Page 58 of The Demon Prince

“Alchemical solutions take time,” he said quietly.

“Time that you are not giving it.” Envy’s eyes were still trained on the wall behind Gluttony’s vacant desk. “That is why I am here. To ensure that you are focused, Gluttony.”

“Even without knowing she was here, you were already coming.” Gluttony sighed. “So they do not believe that I am capable of doing this.”

“They believe in you, but your attention? They do not. Pride was very quick to tell me to come here.”

A flash of anger had him whirling, claws already drawn out for battle. “What does Pride know of me?”

“Pride has eyes in every kingdom. You know this.”

“Because he wants to control everything within reach, but he is not welcome in my kingdom!” Gluttony slashed his claws through the air as though a spell was woven before him. “He knows that I see the truth. That our kingdoms would be infinitely better if we were not involved.”

“Would they?” Envy finally rose to his massive height, turning on Gluttony with anger bunching through his muscles. “Look at your kingdom, brother! It is falling apart.”

“It survives fine without me.”

“There are starving people on every street! Injuries that never seem to stop happening, no matter how many measures they take to prevent them. Even your little mortal worked at the almshouse, stitching people together. You think that’s normal, Gluttony?”

He slashed at the air directly in front of Envy’s face, provoking him to battle even though he knew it was one he could not win. “I took the worst kingdom. All the others were so clearly matched to all of you, so what was I to do? I took the swamps. I took the moors and the madness and the poison that comes with it. You should all thank me for it!”

“Thank you?” Envy burst out, the words releasing in a roar of rage. “You’ve never lived up to the potential of this kingdom nor the throne we gave you!”

The words settled between them, dust clearing enough for Envy to realize what he had said.

“So that is what you all believe,” Gluttony breathed, shaking his head in disgust. “That you handed me a kingdom I’ve never taken care of. That I squandered what was given to me.”

Of course they did. His prideful, boastful, arrogant brothers had thought that because he hadn’t had to battle to keep this kingdom, that it had been given to him. Like a gift.

He staggered away from Envy, shaking his head still as if he might dislodge the reality from his mind. “No one wanted this kingdom. No one wanted the mud and the muck and the centuries of work that were thrown upon me when I took this place. The humans were living in the roots of trees when I got here. I built their homes by hand and then fled when I realized they wouldn’t even build a fire if I was near them. I tamed the creatures here, taught them how to hunt only if the humans were in the water. I was the whisper in the ear of every mortal and creature who lived here.”

“We all know that. I did not mean—”

“You meant exactly what you said.” Gluttony lifted his hand for silence. “You cannot save this, brother. You have revealed much, and for that truth, I thank you.”

“It’s not the truth, Gluttony.” His brother even stepped forward, eyes wide, as though he realized he might have broken something important. “We do not believe you are weaker than us, only that... that...”

“You cannot even come up with a lie,” Gluttony finished for him. “Whichever brother spread these rumors likely knows that I’m aware of something you all aren’t. That we are the monsters in this story, and if we wish to fix that, then we must tear apart what we are.”

“You don’t believe that.” And it looked like Envy had gone mad. His eyes were so wide that the whites showed around those dark rings of color, and he held out his hand for Gluttony to take. Why? Gluttony had no idea.

“I know this to be true.” Gluttony placed a clawed hand against his heart. “And you know it as well. What future did we steal from the humans? What kingdoms would have existed if we had not walked out of the mist and named ourselves gods?”

With that, he turned from his office. He left the room and his brother behind, walking blindly until he heard the knock at the front door. The knock that solved all his issues and turned his attention toward a darker one indeed.

The hunger flared bright and hot. More than it ever had before. His fangs ached, and his forehead suddenly spiked with a sharp pain. His nails were already out, but they were darker as he looked. Turning black with need as he descended the stairs toward the front door.

He needed her.

Oh, he needed her in his arms and his fangs in her neck. He needed to feel those strong hands holding onto his waist, or maybe smoothing down his back. She would know he was upset. She always did.

He threw open the door only to freeze when he saw her red ringed eyes, rounded shoulders, and an air of defeat.

This wasn’t his pet. This wasn’t his angry little healer who had always peered up at him with fire in her eyes and a challenge squaring her jaw. This wasn’t... her.

“Katherine?” he asked, stepping aside to let her walk past him.

It didn’t escape his notice that she wrapped her arms around her waist rather than touch him at all. She didn’t even look up at him again until she was well inside the room and could then turn.

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