Page 118 of The Demon Prince

He’d walked into a lion’s den with no one to help him but himself. And though she knew he was strong and powerful, he still shouldn’t have to do it alone.

Because he was always alone. He had always been alone. In his feelings, in his home, and now in his life. No longer. He didn’t have to suffer now that she was here and she would damn well not let a demon king take her away from him.

“Let go of me,” she snarled, still wriggling like some kind of she demon who had been released into the wild. “Envy, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing.” He grunted when she stabbed her elbow into his gut. “Listen to me, woman. Gluttony will take care of the situation, but he doesn’t need you there to distract him.”

“Is that why you’re taking me far away from it? Is that why you said you would keep me in your kingdom?” She twisted harder, kicking her heel back and connecting her sturdy boot with his shin. “You can’t lie to me, demon. I know all too well that you are the embodiment of envy. You want to keep me for yourself and you’ll stop at nothing to steal me from Gluttony.”

“That is not—” He let out a long groan when she finally reached her good heel up and connected it hard between his legs.

That did it.

Katherine felt his grip loosen as he wheezed out a breath that really did sound quite awful, but she refused to feel bad about it when the man was trying to kidnap her.

Envy staggered to the side, bracing himself against the railing before he glared at her. “I am not trying to steal you from my brother. There is no reason for me to do so, you ridiculous, foolish—”

“Woman?” she finished for him, drawing herself up so her shoulders were square. “It’s in your nature, Envy, and I don’t begrudge you for it. I know what you’re doing, even if you do not. But I will not be taken from him. He needs me.”

“He can take care of himself. He’s a demon!”

“Just like Greed took care of himself? In the same way that all of you gathered together to make sure there was some understanding of a substance you’d never seen before, but could knock you out like you were nothing more than a mortal?” She jabbed her finger at him. “You are all afraid, and the fact that you would let your brother go off to fend for himself in a pack of wolves is despicable.”

His glare turned a little colder, a little harder. Chips of emerald stared back at her and she wondered, for a brief moment, if maybe she’d gone too far. “You know nothing about me or my family.”

“I know well enough to see there are some great flaws that you refuse to take any ownership of.” She flattened her lips into an unimpressed line. “Now I’m going to go back there, and I will slap reason into all of them. Including your brother.”

She turned around, and likely would have made her escape if she hadn’t frozen in startled realization that they were quite a far distance from the town. Somehow in her struggles, she had missed that Envy must have been moving like the wind. They were nearly half a day away from her home, almost back to the castle where Envy had left his portals.

If she hadn’t caught him in that instance, he might have actually succeeded in kidnapping her.

An iron arm banded around her waist and hauled her back against an equally hard chest. “I’m doing this for your own good, woman. Now shut up and let me save you.”

“Save me?” she shrieked. Katherine twisted in his arms again, struggling to kick him in the balls one more time, because he damn well deserved it. Maybe this time she would make enough contact to see him weep. That would make her feel a lot better about the entire situation.

“Stop moving,” he snarled.

“Never.”

“This is what Gluttony wanted! He asked me to make sure you were safe in case anything went wrong.”

“He knew them!” Katherine screamed the words as a last resort. Envy had to listen to her. He had to hear the fear and conviction in her voice.

And for once, she was right. He froze, his arms nearly trembling around her as he held himself still.

“What did you say?” he rumbled. “What do you mean, Gluttony knew them?”

“Or at least he had his suspicions.” Katherine cleared her throat and kicked her feet where they hung high above the ground. “I know your brother better than anyone. The way he spoke to them, the way he suggested that there was something more afoot, Gluttony has an idea who those strangers are. And I think it has something to do with the substance you had him researching.”

“You are certain of this?” He eyed her, and she wondered if he thought she was lying. “How would you know?”

“Because I’ve taken more than a few seconds to get to know your brother. Put me down, Envy.”

He let her slide down his body before he stared at her with too much intensity in his gaze. Finally, he grunted, “If what you’re saying is true, then there is a larger problem than myself or my brothers have considered.”

She nodded. “Your problem is in every kingdom. Not just Greed’s.”

“Exactly.” He tapped his finger to his lips, and she watched a snake tattoo slither up the long column of his throat and coil in a circle around the thick muscles as he swallowed. “It would suggest we have missed the true issue here.”

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