Chapter 29

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Varya kept her distance for the better part of the day. She was so angry at him that every time she even thought about him, her hands shook.

How dare he suggest they run? How dare he ignore that their people needed help? His people! Even more so than her own, because he was their damned king! He was the only person who should actually care about their fucking well being and instead, he’d suggested they run because it was a losing battle.

Losing battle, her ass.

And it just made her even more angry because everything had been so good.

She hadn’t realized it could be like that with a man she arguably didn’t know yet. Every time they started talking about something serious, they always devolved into touching each other and then tongues tangled until her whole mind went blank. She forgot that she wanted to ask about his brother or why he’d given Ivo and Morag bodies. Or were there more spirits wandering around than she had ever realized?

There were a thousand questions she had meant to ask him before she’d fucked him and that had all gone out the window the moment his mouth touched her skin.

And he’d gone and screwed it all up. He’d broken that rose-colored spell that she’d woven through her own mind. Varya had believed maybe he was a good person hidden underneath all that bravado. Maybe this would work if she just put in a little effort and ignored a few key factors.

Of course, that wasn’t the truth. Of course he hadn’t changed and nothing could be farther from the truth if she thought he was a good person. He was still a demon king. Still the embodiment of greed, and if he didn’t get what he wanted, then he would just take it.

There was a reason this kingdom was broken, and he wanted it to be every reason other than himself. Because looking at his own flaws, his own failings, was so much harder than finding someone else to blame.

“There,” she whispered, tying a binding tight around a little boy’s arm. “Good as new.”

It wasn’t. She needed to go searching for some magical artifact that still had enough magical juice to heal half a town. There were so many people who were still coughing or still had glistening skin from the burns that would take weeks to heal.

Not enough. She hadn’t done enough, and that grated on her. If Varya could just get a horse, then she could start on her journey. That map was probably still in Altan’s house, so she could make a quick stop and then she could be on her way. The treasure would be hard to find. Anything related to healing had already been used up. So it might take her a couple of tombs, but she’d find something. She always found what they needed.

But then she saw him. Greed. Stretched out beside Altan while a young man with bright blonde hair and freckles laid a fur over that impressive cock that had done such magical things to her all night. And just like that, something softened in her chest.

He had been a beast protecting her people. Even if he hadn’t wanted to fight on their behalf, he had. He’d fought and torn and roared out his rage so all who tried to attack him knew exactly what was coming for them.

He’d been the protector they all wanted, and that hurt more than she expected it would.

Varya’s shoulders rounded with exhaustion. She stepped toward them, her eyes catching Altan’s warm gaze before she focused on the two demons resting while the town swarmed around them.

His brother stood first. Lean, lithe, and so tall, she wondered if he had a few inches on even Greed. The man held out his hand, long nails not quite drawn completely in. “Gluttony.”

“Varya.”

“A pleasure.” He reached for her hand, bent over it, and pressed his lips against her skin. Ever a gentleman, even though she had the sneaky suspicion he wasn’t.

Greed growled from his place on the ground. His arm was still over his eyes, so she had no idea how he knew what his brother was doing. But he still snarled out, “Get your hands off her, Gluttony.”

His brother flashed her a dark smile, but he released her hand almost instantly. “My brother has always been territorial about his things.”

She bristled at the terminology. She was no one’s object, and she certainly wasn’t Greed’s “thing”. But now was not the time nor the place to argue while there were so many eyes on them. Instead, she looked down at Greed and nudged him with her foot. “We can go now.”

“I think you can see that I’m resting, Varya.”

“Get up.” Perhaps the words were harsh, but she had an argument that was already bursting on her lips. If he didn’t move, she was going to scream at him with an audience. And it didn’t matter to her if he hated her for it. Right now, she wanted to get in a fight and the only person who deserved that was him.

He grumbled, but still rolled onto his feet. The fur someone had laid out over him fell off, and he stood in front of her, completely bare. Though he glared at her like she was the problem, she pointedly stared at his half hard cock and then back at him.

“It doesn’t know we’re fighting,” he grumbled as he strode away from the rest of the people. And it made her even more angry that he clearly expected her to follow him without questioning where they were going.

Stomping after him, she tugged the furs closer to her body and tried to keep the words inside her before they all came spewing out. How dare he? How dare he make that choice and then try to make that choice for her when there were people who needed her help? He knew what she did. He knew she would do anything for her people, no matter the cost.

Nothing would stop her from helping if she could. She would steal and lie and cheat for them. She’d been captured, endured countless beatings, fallen off a cliff, and broken her collarbone in three places before dragging herself home for them. And he thought he could just order her to ignore all that?

The man was insane. He was a selfish, good for nothing prick who had tricked her into fucking him because he thought she was some stupid little girl who would let a dick lead her around on a leash.

Well, that wasn’t going to happen.

No sir. She was better than this, and he clearly wasn’t.

Once they were far enough away from the tents, she looked back and muttered, “Shouldn’t we wait for Gluttony?”

“He made his way here. He’ll make his way back.” Greed lifted his fingers to his lips and let out an ear-piercing whistle.

The sound of hooves responded almost immediately. His massive, leathery beast had been waiting for its master to call for it, apparently. It appeared in the distance, dunes away from arriving at their side almost lightning fast.

This time, at least, it didn’t snap at her. It just calmly waited as its master swung up onto its back. Naked and covered in blood, he looked every inch the warlord the old legends claimed him to be. He held out his hand, and she knew it was an order. There was no denying him when he wore that expression of rage.

She looked at his hand and ground her teeth together. “I’m angry with you.”

“Good,” he snarled, then grabbed onto her without waiting for her to make a choice. He swung her up onto the back of the leathery beast, his arm a band around her waist. “I’m angry with you, too.”

“With me?” she hissed.

He kicked the beast into movement and suddenly they were flying across the desert. It moved like it was barely touching the sands. Normally, she would have taken a moment to realize how amazing this was. How fast they moved when she hadn’t even realized it was possible.

Instead, it just made her even more angry that he’d had a beast like this, which moved so fast, and he hadn’t told her. No wonder he found her at that tomb when she had struggled for days to get there. She could have gotten that goblet in a few hours if she had a mount like this. And he’d been hoarding them to himself?

“Yes, I’m mad at you,” he snarled in her ear. “You put yourself in unnecessary danger—”

“My people needed my help!”

“—without thinking for a second that you might die. You left my side and then you ran headlong into flames, Varya! There were countless soldiers there who were trying to kill you.”

“I fought them off. I can take care of myself, you know.”

His arms tightened around her in a punishing grip. “You gave yourself to me last night. You said you were mine, and that means I will protect you above all others. And yet, you seem insistent on risking yourself at every opportunity as though you have no care or regard for your own life!”

“Just because I’m willing to do whatever it takes doesn’t mean I’m risking my life!” She tried to twist in his arms, mostly because she wanted to slap him, but he didn’t let her move.

“You don’t care if you’re alive or dead,” he argued, his voice low and deep in her ear. Forcing her to hear the words that she knew were true, but they still hurt all the same. “You think it’s easier if no one cares about you, no one knows where you disappear, and no one even notices if you get home? You’re hiding, Varya. You’ve been hiding yourself for years. What I cannot understand is why you are so afraid of leaving someone behind!”

This man! How dare he? How dare he strip her bare, all the way down to her rotten core, when he himself was part of the problem? “Because I was left behind!” she snarled. “I know what it feels like to have the person you love die. I know what it is to see friends and family leave you and then never come back. I will not do that to anyone else!”

The beast between her legs slowed, somehow reacting to an order that Greed had given it without using the reins. The much easier glide made the wind die down in her ears, and the sudden echo of her own shouting made acid rise into the back of her mouth.

She’d said too much. As she always did when she was angry. She hadn’t wanted to tell him about any of that, because she didn’t speak of it. No one needed to carry the burden of her loss or the memories of what it had felt like to be a starving little girl on the streets, hoping that someone would notice her when no one had noticed the bloated body of her parents that had withered as the desert took its price.

Greed tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand shaking and delicate. “Varya—”

“Don’t,” she hissed. “I’m not asking for your pity. I don’t want it. My story is the same as hundreds of others throughout this kingdom. I am not special or unusual. I’m the only one with the skills to get the jobs done. And I do them well. It is all I have, Greed, and I will not give it up for a selfish asshole who only sees me as a sleeve for his cock.”

He stiffened behind her, every muscle in his body locking at her words. “Is that what you think I see in you?”

“I don’t need to see anything, Greed. You don’t see beyond yourself.” Why were tears burning in her eyes? Damn it, she was an idiot. She’d seen this coming. She had known what she was getting into. Dashing the tears that rolled down her cheeks away, she shook her head. “This argument is ridiculous. Both of us know who we are. We knew this wasn’t...”

He waited for her to finish, but she didn’t think she could. Varya stared up at the cloudless sky and silently begged the gods to strike her with lightning, so she didn’t have to have this conversation.

Greed slid his finger underneath her chin, forcing her head to turn so she looked at him. She looked at that ash streaked face, those eyes brimming with pain that she had caused, and it broke her heart.

“We knew this wasn’t what, Varya?” he quietly asked.

She shrugged, helplessly watching as reality crumbled over his features. “I’m always going to be the woman who doesn’t want to tie herself to anyone. And you’re always going to be a selfish monster. That either of us forgot it for even a moment was foolhardy. This can and will only end in pain.”

“You don’t believe that,” he replied, shaking his head and frowning. “You gave yourself to me. Every inch of you responded to me, Varya, and I am as much part of you as you are now part of me.”

She took a deep breath, steadying herself. This was the right decision. She was doing the right thing, even if it hurt. “It was a fun idea, Greed. We both had our fun for a little while, but that is all that it can be. Fun.”

“No,” he snarled. “You bound yourself to me.”

“I did.” She nodded, and her hands shook a little. “But that was before I was reminded of the terrible things you can do. The terrible things that you justify with pretty words that don’t match your actions. You will always make the right choice for you, Greed. And I will always make the right choice for them.”

Her words distracted him too much to see what came next. Varya hooked her leg over his and twisted. Her hands were on the reins already, but he hadn’t seen her move as she’d kept his attention. In one swift movement, she’d unseated him.

It was all too easy to snap the reins and force the beast into movement. She had the fear that perhaps the leathery monster wouldn’t listen to her. Or that it would buck her off the moment its master hit the sands. But for once in her life, luck was on her side. Or perhaps the creature was just as disappointed in Greed as she was.

They tore off into the desert. She guided it toward Altan’s house where she could get her emergency change of clothes and the map that would help her heal her people. Another treasure. Another life risking adventure.

Tears streaked down her cheeks, probably leaving clean tracks in their wake. Because he was right. She was running headlong toward another injury, or perhaps this time her death, because this was how she coped. This was how she fixed herself.

Proving her worth but letting no one close enough to care if she died. Why did he have to lay it all out for her to see so clearly?

The bastard. He’d wriggled his way into her heart and she hated that now she was afraid to die because she didn’t want to leave him alone.