Page 116 of The Demon Prince

Envy strode forward and clapped a hand to his shoulder. They stared into each other’s eyes, two monsters who knew that they were going to eventually get what they deserved.

“I will take care of her, brother.” Envy enunciated each word carefully. “She will be well cared for in my kingdom.”

Katherine’s voice sliced through the quiet moment. “Your kingdom of stone? I have no interest in going back there, Envy. And your brother should know better than to make decisions for me.”

Oh, she was mad.

More mad than he had ever heard before. He could almost feel it searing through the air as she strode into the room. She’d put on one of her most simple gowns. Just a plain brown thing did nothing for her coloring, but she had never looked more beautiful to him.

For this was the avenging queen he had claimed her to be. She strode into the room with a single purpose, and unfortunately, the battle in her eyes was all for him.

“How dare you?” she snarled before shoving his chest surprisingly hard. “You know that I will stay with you. I plan to be with you, for all time. If they come for you, then they come for me. That is the promise we made to each other, you insufferable man!”

“I will not risk your life—” he started.

“It is not yours to risk.” Katherine drew herself up straight and tall, the muscle in her jaw jumping as she ground her teeth and glared. “It’s my life. My choice to risk it if I wish. You do not decide for me, demon. And that is the end of it. Do you hear me?”

He wanted to fall on his knees before her and beg for her forgiveness. He wanted to kiss her boots and tell her that he would do anything for her. His queen. His everything.

Instead, he merely bowed his head. “Understood.”

Envy looked back and forth between them with wide eyes. “Have you both lost your mind? You realize what an attack on a demon looks like, don’t you, madwoman? They will not only come with pitchforks and fire but also with sword and bows. They will burn this entire castle to the ground with you in it. They do not care in the slightest that you were once one of them.”

“I understand that. I have already been the target of their cruelty once before.”

Gluttony couldn’t take his eyes off her as she glided across the room and stopped in front of him. She stared at him, her face screwed up and her eyes squinched as though she were staring into the sun. “You are not alone any longer, demon king. Do I need to remind you of that again? I am here for you, with you, and always will be. Through hardship and pain.”

His throat tightened, and though he tried to swallow the emotions down, he couldn’t, really. Not when she looked at him with those big eyes that made him want to sink into their warm gaze. “I forgot.”

“Don’t do it again.” She turned her glare to Envy, who even took a step back. “Is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening?”

“We could give Gluttony over to them.” His brother pointed at him before turning a little pale at the sight of Katherine’s anger. “They aren’t going to stop until they have him. That’s the point of a mob, little human.”

“I don’t care that it’s the point of a mob. They are humans. They can be reasoned with.” She looked at him, that glare burning through his chest. “Well? What about you? Do you have any good ideas?”

He thought Envy’s idea was a rather good one. They wanted Gluttony, and they weren’t going to stop until they had him. So he might as well join them.

Which... “At the very least, we should prevent them from getting to the castle. So, I suppose, it would be best if we met them at the village.”

“It’s a start,” she muttered before clapping her hands. “Let’s get on with it, then. We can talk about our plan along the way. If the two of you can’t come up with something, then I surely can.”

And so he found himself walking down the boardwalk with his brother and the limping love of his life, knowing that he had to do something drastic. But without the emotional response that he deserved this, Gluttony was more focused on why they were attacking now.

Of all times, why now? There were plenty of strangers in town to instigate it, but where had they come from? And why were they so focused on a demon king, when there were countless slum lords and shitty mayors doing more work than him?

This was the answer he needed to discover.

“No, I’m not going to allow them to rule themselves,” he rejected.

“Well, what about offering them free passage to other kingdoms?”

“Then this kingdom would die and there would be no one left living in it.”

“You could at the very least offer them restitution for their troubles,” she muttered. “Maybe a few free passages a year? Something along those lines.”

He grunted and saw Envy watching the road with a more calculated expression. His brother knew where this ended, just as he did. Bloodshed, fire, and the death of good people on both sides.

In this case, the only death he feared was hers.

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