Chapter 15

ChapterFifteen

Greed woke in his own castle. How he’d ended up here again, he had no idea. At least he wasn’t in a cage in some cave far away from the safety of his home. However, this was almost worse.

Waking up on silks, alone, his head cushioned by such comfortable pillows that he woke up almost in better condition than when he’d passed out.

But then he remembered the position he’d been in before he had passed out. He remembered all that soft skin, those lovely lips, and words that set his entire body on fire.

Now he was alone.

Sitting up straight, his hair falling in front of his face before he shoved it back, Greed stared wildly around him. His bedroom was the same. All silk pillows and greenery that climbed up toward the walls. There was no soft woman lying next to him, her golden hair spilling over his emerald pillows.

What had happened? Why was he here and where the hell was his treasure?

He staggered to his feet, still woozy. The ground seemed to shift and roll underneath his feet, like he was trying to walk on top of waves, but he would not be deterred. He’d find her. She must have come back with him. His guards would never have left the woman he desired on a street somewhere while others attacked her. They would have brought both of them back to the castle. They must.

“Where the hell are you?” he bellowed, reaching out a hand to grab onto something and then collapsing onto his side. Thank the gods there were more pillows here, or he’d have injured himself again.

The gold double doors leading into his room busted open. Ivo strode inside, lacking the usual presence of his terrifying sister. “Greed.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s out in the sands seeking to find the people who attacked you. I brought you back myself, but Morag refused to return with us.” Ivo sank onto a knee, his bulk making it rather difficult to crouch in front of Greed. “I do not know the spell that has affected you, but we will discover its origin and destroy it.”

Greed didn’t care at all that he had been laid out by simple mist. What he cared about was where that little thief had gotten herself off to because his gut was twisting in his belly. Something was wrong. He could feel it right in his core. She had been taken from his side, and that had to mean something.

Had the Horde attacked them both? Were they trying to take him back and had they somehow found out that she was the one who had released him from that cage?

Greed wasn’t certain he’d survive it if that was the case. He’d never felt guilty for anything in his life, but the curious emotion making him nauseous seemed very similar to what he’d always thought guilt would feel like.

He should have left that man alive. It would have been so easy to do so and yet, he had been the one who had to snap that Horde member’s neck.

Ivo reached forward and wrapped his hand around Greed’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get you up and to a healer.”

“I don’t need a healer.”

“You do.” Ivo was too strong, and Greed was far too weak to fight the man.

He let Ivo drag him upright and then stood with locked knees as his guard steadied him. Ivo was too important of a man to be playing nursemaid, and yet... Well. Loyalty would do anything to ensure that Greed was well. Even if that meant debasing himself in the process.

Greed brushed his hands away. “Please. The last thing I need is another healer chattering in my ear. I’ve survived this before and I will again. What we need to do now is to find the woman.”

“What woman?” Ivo’s eyes squinted at him, as though he might peer inside Greed’s skull to understand what he was asking for.

“The woman who was with me in the alley. The same woman who delivered me back to the castle.” Greed wanted to tear out his hair. “Did you not see her again?”

Ivo’s expression creased with discomfort and then obvious confusion. “There was a woman, yes, but she ran. She was running toward us when we found you, and then your attackers turned to chase her off. We assumed she was with them or a deserter.”

Oh, someone please save him from the blind loyalty of the creature he’d created. One was wandering off in the desert thinking she could single-handedly find a group of people who had been impossible to find for anyone else, and the other was here with him, certain that they had done the right thing.

He couldn’t scold Ivo for doing what he was born to do, however. Greed supposed in a way this was his punishment. He’d created two creatures who were not yet ready for mortal bodies. He and his brothers were the only ones who had ever reached this state of mind and by pushing these two in mortal forms, he had created his own monsters.

“Find her,” he snarled. “That’s all that matters. I don’t care if the Horde is wandering around this kingdom. I will deal with them later. You have let the most exquisite piece of treasure that I have ever collected slip through your fingers, and I want her back. Do you understand?”

“The woman is treasure?” Ivo shook his head. “People can’t be treasure, Greed.”

“This one is.”

And he was prepared to argue that point until the two of them were blue in the face. He’d have done just that if one of his servants hadn’t knocked on the wall outside the still open doors.

She was a tiny little thing, all voluptuous curves and pretty smiles. Greed thought maybe he had hired her because of that beauty, but right now, her red hair wasn’t nearly the color of gold that he wanted. Her pretty soft curves weren’t angular enough, nor did she have muscles poured over her from head to toe. And she was far too giving with those smiles.

But he noticed Ivo’s cheeks turn bright red. The spirit turned flesh looked everywhere but the young woman who was also suspiciously not looking at Ivo.

What was going on between the two of them? He almost didn’t want to know, but he also was very curious if his guard had finally turned his attention toward the pleasures of the flesh.

He was getting distracted.

“What is it?” Greed snapped.

She bowed so low her face almost touched the floor. “Your brother is summoning you.”

He hissed out a long breath. Of course, his brother was calling. Why not make this shit day even shittier?

The last thing he wanted right now was to have to sit through Lust, telling him more about Selene. And that’s all Lust talked about these days. Selene did this. They went on a trip together and did that. Did you know Selene’s favorite food is cherries and isn’t that so difficult to find this time of year?

Groaning, he turned his gaze up to the ceiling covered in billowing green silks. “I don’t want to talk with Lust. Tell him to fuck off and that I’ll use the spell when I get a chance. I’m a busy demon king, and I don’t have the energy for his incessant chatter today.”

The servant bit her lip, obviously trying not to laugh or find humor in the situation. And she was pretty when she did that. Her cheeks rounded and her eyes sparkling with mirth. Maybe he could see what Ivo saw. Now it was easy to understand why his guard was so tongue-tied.

Then the girl had to ruin everything. She lost all the color in her face and then shook her head. “Actually it’s... It’s not Lust. I walked into your office to clean it for the day and I found him waiting for you.”

“Him?”

“I don’t recognize him.” Again, that uncomfortable expression. “He was tall, dark hair, red glowing eyes. And when he reached for me, I thought his fingers were... claws.”

Damn it.

Damn it all to the monsters below.

He made eye contact with Ivo, who had straightened at the description of the man. That could only be one of Greed’s brothers, and he didn’t want to talk with that one.

“That’s all there was?” Because Gluttony never called without someone to back him up.

The servant licked her lips and shook her head. “I thought there was another person in the room, but... I didn’t see anyone. It felt like there were eyes on me, though. From the shadows.”

Ah, shit. He was in a lot of trouble.

Sharing one last worried glance with Ivo, he stalked from the room. The stairwells were filled with servants hustling about. Most of them were headed to the kitchens, where they were likely getting their breakfast. Gilded and gleaming, the floors of his home were all exterior. There were pillars holding up a roof over their heads, but no walls in this oasis. He’d always wanted to feel like he was still outside in the jungle this place had once been.

Now, he felt as though there might be eyes hiding in every one of those massive monstera plants. Eyes that belonged to the only one of his brothers that he didn’t want to see. Ever.

If he could avoid all of them, then he would. But he’d struck up a rather comfortable relationship with Lust, almost like they were actually brothers. The others, though? He didn’t care for any of the others.

Grinding his teeth, he strode over to the small enclosed dome that was attached to a hundred stairs, all the floating stairwells connected to different rooms that were required to have roofs. All of them were glass circles, held up by magic and incredible craftsmanship of people who were long dead.

The closer he got to his office, the more his stomach twisted. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to keep his focus on where Varya had been taken and how to find her again. If she’d even been taken. His wily little thief was too quick and too smart to get caught.

And this was what was on his mind as he strode into his office and saw the image of Gluttony waiting for him. His brother was as the little servant girl had described. Terrifying to look at and equally beautiful. Where Greed was made with blunt edges and broad strokes, the finest of artists had sketched Gluttony.

His eyebrows winged back in perfect arches. Smooth, alabaster skin that rarely saw the sun covered his form, easily visible with the open shirt he wore tucked into the tight leather leggings he called pants. Long claws tapped his sides as he stared at Greed with those all-knowing, terrifying eyes.

“Brother,” Gluttony said, his voice almost musical in quality. “It’s been a long time.”

“Almost three hundred years.” And not long enough away from this particular member of the family. “My servant said you summoned me?”

“Not just me. I wouldn’t waste my time asking for your help.” Gluttony pointed behind Greed as the door closed behind him. “You have company.”

An ice cold chill slithered down his spine and Greed knew who stood behind him. But still, he turned around even though there was no more prickle of magic. He already knew what brother had visited him.

The man who stepped out of the shadows was nothing short of a monster. Dark, leathery wings hugged close to his body, scarred and faintly dragging on the floor because their tips were too long to keep upright. His dark hair was a wild tangle halfway down his back, and hung in front of his face so no one had to see the monstrous being underneath.

Greed had seen it before. Many times. He remembered what had happened to his brother and knew the scars that circled his mouth where it had been sewn shut for years. How one eye was blinded and milky. But worse than that, he knew the darkness in those orbs and the responsibility that weighed upon his brother’s shoulders.

“Wrath,” he rasped. “You haven’t left your kingdom in centuries.”

“That you know of.” Wrath’s voice was stone striking stone, thunder rumbling in the distance, and the terrifying sound of a predator growling in his ear. “I have left my kingdom before, and I will again. In this circumstance, I thought it best to convince you in person.”

“Convince me of what? What would drag you away from the abyss and away from the monsters of the deep?”

Wrath lifted his head just slightly, dark hair sliding over his forehead as he glared at Gluttony’s shimmering mirage. “Your brother is in trouble.”

Gluttony scoffed. “I am no more in trouble than any of the others. There is no need for such theatrics.”

If they were both in his office, this was very bad indeed.

Eyes wide, he watched Gluttony’s twitching movements and strange stance. “What did you do?”

His brother had a penchant for causing trouble but also for feeding his rather unusual... desires. Whereas Greed wished to possess, Gluttony wished to consume. He had started with meager and simple pleasures such as alcohol and drugs. But from the rumors that swirled between kingdoms, Greed had heard his brother had turned toward much more specific tastes.

“Nothing,” Gluttony hissed. “Nothing I am not permitted to do. It is my kingdom! I may do what I wish within it.”

“Within reason,” Wrath replied with a growl. He lurched forward, as though he intended to wrap his fingers around Gluttony’s neck.

Greed swallowed as he saw the state of Wrath’s hands. His brother did what it took to keep the monstrous creatures of the abyss far away from the other kingdoms. But those hands were so scarred now. The knuckles swollen beyond recognition and... By all the seven kingdoms, what was his brother doing?

Apparently, neither of his brothers noticed Greed’s sharp intake of breath because they continued to glare at each other and not him.

“You were the one who said all our kingdoms were to be as we wished,” Gluttony hissed, pointing at Wrath with more confidence than he should. After all, Wrath could easily travel to his kingdom as well. “You gifted it to me wrapped in a pretty little bow and if I wish to devour it—”

“You may devour your kingdom as you wish, but you may not devour your subjects!” Wrath interrupted with a howl of rage. “You’re lucky you’re dealing with me and not Pride!”

The silence between them all was deafening. Gluttony’s eyes had widened in shock, flicking between his two brothers as his fingers started twitching on his thigh again. And Greed’s stomach turned. They’d all been afraid of it, of course. Gluttony couldn’t stop consuming whatever he wished, but they never had thought he’d... he’d...

“Ach, Gluttony,” he muttered, rubbing his forehead. “You’re not eating people now, are you?”

There was no response, and that was answer enough.

“What do you want me to do?” Greed asked, not of Gluttony, who now refused to even look at him for shame. He asked the monster who stood beside him. “You wish me to feed my own subjects to him?”

“This is bigger than you,” Wrath replied. “This is bigger than all of us. The mortals cannot know that an uprising is very possible.”

“It’s not.”

“It is.” Finally Wrath lifted his head and straightened his back, standing a good head taller than Greed, who was already well over six feet. But Wrath was unlike the rest of his brothers entirely. He was more demon than man these days. “We are immortal, yes. But we can be imprisoned, tortured, and weakened. I think you know that more than any of us.”

How did he know?

Greed felt his heart stop and then suddenly thud harder than ever in his chest. “So what do you want me to do about this, then?”

“Let him lie low here while I fix things. Don’t let him touch anyone. And try to knock some sense into his head while you’re at it.”

“I’m not staying with Greed,” Gluttony said, squawking at the idea. “That’s ridiculous!”

Wrath turned on him again, every bit the embodiment of his name. “You will do exactly what I say, and you will shut up about it!”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I will drag you down to my kingdom and bury you in a hole until I know what to do with you. You won’t die. Both of us know that. So unless you want your mouth filled with dirt for months on end, you will keep it closed.”

That made Gluttony stop talking.

Wrath shook with anger as he rounded on Greed. “Any complaints from you?”

He held up his hands in peace. “Absolutely not. Keep an eye on Gluttony. I understand my place.”

“Good,” Wrath snarled. “At least one of you does.”