Page 120 of The Demon Prince

“You’ll need help.”

“I can do it, Envy.”

“I have no doubt of that, but there are still creatures who will try to attack you, and you are not very good at fighting.” Amused, he held out his hand for her to take. “I cannot interfere in the politics of other kingdoms. I’m sure you understand why we do not do so.”

“I don’t.”

“Because if I interfere, then it will make me want to take this kingdom for my own. I have saved it, therefore, part of me exists inside it.” Envy’s eyes burned that glowing green. “I would take it, and I would keep it.”

“Right,” she muttered. “That would be a big problem. Anyway, Envy. Nice chatting with you, but I don’t have the time for this.”

“Then allow me to give you a gift, Katherine. A guide to help you should you need it.”

Though she was a little suspicious of what this demon would call a gift, she nodded. “Fine. Just hurry up.”

Envy rolled up his sleeve, and she saw ink drip down from his neck. It seemed to rip off the snake and coil down his arm, down to his wrist, where it bloomed into wings that opened as if the bird were already flying across his body. He reached for it and then pulled the ink off his skin. With a flick of his wrist, a falcon with shimmering black wings edged in green burst into life out of his hand.

It soared up into the sky with a screech of anger that echoed across the swamp, and she swore she heard the entire world go still at the sound of its wrath.

“What kind of magic is that?” she whispered.

“The magic of a demon king.” Envy grinned at her, his teeth suddenly a little too sharp. “It will watch over you. Should you find yourself in trouble, that falcon will fight for you. And if it believes you cannot win the fight, then it will summon me. So stay away from the kelpies, dear girl. Perhaps they will ignore you, but perhaps they will not. Gluttony will have my head if you die.”

Well, she couldn’t argue with that.

Katherine gave him a brief nod and then leapt off the boardwalk into the murky waters below.

ChapterForty-Four

Gluttony grinned with blood splattered teeth up at the young man who thought he could contain a demon. “You haven’t done much research, have you?”

The man before him was the same one who had been so outspoken in the crowd. The same man who very quickly ordered everyone to follow what he said to do, and corralled the entire crowd into creating a barrier that Gluttony could not punch through without more bloodshed. And then he’d placed iron shackles on Gluttony’s hands, which would have done nothing if not for the inscriptions on the inside.

They actually could contain a demon, shockingly, and that meant someone with magical abilities was helping them. Gluttony could still fight all of them with his hands behind his back, but he wanted to know more about this young man and where he had come from.

So he let them hit him. He let them punch and kick and do whatever it took for them to feel better. The purging of their emotions was swift, but he saw the regret on so many faces. He could see the horror on women’s faces as they backed away from what they had done. And what their men were doing.

Those were the people who did not escape his notice. The people who were willing to realize that they were in the wrong. They had stepped away from the dwindling crowd, returning to their homes and closing the doors tightly behind them.

That had angered the strangers. They stirred the fires of rage again, calling out to the villagers that there was something wrong with this demon before them. That after all he had done, surely they had to realize he was not like this for a good reason? Gluttony was barely even responding to their kicks. What kind of monster couldn’t even feel pain?

And that had been enough for many of his people, unfortunately. The next thing he knew, there were more punches raining down upon his head. But he healed quickly, and they realized it very fast. In just an hour, they had cut him in so many ways that he couldn’t count the amount of times he’d been sliced.

Still, this was fine. He deserved a little punishment for his neglect and he would not deny them that. If causing him pain made them feel better about their daughters and all the other things that had happened? Certainly, they could. He would not deny that it was a good option. After all, Gluttony had used pain many times in his life to solve his own issues.

But now it was just him and the stranger. Just this man who had dragged him into someone’s root cellar and left Gluttony alone to address the crowd. As though he was already their king.

The man dragged a stool in front of him and then dropped down onto it. Pulling a knife out of his back pocket, he started cleaning the drying blood out from underneath his nails. “I have done research, demon. So have the others. We know more about your kind than you would likely be comfortable with.”

“Rumors and legends,” Gluttony spat. “No one would tell you the truth, even if you tortured us.”

“We’re going to put that to the test, now aren’t we?” The man looked at the knife in the air, his threat a little too obvious. “Now, you will address me as Nikolai. I enjoy hearing a demon say my name when they’re in pain.”

“A demon?” Gluttony tilted his head to the side, eyeing this Nikolai through the red haze cast by his eyes. “You have met another of my kind? I find that hard to believe.”

“It is not so hard to believe. There are many of you, after all.”

“Fewer than you would think.” Although he had the sudden urge to reach out to Greed and make sure his two spirits taken flesh were well. Loyalty and Passion were more people than they were spirits at this point, but that didn’t mean this man hadn’t gotten to them.

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