Page 46 of The Demon Prince

Until she didn’t come back.

He sat there, frozen as the night came. The sound of crickets erupted into a symphony that then died down yet again. Until there was nothing. No one. Just him in the darkness.

The next day came and went. The sun rose and the moors burst into life. He could hear the dragonflies flitter past his door and the burbling sounds of kelpies and their kin. He could hear it all, and yet, no human came to his castle.

Even Spite said nothing. And in his mind, even though he knew the spirit was enjoying this terrible thing that had happened to Gluttony, he liked to imagine that the spirit had some sense of guilt.

He had been left alone, yet again. And never in his life would he find another like her, because he didn’t think he had it in him to do this with another.

Katherine would be the last, he decided. He would lie down in one of the comfy beds upstairs, perhaps hers, and then he would waste away into nothing.

It was long pastime. Maybe someone would eventually come to the castle again, and then they would spread the rumor that Gluttony had left. He would disappear into the storybooks and nightmarish stories that people told. Not even his brothers would look for him.

No one cared about the monster in the castle. Their lives would be better without him, and they certainly had no pity in their hearts if he simply disappeared. They’d rejoice, and the world would be a better place for it.

“Get angry at her,” Spite hissed. “She made you a deal.”

“And she went back on it.” What was the spirit’s point? “They all do, in the end.”

“No, they don’t. They all get what they want. They give you something in return. You should be furious! So angry that you could tear out her throat and take all that you want in one swallow.” Spite rolled in front of the door, staring up at the wood before turning to look at him. “If she ever walks through this door again, you should feast upon her.”

The need was there. Oh, it burned inside him. He hadn’t gotten a taste of her last night, and he had been so certain that those little tastes were holding the hunger at bay. Now he wanted more. He wanted everything she could give him, and he knew it was wrong.

He sat in that hunger, in that terrible feeling until suddenly, a knock at the door.

Gluttony surged to his feet, ignoring the creaking sound of his knees and hips. He stumbled, catching himself on the wall before he staggered over to the door.

Wrenching it open, he braced himself on the door frame and stared down at her.

She had dark circles underneath her eyes. She looked as exhausted as he felt, and Gluttony rarely slept at all. The same clothes she’d left in hung from her body, limp and wet at the hem from her journey to his castle. Those green eyes stared up at him, and he could feel something unspoken pass between them. His Katherine was home. He was too addicted to her, too reliant on having someone in this cold house with him.

And yet, on the tail end of that thought, came the anger that she’d left at all. She hadn’t needed to go to the almshouse. And she hadn’t even asked if he was all right with her going. She’d done this to him, leaving him here on his own and with all these emotions festering deep in his core.

The anger was swift. It scorched through his chest until he could hardly think of anything else. But he pushed it aside for a few seconds.

He quietly asked, “Are you well?”

“Tired,” she replied, but her shoulders squared like she already knew what was going to happen. “But well enough.”

“Good.” He moved only slightly to the side, one arm still braced over her head. “Get in.”

She had to skirt past him, her body brushing against his as she moved underneath his arm and into the house. He told himself to have better control, to not give in to this anger and temptation and... fuck, he just wanted to hold her, but he wasn’t capable of doing that.

He wasn’t a man. He was a monster. And now he would prove that to her.

Hissing out an angry breath, he spun and let the door slam shut behind him. To her credit, Katherine didn’t even flinch at the sound. She froze in the center of his hall, waiting for his next move.

“You’ve been gone for such a long time,” he snarled, moving closer until he was right behind her. She must be able to feel the heat pouring off his body in waves of rage. “Where were you?”

“There was an accident. The almshouse needed assistance, and I stayed overnight to help.”

“What kind of accident?”

“The kind only a demon can cause.”

He had done nothing, but if she wanted to think of him as the monster, then that suited him. Gluttony didn’t care what she thought of him tonight. He only cared that she was here, and he was hungry.

So hungry.

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