Page 41 of The Demon Prince

So instead, she walked up to his table and looked down at what he was working on. He had multiple beakers, two of which appeared to only have a colored mist in them, two with black liquid, and another with a strange dark smoke that swirled around as though it were fighting to get out of the beaker.

A single glass orb was in front of him. More of that swirling mist inside it as he had dropped a single speck of liquid upon it. And as she watched, he looked more at the other smoke than the orb in front of him.

The black mass swirled, stilled, and then seemed to go back.

“Shouldn’t you pay more attention to that?” she asked.

Gluttony let out a sound that she had never heard a man make before. With a shriek somewhere between a growl and the haunting call of a banshee, he moved so quickly that she didn’t even see the claws erupt from his hand. She only felt the wind of them, as he froze with those long, dagger-like nails so close to her throat that she didn’t dare swallow.

He was wearing glasses, she realized. Circular glasses with thin wire frames that perched on top of his nose and, damn it, that shouldn’t be so attractive, but it really was.

His eyes widened as he realized who she was. “Katherine?” he asked, as though he didn’t believe she was standing right in front of him.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” She risked swallowing, his nails brushing the long column of her throat and leaving what felt like welts behind.

He grunted, dropping his hand immediately. “I am unused to anyone else being in this home, pet. I should be the one apologizing.”

“I didn’t realize there were places in the castle I wasn’t supposed to go.”

“There is not a single room that you are barred from in this place.” Gluttony stood, knocking over his stool in the process. He winced and bent to pick it up. “Is it lunch time already? I have been very busy and I’m afraid time must have gotten away from me.”

“It’s not lunchtime.”

“Oh.” His usually smooth brow furrowed in confusion at that. “Why are you out of your room, then?”

She was going to hit him. She was going to smack that confusion right off of his face because surely he wasn’t so dull that he couldn’t see the problem?

“I...” Katherine blinked, trying to get her words right so he wouldn’t kick her out of the castle outright. “I’m bored.”

He had yet to stop staring at her like she’d grown an extra head. “Why?”

“Because it’s been days and all I’ve done is sit in that room or perhaps look around a little in the castle, but there’s not really a lot here for me to do.”

“No, I suppose there isn’t. But is that not what you want?”

“To do nothing?” There was her temper again. Perhaps she spoke a little too curtly, but she couldn’t stop herself from adding, “What woman doesn’t want to waste away in a corner until she grows mold?”

“Excuse me?”

Katherine jabbed a finger at him, poking him so hard in the chest he flinched. “I don’t want to sit around and just be some mindless blood donor for you! If you wanted me to do this, then at least let me go home! I have use there. I work in the almshouse, and there are people who could use my stitching right now. I’m certain of it.”

Gluttony took a step away from her, his eyes somehow going even wider as he lifted his hands in peace. “I’m not requiring you to stay. I just thought you’d be more comfortable here. My home has down feathers and silk sheets and all the food you could want.”

“And I refuse to be some rolling ball of food for you!” Katherine jabbed him again, her hand quickly slipping between the defense of his own to hit him hard in the ribs. “I’m going back to the almshouse and you can’t stop me.”

“You’ll reek.”

“I don’t care what I smell like to you,” she hissed. “I’m not your pet!”

He tilted his head to the side as though disagreeing with her. “Well, if you want to get technical—“

“Finish that sentence.” Katherine curled her lip in threat. “I dare you.”

He almost looked... frightened of her until he shook the emotion off with a visible movement. “Ridiculous. You cannot threaten me.”

Katherine was apparently feeling rather reckless. She should have backed down, she knew. This was a demon, and she could still feel his marks on her neck where he’d just barely grazed her with his claws.

If he wanted, Gluttony could remove her head from her shoulders and he wouldn’t even feel all that bad about it. He was as dangerous as holding a knife to her jugular. But she wasn’t afraid of him right now.

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