Page 35 of The Demon Prince

This was a transaction that served her as well. And her people. If he stopped feeding off everyone else, she had less work, and more people could figure out how to fix this mess of a kingdom they all lived in.

And yet, none of this seemed to be helped by the little spirit still laughing on her bed. Without hesitation, she shoved it back onto the floor. “You’re no help.”

“He deserves it!” Spite shouted from the floor. “He’s a terrible king, and not even remotely a good man. Don’t let him fool you, little human. He’s a monster through and through.”

“That I am,” Gluttony’s voice cut through their conversation.

Katherine should have known he would come to find her. She just thought she’d have a little more time. Wincing, she sat straight up on the bed and tried to look somewhat put together.

He loomed in the doorway, rivaling the Spite spirit’s darkness as he stayed away from the firelight. Almost as though he didn’t want the light to touch him.

She had no idea why. He was a stunning vision of a man, and he must know that. So many women had come here, and clearly they hadn’t run screaming when they saw him. Hundreds of years worth of women, and she knew many of them were good years. Years that were still in the history books as the best time in this kingdom.

That only brought up more questions. Questions she shouldn’t have or care about the answers to. But sitting in a bedroom that he’d clearly cleaned for her, her hands fisted in her lap, his eyes on her, Katherine couldn’t help but feel a strange surge of jealousy in her stomach.

“Is it—” Don’t ask, don’t ask, don’t even think about asking. “Is it customary for you to expect the women who give you blood to stay the night?”

It was a stupid question. She knew the answer. The women didn’t stay, ever. They returned to the village, broken and bleeding, so that Katherine or one of her coworkers could stitch them back together.

Somehow, the outline of his body stiffened even further. Board straight, he answered her through what sounded like gritted teeth. “They rarely stay long enough for me to offer.”

She shouldn’t feel any pity about that. She shouldn’t care that women ran screaming from him after he almost tore out their throats. The women were right to run from him.

But as he took one step into the room, the light fracturing around the high peaks of his face, she caught his expression of devastation before he hid it. Maybe he wasn’t ashamed of feasting upon mortal flesh. Maybe he knew that it was wrong and did it anyway. But the fact that he had been alone for so long, and people ran from him? That ate at his soul.

It wasn’t pity that burned in her chest for him. But it was something akin to that.

She knew what it was like to be viewed as different. She knew how it felt to have people look at her as someone that was only good for one thing.

And if her sacrifice could help her people, then she would stay here with him. She’d have to find some common ground, or she’d go mad.

But this feeling had to stop. She had to do something to remind herself that he wasn’t just a man who had been cast aside by so many. He was a monster, and monsters deserved to be punished.

Spine still straight, lip curling in disgust that she couldn’t help, she asked, “So? Do you wish to feed?”

His hands flexed at his sides before he caught ahold of the reaction. Gluttony gave her a little bow instead and retreated that single step back to the door. “The unique circumstance of your abilities have made me question this entire situation. I need a night to consider what has happened, and the implications of your words.”

“That I know you’re a spirit, you mean.”

He visibly flinched back at the word. “Indeed. No one is supposed to know what we are.”

“You can’t really believe no one else knows.”

“Only the wives of two of my brothers. They are aware of our circumstances, though I highly doubt those conversations were taken lightly. They would never betray the men they love.” He cleared his throat, as though the word had stuck in his throat. Love. Did he not believe in the emotion? “This is a different situation. Their partners wished to be with them, and that is why they know what they know. You know nothing about me, nor I you. You could tell anyone, and that is a significant issue to be addressed.”

Oh, Spite had done more damage than she’d realized. Folding her hands in her lap so they didn’t shake, she nodded. “Ah. So you’re going to tell your brothers about me.”

His right eye twitched, and he hesitated before responding. “I have not yet made a decision regarding that.”

They stared at each other, surveying the situation, before Katherine nodded again. “I will wait until you make your decision, then.”

“Good. That is good.” He paused in the hallway, looking down into the shadows like he’d rather be anywhere but here. Finally, he said, “Do you require anything else?”

What kind of question was that?

Furrowing her brows in confusion, she replied, “No. This room to wait in will suffice.”

He nodded once, twice, three times before awkwardly reaching into the room and closing the door.

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