“So what? You didn’t know how to dreamwalk until you did. It’s all instinct, Red. Just try. You might surprise yourself.”
Thoughts racing, I bit my lower lip out of habit as I tried to figure out how to go about doing this. I’d never pulled someone into a dreamwalk that was already occupied by someone else. But Sin had joined more than once when Lucifer had me in one of his. Maybe I was overthinking it all.
Chaos was right. I was powerful—so powerful I’d been locked away by Lilith.
“Okay. I’ll try.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, something in me relaxing when he threaded our fingers as if to share some of his strength. I released a second heavy exhale, this time picturing those golden threads I’d noticed ever since the mate bonds snapped into place. I basically just had to think of one of the four of them and the shimmery fiber would appear, like a rope I could follow... or tug.
At first the only one I saw was a bright, shiny gold, strong and thick like a rope woven from our bond. I wrapped my hand around it and heard Chaos let out a soft grunt even as his energy poured over me. On instinct I released it, confident he wasn’t going anywhere. Chaos wouldn’t leave this dream until I ended it. He was mine.
Sweeping my gaze farther through my consciousness, I found two more woven threads, not as vibrant, but still glowing and golden. It didn’t take more than a passing thought to know Sin’s was the one on the left and Malice the right. Without giving myself a chance to second-guess, I reached for both of them and tugged. Hard.
I felt their presence the moment they arrived, their ropes now shining as brightly as Chaos’s.
That just left one more.
The one I dreaded.
But when I reached for Grim, his thread was wispy and dull. It was still there, but when I tried to touch it, my fingers moved through it as easily as if it were a cloud.
I knew this was a bad sign. Our bond was damaged.
But I didn’t know if it was his fault for rejecting me, or mine for being so torn about seeing him again. Like a self-sabotaging thing. Or maybe I was just subconsciously protecting myself. No matter the reason, it seemed like a future Merri problem.
“She did it,” Sin whispered as I opened my eyes and came face-to-face with him and Malice. “I knew she fucking could.”
Malice didn’t give me words right away; he chose instead to wrap me in a tight embrace. “Good job, hellcat,” he murmured as he pressed a soft kiss to my temple.
Fuck, I’d missed them.
“Where’s Grim?” Chaos asked.
“Stubborn ass probably refused to come on principle.” Sin took the hand Chaos wasn’t holding and brought it to his lips. “His loss.”
I shook my head, stepping back as Malice released me from his embrace. “No. I tried. I couldn’t grab hold of him. I think the bond is messed up.”
The guys wore various expressions of anger, though I could tell none of it was directed at me. Despite seeming the most upset by my admission, Sin was the first to recover.
“That shouldn’t matter, though, right?” He looked at the others. “Lilith didn’t say anything about requiring a mate bond to bring people into the dream realm. I mean, for the plan to work, it literally can’t be a requirement.”
“Maybe you three should fill me in on this plan. I’ll work out my Grim stuff on my own.”
Malice nodded, taking a beat before he said, “You’re strongest in the dream realm, especially when you keep yourself fed. Whatever happens in these dreamwalks happens in reality, so you cut me, I bleed, you drain me dry, I wither with a smile on my face.”
I nodded, none of this information news to me.
“And now that we know you can bring as many people as you want?—”
“That feels like a bit of a stretch, Sin,” I said. “So far we can only confidently say I can bring three.”
He waved my concern away. “That’s just a matter of practice, and in reality, you only really need to be able to bring in a couple more.”
I was about to ask who he meant, but it was obvious. They wanted to face off against Lucifer here, where we would have the upper hand.
“You can do this, Red,” Chaos said.
Taking a fortifying breath, I straightened my posture and gave a curt nod. “Okay. When do you want to do this?”
