Page 56 of The Demon Prince

Who were these men? And why were they following her?

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.” Katherine licked her lip, trying to get her dry mouth to work. “I really need to be going, though.”

She didn’t give them a chance to say anything else. The last thing she wanted was to show them her back, but she couldn’t run no matter what. Her hip wouldn’t let her move that fast, so she was forced to keep her back straight and her breathing even as she trusted them not to attack her from behind.

They didn’t, thank goodness. But she felt the weight of their gazes all the way through the town.

It took her far too long to get through the familiar boardwalks and onto the path that lead to the almshouse. She would have liked to stop at her old apartment—the one that her landlord now said she didn’t need to worry about payment for—but she was afraid they’d break in and go through her things.

So she kept her head down, her attention on her feet, and made her way all the way to the almshouse without anyone trying to hurt her. But she could feel the sizzling intensity of their regard as she moved, and it made her skin crawl.

They wanted her to be uncomfortable. They wanted her to know they were there. What she didn’t understand was why?

No one had any reason to threaten her. Other than Gluttony himself, and even then, wasn’t she doing the right thing? She was keeping his attention away from everyone else. She had made certain that he wouldn’t attack anyone at all. She’d given herself, freely and without question.

The almshouse door opened at her knock and Grace stuck her head out. Her lovely friend looked exhausted, so pale she rivaled paper as she looked Katherine up and down.

“Oh, thank goodness it’s you.” Grace grabbed her arm and yanked her inside. “We need all the help we can get today. I’m sure you’ve heard, but it’s so much worse than you imagined.”

“I haven’t heard anything. I’ve been...” She didn’t need to finish the sentence. Not with Grace looking at her with all that pity. “What?”

“It’s Gluttony,” Grace said.

“What about him?”

“He went on a rampage last night. There’s easily ten of them, Katherine. More coming in every hour and their necks...” Grace went even paler somehow, pressing a shaking hand to her own neck. “We’ve lost six already. Maybe you can... Maybe you can help?”

Katherine felt like the world tilted underneath her feet. It all hit her at the same moment. The sound of groaning from the other room. The metallic scent of blood in the air and the exhaustion of her friend, who must have not slept at all last night. And then there was the betrayal, the sudden, strange feeling of jealousy burning in her stomach.

Grabbing Grace’s arm, she tugged her to the side so no one would overhear them. “Are you sure it was Gluttony? He’s been with me, you see, and after our deal, I was certain that he wouldn’t... He wouldn’t...”

Oh, that pity on Grace’s face made her want to throw things. “When was the last time he fed from you?”

She could feel her friend’s eyes on her neck. The mark he’d left on her had almost healed entirely. It was hard for even Katherine to see, and she’d been staring at it for days now.

It had been such a long time since he’d fed. A week? Maybe more?

“Not that long,” she replied, suddenly feeling as though she needed to defend her demon. Her... friend.

Grace shook her head. “Does it matter? He’s killing people, Katherine. Again. Maybe it was a good idea you had, and it sounds like he doesn’t want to break you, and that’s a good thing. But he’s got to be getting his food from somewhere if he’s not getting it from you. So, can you help or not?”

Nodding, not quite realizing she was doing it, Katherine looked back to the room where all the moans were coming from. “I can help. Just for a little while, though. He’s expecting me back.”

“Of course he is.” Grace’s face twisted into an expression that was truly ugly. “Why would he want to give up his favorite meal?”

That wasn’t anything Katherine had ever said. Gluttony hadn’t said that to her either.

Confusion set in. Why was her friend so adamant that this was Gluttony’s doing? And why did it seem like Grace resented that Katherine was in the castle?

She’d done what no one else wanted to do. She’d thrown herself at him for keeps and she had let him keep her. Not for money, not for anything other than their safety.

There would be time to think about this, but right now, she needed to put her attention on the poor souls moaning behind the curtains. But when Katherine made her way back, wrapping herself in a thick apron that would hopefully keep all the blood off her clothing, she couldn’t help but look closer at the wounds.

When Gluttony had fed from her, he’d left two perfect puncture wounds on her neck. They were thin and narrow, easy enough for him to feed from, but certainly not as wide as these.

She bent, gently tracing her fingers over the wound of the nearest body. The person had unfortunately passed, but even she could see these gash wounds weren’t like what Rose or herself had experienced. Her former neighbor had twin lines down the back of her neck, like she had ripped herself out of Gluttony’s arms.

These were rips of the flesh. They looked like knife wounds. Long and gashing, like someone had been very determined to kill this person.

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