Chapter 18

ChapterEighteen

Though he was nervous about seeing his brother and feared what he might do, Lust also found he was excited. It had been nearly two hundred years since he’d stood in the same room with any of his siblings.

They all were drastically different. None of them looked blood related, and in a way, they weren’t. But they had fought together for years as spirits, learning and growing stronger until they could take on physical forms. They’d helped each other scare off spirits that would have stolen their power. Their feasts. And now, they were the seven creatures who ruled these lands.

Greed had always been closest to Lust. They were two sides of the same coin. Greed took what he wanted. Lust also did the same. Although their wants were usually very different.

He stood in front of his castle, waiting for the gates to open. If there hadn’t been a certain distracting someone in his bed, then he might have met Greed at the end of the glistening bridge between their kingdoms. But the bridge could only be traversed by one spirit at a time.

Mortals had a hard time on it. The substance looked like glass, but bent at the slightest touch. Some of his lovers had once meandered across, coming from different kingdoms to provide him with something “new”. He remembered them saying the sway felt as though they were standing on top of a bubble that at any point could pop.

The magic wouldn’t. He knew it swayed because it must, not because it was weak.

As it was, he hadn’t met his brother at the bridge, as was customary. Lust hadn’t wanted to wake up. And when he did, he hadn’t wanted to leave the bed. Seeing her there, watching him as though she thought he was asleep? It was... sublime.

Maybe he’d fallen asleep again in her arms after she’d fixed his hair. But the tenderness of her light fingers slipping over his features, so careful to make sure that didn’t wake him, it stirred something in his chest he’d never felt before.

A curious feeling. He’d need to confer with his brother about what it might be. Perhaps Greed had felt it before, and would know how to cure him of the ailment.

The doors before him swung open and shouts came from the top of the castle’s walls. He was here. They were here.

Greed’s entourage came rushing into the doors, their whooping calls echoing up into the sky. They were the warriors of the kingdoms, those who reveled in the fight and trained until their dying breath. They took what they wanted, by force or in battle. Greed and his people had tried to start rumors that they were the most terrifying in all the kingdoms.

Wrath only laughed when he heard those rumors. But his kingdom in the underworld was and always would be, set apart from the rest.

A grin split his features, and he descended the stairs into the courtyard below. Greed’s people wore leather and furs. Some were in dark colors, most were in the natural tan hide of the beasts they killed each season. Furs decorated their shoulders and war paint covered their faces in streaks of white and gold. Some rode beasts that were similar to horses, but their skin was leathery and without fur, their bodies thin and appearing emaciated until one saw how fast they could ride. Their mouths were full of sharpened teeth, and he’d never thought to ask if Greed’s people filed them, or if the beasts were born that way.

In the very center of all of it, his brother rode. His mount was covered in golden hand prints that sparkled in the sunlight as if they were branded into the beast with gold. The closer he got, the more Lust thought that might be exactly what had happened to the creature. Even its ears were pierced with rubies dangling from countless holes.

Greed looked well, though. His brother’s chest was even broader than the last time he’d seen him. Greed’s flame red hair was shaved on the sides and a wild riot on top. His eyes were ringed in dark kohl, and the sarcastic grin on his face made him look downright wicked. Skin burnished by the sun, his only flaw was how many freckles covered his body. For a man who had chosen the desert for his home, his skin was made for fairer climates.

His brother swung off his mount and patted its side before approaching him with wide open arms. A long lion’s tail flicked behind him before stilling. “Brother!” he called out and then wrapped his arms around Lust’s shoulders. “It has been too long.”

Indeed. Lust gathered the other man up in a bear hug, the two of them clinging to each other. The brothers were always affectionate, even those who had fought in the past. Neither of them knew if it would be another two hundred years before they saw each other. Spirits knew to make time count.

They were the only people in this realm that understood what it was like to claw their way into a physical body. That history ensured they were closer than those even bound by blood.

“It has been far too long,” he repeated, then pushed Greed away to really look at him. “You’ve gotten bigger.”

“Well, I actually have to fight to stay alive. Unlike some of us who are happy to stay in a castle and let everyone else do the fighting for them.” Greed laughed, though, and the sound softened his words. “This place! I cannot say you have gotten bigger since I last saw you, but your castle certainly has.”

Lust turned with him, an arm over Greed’s shoulder to look at his home. And it had gotten bigger. In the last two hundred years, they’d added two additional wings and almost three hundred servants.

Of course, he filled Greed in on all of that, knowing it would satisfy his brother’s baser urges.

“You’ve taken what you wanted, then,” Greed said with a sly grin. “I thought that was my curse, not yours.”

“Ah, it is no curse. You live well and you live often.”

“Indeed, brother. We are the conquerors of this land, that is for certain.” Greed gestured toward all his followers. “I take it you have room for them all? I did not know how many servants you’d want in your bed, but I brought enough to satisfy us both.”

“I have no need of them in my bed.” Although he was ashamed to admit there was a time when he would have taken them all to his bed throughout the trip and asked for more.

His brother eyed him with a grin before he shrugged. “That’s fine. Whatever lies you want to tell yourself. Regardless, you can keep them all, yes?”

“Of course. There is plenty of room here.”

“Good. I even brought a few of my people who are similar to your... problem.” He pointed to three of his tallest followers. The two women who were almost as tall as Lust and Greed, and a man who towered over them all. The three of them were muscled beyond reckoning, their eyes watching everyone pass by them with a glare on their faces.

“Impressive,” Lust muttered, eyeing the women as though they might break him.

“Oh, not her.” Greed pointed behind the tallest woman. “That one.”

Another woman stood behind her, spectacles on her nose and a tablet in her hands. She was much smaller, not an ounce of muscle on her, and leaner than any woman he’d ever seen. So slight, he worried a breeze might topple her over.

“Well, Selene might be more comfortable talking with her than the giants you keep company with,” Lust muttered.

“Selene, is it now? This nameless woman has been plaguing my thoughts. She has you wrapped around her fingers already, I see.”

“She does not.”

Greed opened his mouth for another jab, but then snapped his jaw shut with a sharp hiss. Lust already knew what he saw. Still, he turned around slowly so he could savor this moment.

Selene walked down the steps toward them, graceful and measured as always. She was no great beauty, but she stood out among all the rest for the clothing that she wore. A black brocade gown covered her from neck to toe. The intricate runes sewed into every inch made her appear to glisten with magic. She’d bound her dark hair back into a bun, and his fingers already itched to pull out those damned pins. He knew without a doubt that her hair would fall so lovely, and that he’d be hit with a wave of her scent.

Damn it, just looking at her made him react. He hissed out a long breath and turned his gaze to his brother so no one would see his embarrassment.

But what he saw on his brother’s expression made every muscle in his body tighten.

Greed’s eyes were glowing, like chips of gold in his head. They only did that when he saw something he coveted so utterly that he could not help himself. He’d take what he wanted. And right now, he wanted her.

“Easy, brother,” he snarled. “You’ve only just gotten here.”

“You told me she was a sorceress, but you didn’t tell me she was powerful.” Greed’s voice changed, deepening into something rough and draconic. A man without a soul spoke back to him, and Lust knew how dangerous this circumstance was. “You made it seem as though she were just another woman, Lust. But that right there is no common wench.”

Selene stepped into the courtyard and made her way toward them. Much of the talking and whooping calls had ceased. Greed’s people parted for her like a wave, their eyes lingering on the strange woman who meandered through them without an ounce of fear.

She looked... He hated to admit it, but she looked like a queen.

She walked through the madness without fear or worry. The serenity on her face seemed to spill out to everyone surrounding her. They calmed, ceasing in their antics to watch her.

Lust hadn’t realized how she could command a room without saying a single word. But he supposed he had seen it before, even at the party. Those who were lost in the throes of passion had paused to watch the strange woman who ignored them all. No one would ever guess what she was thinking or feeling. Her face, like the rest of her, was smooth as ice.

Once she reached them, Selene dipped into a low curtsey, her eyes on his brother’s feet. “My lord Greed. Welcome to our home.”

My lord? Lust felt his anger billow up through his body at the words. She never called him that, so why would she address his brother with such respect?

Greed laughed in response, the sound far warmer than it should have been. “My, my, our home she calls it. The little witch already sank her claws into you. She claims this place as her own, Lust. Do you hear that?”

“She’s not a witch,” he growled.

“Ah, sorceress, priestess, witch, they’re all the same, aren’t they? Promising impossible deeds, claiming that they have the nature of the elements at their fingertips.” Greed shrugged. “It’s all smoke and mirrors.”

Lust was insulted on her behalf. His brother knew how powerful this little sorceress was. She could ignore Lust’s powers as though they didn’t exist! No one had ever done that before.

And, as Selene’s eyes flashed to him, he realized that she was insulted, too. She was far too polite to say anything, besides it wasn’t her place to argue with one of the kings, but he wouldn’t let it settle the way it had. None of this set right with him, and Lust had never been someone’s champion before.

He supposed there was a time for everything.

“Yet you said she was powerful,” Lust mused, turning slightly so that he was standing at Selene’s side.

“Powerful enough for a sorceress, but there are some in my company who are more powerful.” He pointed to the giant. “He can make the winds come at his bidding. His twin can scream so loud it makes people’s ears bleed. Your little one is merely able to ignore a little lust. So can my people, sorceress. Lust just surrounds himself with those who enjoy their baser instincts.”

“Baser instincts?” she asked, her voice clear and ringing in the courtyard. “But greed is not one of those?”

His brother’s grin flashed, his sharpened teeth glinting in the sunlight. “Oh it is. It’s just more useful than fucking.”

That was it. He would endure his brother’s jests, but Selene did not need to stand here while the man insulted both her and this kingdom.

Without a thought, Lust unleashed his power. The rolling waves of lust that pulsed out of him sent almost every single person in Greed’s entourage to the ground. They writhed, their moans filling the air as they flattened to the ground. Hands rushed for belts, fingers delved into warm, soft places, and fists quickly rushed to take care of the urgency. They would find no release, though, no comfort, not until Lust wanted them to find that.

“Weak?” he asked. “Baser instincts? Perhaps. But they are useful all the same.”

Greed rolled his eyes. “Please, brother. Was that necessary?”

“I’m making a point.”

“And your little one is still standing, yes I can see. How valiant of her.” Greed waved a hand to his guards, still standing behind him as well, looking decidedly bored. “As are they.”

A small flicker of doubt grew within him. Was she like them, then? He swore he’d felt her reaction, but she claimed she hadn’t. He feared maybe he’d kept her here when all she’d wanted was to be left alone. Did she despise his touch? And all the touches of those he’d offered? Those who had come before?

The thoughts twisted in his stomach, rotting and poisoning his very veins. Lust prided himself on letting those go who did not want him. He’d never taken someone by force. He’d never touched someone with force and maybe he’d... he’d...

Selene’s bitter voice interrupted his thoughts. “If you believe yourself to be so strong, Greed, then surely you would be able to affect me. Even your warriors are not immune to greed. Or are they?”

His brother narrowed his gaze upon her. “No one is immune to greed, mortal. It is inevitable and undeniable.”

She tilted her chin. “Prove it.”

What was she doing? Selene would fall to his brother just as all the others had. She’d only make herself look more weak. He should stop her, he should...

Greed allowed his power to roll across the courtyard. Those who were pinned to the floor whined, wincing as more emotions rolled through them. The tangled mix of greed and lust was a dangerous cocktail, and Lust grit his teeth, pouring more power into them so they would all stay put and not start fucking each other without realizing it. The mixture could quickly turn dangerous.

To his shock, Selene stood through it all. Unaffected. Cold and icy as always, with her face impossible to read. How? He did not know.

Someone staggered toward a woman who was pinned on the ground. Selene’s gaze flicked toward the man with a wide-eyed, horrified stare as he started unbuckling his belt. Greed and lust together created a combination that was dangerous for mortals, and regrets would be had if this didn’t stop.

“Enough,” she called out. “You have tortured your people for long enough. Both of you.”

Together, they released their power. But Lust knew something had changed. There was a person standing before them who could ignore both his and Greed’s power. It was... unthinkable.

Greed appeared to agree with him. Even his brother’s face was pale, the powerful being shaken by what had been revealed. “Not so weak after all.”

“My power is light conjuring,” she replied. “I am no different from all the other sorceresses.”

“Oh, well, we all know that’s a lie,” Greed replied, and he gave Lust a meaningful glare. “I trust we’ll figure this out while I am here?”

“As promised.”

Lust gestured for Greed and his people to follow one of his own until it was just him and Selene standing in the courtyard. Her hands were neatly folded at her hips, her eyes staring off into the distance.

“What was that?” he finally asked, his voice the crack of a whip through the air.

“A miscalculation,” she replied, not even looking at him. “One that won’t happen again.”

“Have you been lying to me? You said your power was with light, and you claimed the same to my brother, but—”

“I have not lied to you. I can create light.” She lifted her hand and a small sizzle of magic bounced between her fingers, like the tiniest bolt of lightning. “Like I said, Lust. It was a miscalculation. I did not enjoy hearing him insult you, but I have learned those arguments are not mine to fight. I put myself at risk to defend your honor, and that was foolish. You’re powerful enough to do that on your own.”

She was insulted on his behalf? When she was the one maligned?

Selene curtseyed and turned away from him. “I will be ready for dinner when you call on me.”

And Lust didn’t know what to say to stop her from walking away.