Page 85 of The Demon Prince

“Then this is where you will die!” Envy thundered. “They won’t let you remain like this. You have to know that, Gluttony. If you change into one of those monsters, none of our brothers will allow you to tear through this kingdom and ruin all that we have built. We will be forced to kill you.”

“Then so be it.” Gluttony was not phased by his brother’s anger or declaration. In fact, it was rather... soothing to know it would end like that. “If you are to kill me, then it will be a great honor to know that such a warrior did so. I hope I will have enough control to make it easy on you all.”

“You are a fool,” his brother hissed before conjuring a portal and disappearing from the room.

Silence fell like snow, blanketing the laboratory with a white haze. Spite shifted from its position on his table, a pale gray like ash now. “Why will you not leave?”

“Because I know what it feels like to be held in her arms. And I would rather die than never know that bliss again.” He smiled softly at the spirit, then pat it on the head. “She is beauty and kindness, all wrapped in a warm blanket. It would not be such a terrible way to die, knowing as I do that she is here with me.”

“What if you kill her?”

“I couldn’t.” He had no question of that. Not a single speck of his body would ever lay a hand on her with the intent to harm. Even his battle form had manifested only to pleasure her. “My only fear is that I will scare her. And I do not wish for her to ever be frightened in my presence. She is very dear to me, Spite. I don’t know when it happened or how it did, but seeing a smile on her face is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me.”

Quiet footsteps echoed down the hall, approaching the laboratory as she did every morning. He could smell the coffee she carried and the breakfast rolls she must have made, even though they had both gotten out of bed long after breakfast.

Gluttony wiped the conversation from his mind. Perhaps he was a selfish man for doing so, but he stood with a smile and wide open arms for her as she walked into his lab.

Because he hadn’t lied or embellished the truth. The grin on her face made everything disappear. It was a gift, every time, when she looked at him like a man and not a monster.

So he would steal whatever he could to keep her with him. Forever. As long as she would let him linger in her happiness and bask in the glow of her smile.

Even if that meant he would slowly descend into madness or lose himself, he would do so. Because to know happiness even once in his life was worth the risk.

ChapterThirty-One

Katherine came out of a dream in a daze. Her heart sluggishly beat in her chest, and she didn’t want to let go of it.

She’d been dreaming a lot lately. Every time she closed her eyes, Gluttony appeared in her room. He crawled up from the foot of the bed, all liquid muscle and lithe heat that blanketed her body in comfort and affection. He always wound his arms underneath her head, tilting her neck for his fangs that were so gentle as they pierced her skin.

Her entire body would flush with desire. She’d wriggle closer to him, wrapping her arms around his lean hips while she tried to keep herself still. She didn’t want him to know how much she desired him. Grinding against him would only be an embarrassment as she revealed just how much she wanted him.

But it was hard.

Every night, it was so difficult to keep herself still while his tongue lapped at the wound on her neck that never seemed to close anymore. And every night she found herself growing a little more limp.

Katherine slept more, but she considered that to be a mere blessing to catch up on all the sleep she’d missed. She wasn’t going back to that village. Not with all the shadows that watched her every move and all the people who wanted to hate her for what she had done.

They were ungrateful.

Thoughtless.

They didn’t see what she could see, and that was all right in its own way. She didn’t need them to understand her choices, because now she was here. Languidly lying in bed until the late hours of the morning, waiting for the telltale knock on her door as a demon brought her food.

This time, though, she had a hard time even tilting her head. Trying to swallow, she realized her mouth was so dry. And she was tired. So very tired.

Katherine felt like there were two people in her mind. One exhausted individual who was enjoying laying in bed and wanted to close her eyes for a little while longer. And another person screaming in the back of her head that something was very, very wrong. She needed to get help. This wasn’t normal and if she didn’t get up, then something very dire might happen indeed.

The knock came again. Gluttony rarely entered her room without announcing himself. He liked to give her a semblance of privacy, perhaps because he understood that she’d never had that luxury before. Not in the boarding house, and not even in her old home with her parents.

“Gluttony,” she whispered, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth and lisping her words.

Did he hear her?

She needed him to hear her because she didn’t know what was going on. She was fine. Just yesterday, she’d walked around this room with a determination to clean it and make it much more presentable. Had she been a little light-headed? Of course. But that was normal for her. She wasn’t as distracted, and perhaps her hip hurt a little more than usual. Pain was so much a part of her life, it was hard to tell when something else was happening.

But something had absolutely happened. She could barely move at all.

Her fingers scratched at the bed even as he walked in. Gluttony’s back was to her, giving her even more semblance of privacy. “Envy arrived again this morning, just thought you’d want to know. Ridiculous man, he won’t get out of my fucking castle. I know he annoys you as much as he does me, so I thought perhaps we could commiserate together this morning. He’s set up in the kitchen, certain that we’ll come down there and have to talk to him, but I do not have any wish to do so.”

---