Chapter 44

ChapterForty-Four

Greed hated this. Every second of it. He hated that he didn’t know where she was, what was happening to her, or how he was going to get her back. He hated how she could be anywhere right now, waiting for him to come and find her. Or maybe she’d already escaped. Maybe he would ride across the desert to save her, only to find nothing waiting for him.

Fear of the unknown churned in his belly and his heart told him to leave everything here. The villagers would find their own way. Everyone knew where his castle was. They weren’t being attacked by the Horde any longer, and if they couldn’t figure out how to save themselves now, then they didn’t deserve his help.

But then his gaze would find one of the younglings. The little girls and boys who stood beside their parents with fear in their eyes. And his heart whispered that he couldn’t leave them. Not yet. Not when they were so frightened and their homes were destroyed and none of them knew where they were going to go.

He was their king. He was meant to protect them, and so far he’d done a rather shitty job of it. None of them felt protected when the world had fallen down around their shoulders.

And he would fix this. He would.

So he’d left their stone town behind and rode with them. He helped carry many of their things, strapping down his nuckelavee with so many bags that the animal nipped at his arm when he brought the last one. But he patted its back and whispered that he wouldn’t be riding.

Because he wasn’t going to.

He walked among them. Greed hadn’t ever done this in all the years that he’d been ruling this kingdom. Never once had he thought to spend time with his people unless they were actively training for war. And even then, it was less because he wanted to be around them and more because he wanted to make sure they didn’t embarrass him.

They were afraid. So many of them had no idea what they would do next, and somehow, they turned to him for answers.

He didn’t know how to respond. Greed barely knew how to take care of himself. But when they looked at him, like he was the hero they’d been waiting all their lives for, he found himself discovering those answers.

He’d house them in the castle while they rebuilt their village. The Horde would not be around for long; he would see to that himself. He’d fix what had been broken, and he swore that time and time again. In the meantime, they needed to band together and get a group of leaders for him to speak with. When he returned from finding Varya, then he would need some of their own people to help him with the plans.

And the people responded in kind. They told him about all the things they’d been lacking. They explained how they needed him to give them more food and water, and if it wouldn’t be too much of a burden, perhaps he could open trade with the other kingdoms. There wasn’t enough here for them to grow good food or even create good clothing.

The guilt that gnawed through his chest after he realized most of his people were wearing rags... Ach, he knew Varya would be so pleased to know how much it hurt.

It took them too long to reach the castle, and even then he knew he wasn’t going inside. He trusted his own people to get them settled. There was plenty of room in the oasis, even though it would be a little tight.

Greed didn’t care if they emptied his food supply or destroyed the remaining plants in his kingdom. He’d fix this. He had to. And the only person he trusted to tell him how to do any of it was the woman the Horde had taken.

Simmering rage still burned deep in his belly. The moment he found those murderous tyrants, he would unleash a rage unlike anything they’d seen before. They thought they could play with a god? They were about to learn how stupid that really was.

Gluttony remained behind with him, leaning on the pommel of the saddle with a feral grin already spreading across his face. “So we are not done hunting?”

“Did you think we were?” Greed wheeled his mount around, turning it to the blasting wind of the desert and the icy night that spread out before them.

Her scent was still in the air. He didn’t have to go back to the town to smell her. Likely, his brother could scent the same. Gluttony had spent enough time with her, although he doubted his bloodthirsty sibling could smell her hair or the fine scent that always lingered on her clothes. No, worst case scenario, he’d ask Gluttony to track her by the scent of her blood alone.

The rage that suddenly burned through him... He inhaled it. Allowed it to spread throughout his body and into his fingertips that curved into claws. If he wasn’t careful, it would consume him. Override all thought and reason until he had her back in his arms.

A low growl rumbled through his chest, but then he realized the sound was also coupled by the heavy hoofbeats of horses joining them. How dare anyone try to stop him now? He’d gotten them here, hadn’t he? He’d brought them to safety and now they would leave him alone.

He turned toward the newcomers, a snarl on his lips that should have frightened them off. But it was Varya’s friends. Altan and the others who had been there when the snake had attacked her. The men and women who were supposed to have protected her.

Some vicious part of himself whispered that Altan would never be able to protect her like Greed could. Even though he knew the other man had never wanted her like that. Or at least, so he continued to say.

“Let us ride with you,” the dark man said, pulling his horse up right next to Greed’s. “This fight is all of ours, not just yours.”

It was just his. He’d made it almost impossible for anyone else to fight with him. Mostly because he intended to plow through the Horde members like they were blades of grass and he a scythe that had come to cut them close to the ground. They would not exist after he was finished.

They would beg for his mercy. He would not give it. Someday soon, they would talk of this day. How the Demon King of Greed had taken to the war path all on his own, with his bloodthirsty brother at his side. They’d nearly destroy the entire kingdom together, but wasn’t that the reason everyone had always feared him? The Horde thought to test his legends.

They would die screaming for that foolishness.

He opened his mouth to tell them all just that, but his brother beat him to it first.

Gluttony sounded like an actual king as he imperiously said, “You may join us, but remember, you are all mortals. A battle is significantly more dangerous for you to join than it is for us to start. Stay out of our way.”

“We know how to fight,” Altan replied.

“Not like us,” Greed growled. And he knew he didn’t sound like a person at that moment. He sounded like an animal, and he wanted them to see him as such. Because he was.

He was a terrifying beast, and they needed to see him as that. He wasn’t just their savior. By the gods, he wasn’t even remotely a savior for anyone. He did what he wanted for himself.

Except... His gaze skated to the castle, and he felt a deep-seated satisfaction knowing that everyone had gotten through the walls. They were safe. He’d done that. He’d made sure that they were taken care of, at least for the time being.

Surely that counted for something? Perhaps that even proved he could be more than just a demon.

And if he could be more than that, then perhaps he deserved the woman he was rushing to save.

Casting his gaze over the men and women before him, all covered in ash and sand, he wondered if they were thinking a similar thing. That if they saved her, then they were proving they were worthy. Perhaps not of her attention, but worthy of whatever else it was that they were afraid of.

By the gods, he was proud of them. They were here when no one else had thought to do so. They were here, risking their lives, ready to perhaps die not just for the woman who had helped them all, but for their kingdom. These were the true warriors. Not those that he’d trained for years and years, but the people who actually cared if this kingdom prospered.

They wanted their own vengeance. He could see it in their eyes.

They wanted to watch the Horde burn not because he had ordered it, but because they had seen their own homes go up in flames. They had lived in terror of this group for too long, not knowing how to stop them and all the while praying that someone else would.

How could he not let them fight? How could he not give them the chance to take back their kingdom in the only way any of them knew how?

Through blood and thievery.

That was the kingdom he’d created. And here were the people he had nurtured for centuries. They were perfect.

Emotions stuck in his throat, he tried to clear it before saying, “You will fight beside us. You will be careful, because I will not suffer through her wrath if a single one of you is stupid enough to get killed. Do you understand me?”

Altan flashed him a bright grin. “I think you’ll be surprised to see how well we fight, demon king. You don’t have to worry about losing any of us in this mad dash toward the end.”

He very much had to worry about that. Not only because Varya valued them, but also because... well. He supposed he did, too.

Stupid thoughts. Stupid feelings. He hadn’t wanted any of this in his life and then that ridiculous woman had stomped all over his heart and forced blood back into the dead organ.

“Come on, then,” he grumbled, turning his attention to the sands and the darkness beyond. “We have a queen to save.”

They all let out a cry of rage and hope that they would find her in one piece, and then they were thundering across the desert. He tried to still his mind. To make sure that he wasn’t overthinking anything by the time they got to wherever the Horde had hidden themselves this time.

Greed needed to think clearly. He needed a brain that was geared toward battle and battle alone. He could not afford to lose his temper because someone had taken his bride. He loved her, she loved him, and he knew just how dangerous his love was.

And then, when he had her back in his arms, he would tell her how much he loved her. He would whisper those words into the lovely crook of her neck. That spot was his favorite place in the entire world. He would tell her everything and that he’d been a fool who had waited too long in the first place.

Varya would forgive him for that. She’d forgiven him for worse.

And so, with her scent in his lungs and his heart racing in his chest, he drove them hard throughout the night. The sand gave to him, almost as though the desert knew he was going to feed her with so much blood that she had no reason to even try to stop him. She eased their journey, giving them no tempests or dust devils to slow them.

The Horde’s encampment blinked to life on the horizon. A tiny dot of shimmering fire was all that glowed in the distance, but he knew exactly what it was. No other nomadic tribe would dare to be so foolish as to leave their fires burning.

Especially when they knew who hunted them.

A part of him wanted to rush into the camp and start the bloodbath. He wanted to hear them screaming out his name in fear, as he gave them no mercy.

But there was too much at risk. If he rushed in with his blades out, they would know he was here. They would hide Varya, or worse, they would kill her just to spite him. He didn’t want to take that risk. He couldn’t.

Greed would get his revenge and his blood, though. He would bathe in it before this night was done.

He lowered himself from the horse and quietly dropped onto the sands. He crawled forward, making sure no one would see him as the others followed suit.

Surprisingly, this group of ragtag soldiers was just as intuitive as his own people. It was strange how wonderful that felt to know there were people behind him, willing to care for him, who wanted blood just as much as he did.

He pointed to the tents. “Use your blades to cut through the leather hides. As quiet as possible. And then slit their throats in their sleep.”

Altan looked at him with surprise, playing across his features. “You want us to do this quietly?”

“For now.” Greed shrugged. “Someone will scream. A gurgle will be too loud and they’ll figure out we’re here. There are too few of us and too many of them for this to remain entirely silent. But I want to get eyes on her before I unleash everything upon these people. I want them dead. I want them gone. And I want her back.”

Everyone nodded and started down the dunes, slithering on their bellies until they reached the tents. In the distance, he could see there were still a few Horde members standing around the central fire. They were all drunk, though he suspected there were scouts out here somewhere that were not.

He came across his first one as he started cutting through the first tent. He smelled the woman before he saw her. Greed whirled, blades ready to silence her before she could make a noise, only to hear a wet sound as her eyes opened wide.

Gluttony was attached to her neck, drinking deeply as his own eyes rolled back in his head.

His brother disappeared into the darkness, dragging the woman’s heels through the sands, and he couldn’t find it in him to care at all.

They would all die. No matter how innocent they were.

He finished cutting through the tent and then slipped into the firelight inside. No one was awake. Three Horde members, all men. He bared his teeth in disgust at what he was going to do. No one deserved to die without at least trying to fight. Unfortunately, these people would not end up in the afterlife they hoped for.

He sliced two of their throats with a ferocity that was unnecessary. The knife slid through their flesh all the way to the bone, not giving them even a moment to wake up before he’d nearly beheaded them. But the third one? Ah, he had plans for that one.

Landing hard on the man’s chest, he put his hand over the man’s mouth and the knife to his throat. As the Horde member woke with a start, eyes wide and then filled with terror as he realized who had him pinned, Greed said, “You’re going to tell me where she is, my friend.”