"Neither of you have an ounce of tact," Kat pointed out.
Liv looked over her shoulder at Kat while she opened the door. "You can do it."
"What? I barely know her!"
"Liv's right. You're nicer than either of us," I agreed.
Kat flashed me a glare. "You two just don't want to admit that you've known her secret for ages."
"Of course we don't. Merrily is terrifying when she's angry." Liv didn't bother denying it.
"How is she terrifying?"
I explained mentally, so Merrily wouldn't hear her response. She wasn't a fan of her power, even though that wasn't the one she suffered because of."Her power is death, Kitten. She can drain the life out of immortals, and she can't control it. Her skin's sensitivity isn't the only reason she doesn't touch people."
"Holy shit."
"You know I can hear you, right?" Merrily called from another room.
"Hey, Mer." Liv didn't bother trying to sound cheerful. "Kat's going to explain why we're here."
This conversation wasn't going to go well. All of us knew it.
"Fuck you," Kat muttered to Liv.
We found Merrily curled up on one of her many couches with a book, before the conversation could continue. I couldn't tell if she looked suspicious or amused. Some of both, maybe.
We all sat down on the sectional nearest to the couch Mer occupied, and Liv nudged Kat.
Kat sighed. "Liv and Callum have known that you're fated to Grayson Darke for a long time now."
Merrily said nothing. Her face didn't reveal any emotions, either.
Kat gave her a minute before continuing. "We found out this morning that he's looking for a mate. We assume it's to get more power in the Cabinet. Gwen signed a magical contract agreeing to seal a mate bond with him as soon as Simon was dead."
Merrily remained statue-still.
A tense moment of silence followed.
Then another.
"If he's looking for a mate, he's not looking for power," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "He's looking for someone else to feed on."
Someone else to feed on?
That would mean...
"Oh,fuck," Liv swore.
Merrily squeezed her eyes shut. "Shit."
"I'm confused," Kat said.
"As fated mates, they have an unfinished mate bond," I explained. "Like we did. If their souls are connected, he can't feed on anyone else, which means he's been visiting her dreams every single night."
"When I need a break from him, I sleep during the day and stay up all night, so he can't reach me," Merrily explained softly. "I've been avoiding him a lot over the past few months."
Kat's eyebrows shot upward. "You've been starving your fated mate?"
