Page 99 of The Demon Prince

His vision turned red again as he remembered what he had seen. Spite had found him in the castle, and though the little spirit could not speak, it had given him a sense of urgency and warning. So he had run. He’d sprinted through the swamp, darting past every creature that thought to stand in his way.

And they parted for him like waves on either side of his body. He knew if he had called them to fight with him, they would have swallowed this town up. But his Katherine had a heart big enough to save a town like this and he knew she would not want to see more of them harmed. So he stilled the anger in his chest. He bottled up all the rage and need for more blood, more pain.

Gluttony eyed the crowd one last time, knowing that they would not test him as he turned away from their hate-filled eyes. But he still listened and scented for any movement as he gave them his back, because he no longer trusted them.

They would feel his punishment soon. But for now, the death of their loved ones was punishment enough.

Katherine lay on the boardwalk, her hands planted in front of her. Propped up like this, she almost looked like one of the rusalki on their rocks, waiting for a young man to come into the water and save them. She was beautiful, even bloodied as her nose and mouth were.

But she was also shaking. Her hands trembled against the rotting wood beneath her and her eyes darted from him, to the bodies, to the blood. Always ending on the blood.

He had been too rough in front of her. His Katherine had seen death before. After all her years in the almshouse, he knew she had seen enough death to last her a lifetime. But he had forgotten how much it would affect her to see this. These were still her people, attackers or no.

So he crouched lower, pressing his own palm to the bloodied wood to make himself seem small. Less threatening as she watched him like a cornered, trembling mouse.

“Katherine,” he said quietly, taking one small movement closer to her. Crawling, as it were, with one hand stretched out to her. “Katherine, you are safe.”

Her eyes flicked up to him again, and he knew what she must see. A monster drenched in blood, long tangles of dark hair hanging around his horned head. He knew his face changed as well. His body bulking with muscles, while his face became blocky and more filled with fangs and sharpened teeth.

He tried to make himself small. Gluttony knew that right now, she probably didn’t see him. All she likely saw was another person who was coming toward her, wanting to hurt and harm and maim. What they had done to her...

He had to close his eyes and grit his teeth to stop himself from spinning on them again. He could still feel their eyes. The scent of their blood was in the air, and it made him want to feast even more. It made him want to rip out their still beating hearts and offer them to her like some goddess on a bloodied throne he had built.

But he was not that monster. Not for her.

Gluttony was not just his battle form, waiting for the next fight to feast upon blood and organs. He was a man who loved a woman, and that truth burned through his chest so powerfully that it made his entire body ache.

He loved her.

Oh, he loved her more than the sun loved the moon. He loved her more than forever and wanted nothing more than to rot with her until nothing was left but them.

So he kept that hand outstretched, holding out his claws with hope in his eyes and a heart that pounded only for her.

And he waited. He kept his back to the daggers, pikes, and torches that people were surely ripping out of their homes as they prepared to fight a demon who had killed so many of them. He waited, knowing that he showed his weakness and they both might be in danger. Because he did not care.

Let them try to kill him. He would gladly die if it meant she was safe and happy.

She took a deep, rattling breath. Her wild eyes locked on him and him alone. He wondered if she was feeling like a mouse trapped against the floorboards while a cat loomed over her. But no, not his Katherine. For all that she was different, for all that she had suffered, she had remained impossibly brave.

Her fingers looked so tiny against his as she slipped them into his grip and held onto two of his fingers. The most she could hold onto comfortably, he had a feeling. They were connected to each other again. Close enough so that he could feel her heartbeat through her fingers, and it was enough for him. At least for now.

“Can you stand?” he asked, his voice a low grumble. Though he tried to be softer with the tone, it was impossible in this form.

But she looked up at him with those big, wide eyes and he knew that she saw him. She knew who held onto her hands and she knew that right now, she was safe.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. Katherine winced and her gaze flickered away from his for a mere moment to look down at her bad hip. “They kicked me.”

“I know, love.” He held onto her fingers, squeezing them tight. “I know they did.”

And oh, his heart broke all over again.

She would have given up everything for them. Katherine’s heart was so big, she would likely forgive them even this. She’d look back on the memory with fear, but she would swallow it so she could be there for her people when they clearly weren’t themselves.

He was not so forgiving.

Once he had her back in his arms, he turned his glare on the people behind them again. Baring his teeth in a wicked snarl, he slowly slid his hand down her palm. Seeking the pulse at the base of her wrist with his fingers, before bending again to slide his grip underneath her elbow.

It took so little effort to lift her, and that only made him even more angry. Because she was so delicate and bird-like and they had attacked her without hesitation. Like she was the monster they needed to expel from their home, when he was the one they wanted to hurt.

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