Listen,” I started, already sensing how quickly this could devolve, “he needs to believe this is real. I’m going to have to do and say things you won’t like, and you need to promise me you’ll stay put until it’s time, or all of this is for nothing. I doubt we’ll get a second chance, so you’re all going to have to keep your collective shit together.”
“Well, you didn’t mention you were going to look like a fucking goddess in the moonlight. I can see your nipples.”
“Sin,” I chastised.
“I’m sorry. Okay. I know. It’s all part of the plan.” He took a heaving breath and let it out on a gusty sigh.
Malice clapped him on the shoulder. “We don’t have to like it, but we do have to trust her.”
Chaos clenched and unclenched his fists but nodded his agreement. Grim remained silent, his gaze once again locked on me. I noted that he looked marginally more put together than the night before.
“Can I trust you four not to interfere?” I asked, looking at each of them in turn.
One by one, they nodded.
“As long as he keeps his hands to himself,” Chaos snarled.
“No. That’s not what I asked. I’m going to have to seduce him. That means getting close. There might be touching and sweet words and things you won’t like to see or hear. You can’t come barreling out of the trees to defend my honor.”
“Merri,” Chaos grumbled.
“You wanted me to do this. You have toletme do it.”
