Chapter 3

ChapterThree

He didn’t feel so good.

Greed hated to admit when he felt weak, but right now? Bonescraper had done service to its name. That blade cut through not just flesh and sinew, but magic as well. It had taken all his power away, leaving him feeling limp and shaky.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so wobbly. Even his first memories in this body were of power, strength, and certainty with every step. Now the sands tugged at his feet, making him slip this way and that, and it frightened him.

How was he so weak? Why couldn’t he stand on his own, and instead, felt certain one wrong step would send him tumbling down the nearest dune?

A small body tucked itself under his arm, and the surprisingly strong thief grunted as he leaned his weight against her. It was her duty, of course, to take care of her king. An honor, if he was being honest. No one else was given the opportunity to be this close to him. She should be thankful.

Her expression made him wonder if she was also injured. She looked rather ill.

He hadn’t been lying when he said he knew a cave close by, though. It was an old one. Likely the stuff of legends to her and her people, and it was a shame to reveal its location to an average thief.

Greed told himself that she’d proven her value and worth in stealing from the people who had captured him. That was why it was acceptable for him to tell her, and share this scared place.

But he also knew that without her, he would fall flat on his face in a spectacularly terrible fashion.

Leaning on her a little more, he let her carry most of his body weight toward the cave system that he’d seen hundreds of years ago. Except, once they reached the place, he was certain that the sand had swallowed it up.

“Fuck,” he muttered before taking his arm off her shoulders and falling onto his knees. “This needs to...”

She groaned. The sun was already up much higher on the horizon than he’d wanted it to be, and they were both sweating. Dark splotches coated the green leather armor she wore, and he hadn’t even realized that leather could stain like that. For the first time, the little thief removed the mask from her face and sucked in a gasp of air.

And by all the seven kingdoms, she was more beautiful than he’d imagined.

Greed had imagined a lot, letting his mind play over the possibilities of her looks as she carried him over the sands. He’d seen the coiled tangle of her blonde hair, like strands of gold escaping from her hood. He’d thought maybe she would be stoic and hard, a lean thief who had spent most of her years stealing to keep herself alive. Or perhaps she’d startle him and be much younger than he thought. The strength she had in carrying him this far suggested that she might be younger.

He hadn’t expected an angel to stand before him. Smooth, pale skin, her cheeks flushed red from exertion and heat. Pretty pink, plush lips and sharp brows that were already drawn down in anger. Her golden waves were weighed nearly straight with sweat, just brushing past her collarbones, but she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.

He had to have her.

The greed in him, that emotion that he’d lived his entire life with, flared harder than it ever had before. He knew this feeling. It was the same one that he always got when he saw an object that no one else had. Something unique. Something specific that no other person would touch again. He had to take it. He needed it to be his, and that fierce flame roared through him the moment he saw her face.

She cut him a scathing glance. “What?”

He shook his head, trying to clear what he was certain was a dumbfounded expression off of his face. “We need to dig.”

“We need to what?”

He gestured at the sand, the world suddenly spinning. “The caves are down there.”

She looked at the ground, clearly not believing him one bit. And when was the last time someone hadn’t believed him? “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“How long has it been since you’ve last been inside?”

“A while,” he grumbled. Honestly, he didn’t know. Greed hadn’t been on this side of his kingdom in the better part of a hundred years, and he couldn’t remember if he’d visited these caves the last time or the time before that.

Of course, they didn’t have much time. He felt the rumblings underneath their feet long before he sensed their presence. The Horde had woken from their slumber, likely much quicker than this little thief had anticipated.

“We need to hurry,” he added, then glanced over his shoulder at the hazy horizon. The sun was already well above their heads. Sweat turned into a river between his shoulder blades and he wasn’t exaggerating how difficult it had become to stand. “Your friends are awake.”

“Friends,” she snorted. “What friends do I have that you’re aware of?”

“The ones you stole from.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder as he met her gaze. “They’re coming.”

All the blood drained from her features, leaving her bone pale. He hadn’t expected that. Most people had that expression when they looked at him, not someone else.

He was almost insulted.

“Fuck,” she hissed before dropping to her knees and scooping the sands with more vigor than he’d thought she would still have after trudging all this way. “Are you helping or not?”

“Not.” He scanned the horizon before putting his hands on his hips and glaring at her. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

“You wouldn’t be either if you could see yourself right now, big guy.” She huffed out a breath and turned in the opposite direction. Crouched over the sands, using both her hands to scoop it all between her legs, she rather looked like a dog.

That shouldn’t be as attractive as it was.

“But you’re afraid of them?”

“I absolutely am.”

“Why?” He crouched, wincing as the wounds all along his back and sides stretched, splitting open again.

“You would be too if you knew anything about them.” Her fingers hit stone, so it wasn’t exactly the right place to dig. Still, she scrabbled over it like it would have some secret button to press before starting over at another spot.

“They are weak and small.” Greed moved, so he was in her line of sight again. “You watched me kill one of them, and you still do not fear me more than them?”

A little growl rumbled in her throat and she glared at him with all the anger of a lioness. He’d never seen something more pretty, nor anything he’d wanted to claim more. When they were done with this, when the night had fallen and they’d returned to this home, he would keep her. He would dress her in all the rare gems and clothing that he’d gathered over the years. And she would be his greatest prize.

She wrinkled her nose. “Would you stop looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you want to eat me,” she muttered, then let out a little sound of victory as she found the opening to the cave.

“Maybe I do wish to eat you,” he replied wickedly. And when she flicked her gaze up to his, he licked his lips slowly.

Most women would have at least blushed. He’d made many women flustered with a look like that, especially considering he knew what they said about being in his bed. Greed had a reputation in this kingdom, and he’d worked very hard on that.

Greed was not necessarily a good emotion to have with a partner, but he was greedy in the best of ways. He took everything they could give him and then insisted on more. More, until they were shaking in his arms and incapable of walking.

What woman didn’t want that? And he was certain she’d heard the stories. He’d paid a lot of people good money to take that truth far and wide.

So why...

“Greed,” she hissed. “I sure could use a big strong man who could push some of this sand aside before the Horde comes and removes our heads from our shoulders.”

“They’d be hard pressed to do that.”

“I am but a small woman with only a few weapons on me. You are hardly at your best and they have already captured you once. Forgive me for not putting my life in your hands.” She gestured at the small hole she’d made in the sand that disappeared into darkness. “You’re sure about this?”

“Positive.”

She gave him one more look before sucking in a deep breath and staring up at the sky. “If you have tricked me, Greed, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

“That would be a very long life.” He felt the ripples through the air. The anger and the rage and the greed that rolled through the approaching Horde. It almost rocked him back onto his ass in this weakened state.

The spirit he’d always been wanted to feast. It wanted to turn toward all those raging emotions and feast upon them. He wanted to feed the Horde more, to give them even more greed, just to see what they would do. Would they take it and run? Would they turn toward the nearest town and unleash their rage?

No, that was not who he was anymore. He’d tried that when he had first taken this kingdom and it had not gone well. He knew what it was to watch this kingdom burn. It had been his first and greatest mistake.

He would not make it again.

Greed grabbed the woman’s wrist, turning it slightly in his own so his claws pressed against the sensitive skin where blood rushed underneath. “I will not betray you, thief. Slide through and I will make the hole bigger for myself.”

“Why does it seem like we’ve run out of time?” she asked, her eyes searching his.

“Because we have.”

And then he shoved her through the sands. Her feet slipped easily into the hole and she slid with her hands crossed over her chest, as though she knew the safest way to get to the bottom.

Damn it, he’d never met a woman so reckless. She had no idea what was down there waiting for them. It had been a long time, so he didn’t either. But...

Sighing, he started digging. His wounds screamed at the movement and he could feel blood dripping down his sides in earnest now. But all he could think about was getting away from the Horde so that he could cozy up with this beautiful treasure in a hidden oasis.

The thoughts spurred him on. The desire to lick his way up her throat, cherishing the sounds she made for his ears only. She would whisper what she wanted. He was certain of that. A woman like this would only know how to give orders and he would take them all. Until he didn’t.

Greed could hear their footsteps by the time the hole in the sand was big enough. He released his claws, dragging them behind him as he slid into the darkness. The sand followed him. It would seal them in the cave system, hidden from the Horde’s gaze, but it also dragged a waterfall of gold behind him as he fell what felt like forever.

The ground hit him hard. Or maybe he hit the ground. Whoever hit first, it hurt. His legs went out beneath him and he sprawled out in the sand while another horse sized amount hit him on the chest. He might have groaned. Or maybe he took the beating without making a sound.

All he knew was that one minute, he was drowning in sand and the next, he was yanked out by the wrists from underneath it until a grumbling woman sat on top of him.

He stared up at her with perhaps delirious happiness until she dropped his arms with a sigh and dusted her sand covered hands off on her hips. And then, when she glared down at him with those lovely, lovely eyes, he let out a little sigh.

“Stop it,” she snapped, pointing at him with a finger. “Enough of that. What did they give you in that cage? There must be something in that smoke that makes you lose your senses.”

“Maybe,” he said. Was his voice a little thin? He wasn’t sure. All that dragging had scraped his back even more raw than it already was. “Could be the pain.”

She frowned and looked him over. He swore he felt fire wherever her eyes lingered on his body. “You are bleeding again.”

“All for you.”

“That’s a stupid thing to say.” She hissed out a breath between her teeth, then made a tsking sound. “Can’t be avoided. I’ll see if there’s anything in here that I can use for the time being to help the bleeding, but we’re not exactly near a healer.”

“Ach, don’t pretend you don’t like a little blood. Pretty thief.” He reached out a hand toward her ankle, only to have it fall in the sand as she stood and moved away from him.

“Don’t touch me, I will kick sand in your face.” But her words were softened by how carefully she looked over the interior of the cave system. As though she were desperate to heal him.

Maybe she did like him, after all. He wouldn’t mind it if she did.

The thief crouched next to his head, and Greed couldn’t quite take his eyes off those lovely thighs as they flexed in her leather pants. She pressed her hand to his forehead, and he arched into her touch. Any touch. This was all getting worse, and he didn’t understand why.

She hissed another breath out. “You’re burning up. Have you ever had a fever before?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“A fever. It’s when you’re injured or sick and your body raises its temperature to heal.” She stared down at him, tiny wrinkles between her eyes that made him want to smooth them out. “Do you ever get sick?”

“I am a demon king,” he muttered. “I do not fall ill.”

“Well, apparently you do and I don’t know if you have specific things you are allergic to or cannot eat. Is there anything like that you can think of?”

He just wanted her to touch his forehead again. He wanted her to touch him. But there were things that he shouldn’t eat or consume, but she couldn’t know that. Could she?

Suddenly, he was feeling very hot. And not in the way he was used to, where he wanted to rip off his clothing. He felt like he needed to shiver, but he wasn’t cold at all.

No, maybe he was. He was definitely cold now.

Shaking, he tried to sit up, only to be shoved back down by a stern hand on his shoulder. “Lotus flower,” he muttered. “No palm or persea either.”

She sat back on her heels. “Nothing symbolic to the dead, then?”

“Precisely.”

“Why?”

He couldn’t answer that question. No matter how many times she asked.

All Greed wanted to do was sleep. The sand was comfortable enough, and surely this woman hadn’t saved him to leave him on his own to die.

“Don’t fall asleep,” he heard her say. “Oh, by all the seven kingdoms, you ass! Stay awake!”

He’d never been very good at following directions.