A curt nod was my only reply as I held my fist over the bowl she now had in her hands and carefully deposited five drops of blood.
“What about the rest of you? Is anyone else going to kill me?” she asked.
“No. Our powers don’t work the way his do,” Malice said with what I think was supposed to be a reassuring smile. Given the jerky, almost stilted nature of her movements, I’m not sure it worked.
She quickly gathered blood from the others, Merri having to coax Lucifer before he begrudgingly complied.
“Okie dokie, now we just need our mama.”
All of us stared on in discomfort as our mate winced when her blood was spilled. I’d never been affected by harm coming to anyone the way I was when my mate was injured.
“Careful,” Chaos growled, a little tremor rolling through the room at the violence he couldn’t quite keep in check.
Alek seemed to swell in size in response to the threat, but Moira stopped him with a shake of her head. “It’s all right, Viking. He’s just being protective of his mate, same as you get.”
“That’s five,” Merri said, snatching the handkerchief Moira waved in front of her and wrapping it around her wound.
Mine had already healed, as had the others, I was almost certain. It wouldn’t take long for her to be good as new, but it still rankled knowing she’d shed blood.
“Now what?” Lucifer asked impatiently.
“Now I mix your blood, draw the pentacle, and we get this over with. Believe me, I’ve got plenty of places I’d rather be than hanging out withyou.”
“Feeling’s mutual,” he sneered.
“Oh yeah? That’s funny, last I checked you were banned from hell and basically no one likes you, so I’m pretty sure your dance card is less than full,” Sin helpfully pointed out.
Lucifer stared daggers at him. “I wasnotbanned from hell. I was held against my will.”
“Right. And what about the part where the horsewomen managed to seize control in your absence? That part of your master plan?”
“I can return any time I wish.”
“Uh-huh.”
Merri reached out and put a hand on Lucifer’s forearm, gently pulling his focus. “We need to do this now. You’ll get your vengeance on the horsewomen later.”
“If all goes according to plan, crabapple, we all will.”
While we continued to bicker amongst ourselves, Moira had manifested a pair of gloves and taken to fingerpainting a pentacle on the space she’d cleared. Once she finished, she carefully removed the gloves and tossed them into the fire before gesturing for us to each claim a point of the star.
“Uh, Moira? Where should I stand?” Merri asked.
“Smack dab in the middle.”
“It’s a succubus sandwich,” Sin said with a smile. “My favorite.”
“Is it a sandwich if there’s more than two of us?” Malice asked with a tilt of his head.
“A galette with a delicious crabapple filling,” Lucifer offered.
Merri scowled. “Now I see why you were so annoyed when I called you a taco.”
Malice’s answering smile was filled with quiet amusement.
“If you don’t mind, I need you all to shut the hell up and let me work.” Moira’s voice was firm and commanding. For such a little thing, she was strong.
“And I thoughtwewere bad,” Alek murmured to Thorne.