Chapter 46

ChapterForty-Six

They hunted together, both him and his queen, cutting through the Horde with her family at their side and his behind them. Gluttony was more of a help than the humans, of course. He was much quicker. Just a blur between them and the Horde members as he picked them off one by one.

Greed, in comparison, was a sledgehammer. Just as they’d used against him before, just as they had tried to destroy him, he took them all out. Though Varya showed a few moments of hesitation, he did not. He was more than happy to kill whomever he could.

Though he’d never tell her, it stung a bit that she’d gotten to kill the Horde leader before he did. He wanted to see the man laid out and bleeding at his feet, yes, but he’d wanted to use his blade to saw through tendon and bone. Instead, she had protected herself.

And with that thought came the pride.

His woman was no wildflower to protect. She was the thorn and the arrow, a weapon all on her own that she could throw at anyone who tried to stand before her and her freedom.

He’d never been prouder.

Never been more turned on.

The sight of her covered in blood, fulfilling every fantasy he’d never known he had, was a memory that would never fade from his mind. Not easily, at least.

He wanted her now. He’d want her in a hundred years. And together, with that spirit of adventure bursting with power in her chest, they would rule this kingdom with a little more caution and a significant amount more patience.

Breathing hard, he stood in the carnage and watched as the last members of the Horde fled. His soldiers dragged a few of them off their horses, swiftly delivering their end rather than the salvation they’d hoped to see.

But when Altan and his people readied themselves to get onto those same horses and chase down the others, he called out, “That’s enough.”

They all looked at him in surprise, but he was tired. He had his woman. And the Horde wouldn’t regroup any time soon. A handful of people running for their lives would not affect his kingdom very much.

And he’d send out more scouts to find and kill anyone who admitted to being involved in that Horde. They would find their end one way or another, but it didn’t have to be right now.

Varya staggered over to him, her breath sawing in and out of her lungs as she slumped against his side. She wrapped her arm around him, and that was when he knew what bliss felt like. “You’re letting them go?”

“For a good reason.” He pressed a kiss to her bloody temple. “They’re going to find all the others who weren’t here tonight. They will lead us to the last members of the Horde, the wounded or the old. Perhaps the masterminds of all this.”

“No, that was definitely the man I killed.”

“Then his second in command. Or his third. Anyone who might want to continue this madness when they know damn well I will hunt them for the rest of their days.” He twirled her stiffening hair around his finger. “Let’s go home, treasure. Your people are waiting for you and we have a lot to do.”

“You really don’t want to hunt them?” she asked, leaning back to stare up at him with a pretty little frown on her face. “It seems unlike you to not want to race across the desert to remind them why they should fear you.”

It was. But he’d felt something shift inside him halfway through the battle, and a voice he didn’t recognize had whispered for him to go home. He’d done enough. He’d protected his people, his family, the love of his life. They were together, and he didn’t have to fight anymore if he didn’t want to. There would be another day for battle.

But there were only so many days to see the people who waited for them at the castle.

He sighed, filling his lungs with the fresh desert air, and then nodded again. “Yes, I’m sure I don’t want to hunt them. We’ll need entertainment later. Why would we ever wish our lives to get boring, my love?”

“My love?” she repeated, and her eyes went a little glassy. “Now there are a few words I like to hear.”

And because he couldn’t stop himself, Greed gathered her up in his arms and carried her to his nuckelavee. The beast even seemed rather happy to see her, nipping slightly at the air around her feet as they got on, then mouthing her pant leg as though it wished to taste blood.

Dangerous, monstrous beast. He’d never been happier with the gift he’d gotten from his brother.

Speaking of, Gluttony walked over to them before they could leave. “Go get your castle situated, demon king. I’ll stay here with the others and journey back with those who were also stolen. Some of them are injured, and it will take a while.”

“You’re staying?” Greed said with an arched brow.

“Yes. I think your people could use a demon to watch over them.” Gluttony winked. “And I’m not done with all the bodies here yet.”

A slither of revulsion quaked through Greed’s body before he nodded. “Do nothing to make Wrath more mad at us, yes? I have no interest in turning this into a battle between myself and the Underlord.”

“Underlord,” Gluttony repeated with a chuckle and a shake of his head. “I like that one. Maybe that’ll stick.”

He watched his brother waltz away, and he wondered yet again if they were all wrong about Gluttony. The man was dangerous, but they all were. Perhaps Greed was the most bloodthirsty brother after all, considering he held a woman in his arms completely doused in blood and he’d never wanted to fuck her more.

Varya turned in his arms and cupped his cheek. “You have the whole town in the castle?”

“Eating me out of house and home, I’m sure. They’re probably stomping through the gardens right now and stealing all my treasures.” He turned his face into her palm and kissed the center of it.

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“I have the only treasure I need right here.” He tightened his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her lips before urging the nuckelavee forward into a speed that battled the wind.

They didn’t stop for anything, although Varya fell asleep in his arms a few times. And he took the opportunity to bury his head in the crevice between her neck and shoulder, breathing her in. Even though she smelled like metal and death, there was still her scent underneath it all. Still his queen, his bride, his reason for life now.

Ach, he’d almost lost her. Again.

Greed promised himself he would never let her go like that again. But that new voice in his head whispered that he would. If he had to let her go for the good of the kingdom, yet again, then he would do it. And then he would battle to have her back at his side.

This was proven the moment they arrived back at his castle. Hands helped Varya get off his mount and then the people swarmed him. More people than just the town he’d saved. Some of his own workers from the castle, and somehow more. Women and men who commended him for doing what needed to be done. They wanted to know if he’d succeeded, if he’d driven off the Horde for good.

“The Horde is gone!” he shouted, his words carrying through the courtyard and Varya’s blue eyes matching the vivid sky above them as the sun came out. “The Horde will no longer torment you. But hear me now. I have neglected my kingdom for too long. When I first came here, I thought the only way to indulge your needs was to turn this into a warring kingdom full of thieves, bandits, and murderers. I see my folly now. I see that my kingdom is full of good people who, yes, will steal from others, but mostly those who see the light. You honor your gods. You honor me. And for that, I will never again forget that you are here, and that you are mine.”

The cheer that rose settled everything into place in his chest. And all that he’d been missing and searching for, all that suddenly appeared in front of him. All within reach.

Varya smiled and grabbed onto his neck, drawing him down so she could whisper in his ear, “Celebrate with your people. I need to bathe, eat, and sleep. But join me when you can, my king.”

The old him would have said fuck the rest of them. And a part of him wanted to throw anyone aside that dared stand between him and Varya when she looked like that.

But another part of him wanted to enjoy the energy that filled the oasis with these people in it. They were alive and well and so damned thankful for it that he couldn’t deny them a day with him. Neither did he wish to.

He reeled her in for a searing kiss that would likely plague the both of them for the rest of the day, and then he sent her on her way.

Greed indulged himself. His people. He fed them and gave them all the stores of alcohol in this place, but it didn’t matter. Their lives were what he treasured now. Each individual person gave him a reason to be who he was, and to keep his kingdom flourishing as only he could. He’d make more trades, with more kingdoms, to bring food and wine to this place. He could replenish it.

Just a single one of his magical artifacts alone would have been enough for a full year of food to feed his kingdom. And now? He wasn’t as afraid to part with it.

He did not know how long they celebrated because soon they were all so swept up in the celebration it was almost impossible to know what the time was. He knew his brother returned with the missing villagers and that started the festivities all over again, even though most of his people were barely able to walk in a straight line.

But he watched them with a sense of peace and happiness, grinning at Gluttony as his polished brother joined him.

“You look almost sweaty,” Greed said, handing over a mug of ale that they’d found deep underneath his castle.

“Shut up,” Gluttony muttered before downing the entire mug. “You have no idea how much of a pain in the ass it was to drag all those wounded people through the desert. And here you are, looking like you haven’t bathed or done anything at all since you got back. Are you the king of this kingdom, Greed? At all?”

“I am.” He gestured toward the people surrounding them. “This is my proof.”

Gluttony snorted, rolled his eyes, and then stilled as he stared at Greed. “You’re... different.”

“Exhausted.”

“Different.” Gluttony frowned at him, his eyes skating over Greed’s entire form before he snorted again. “Was this what it felt like when you’d seen Lust had changed? Here I was, thinking that both of you were idiots and yet I’m the one feeling jealous. You’ve got a new calling in life, brother. After a thousand years, I suspect that’s a rather welcome change.”

Had he?

He brushed a hand down his chest, not quite certain he had changed that much. But then he thought back to the voice in his head, the one that had urged him to come here and the one that had told him to stay while Varya went to bathe. The same voice that had told him he couldn’t leave quite yet, not when there was more he could feed them and more drink to be had.

“Well, damn,” he muttered before finishing his mug. “Here I was thinking it was love that had made Lust change. That he’d gone and found himself a woman who made him want to be better and I was the idiot for it.”

“So what was it?”

A part of him didn’t want to tell Gluttony. He wanted his brother to go through it all himself, just like Greed and Lust had. But the other part, ach, it saw Gluttony in a different light. “I needed to find a new use for myself. Stop being a greedy bastard who thought only about himself and I suppose...” He gestured to the crowd again. “They did it for me.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“Probably.” Greed clapped him on the back. “Enjoy your own merriment, brother. I have a woman to find.”

“And to fuck if I know you well enough.”

“You know me very well.”

With a wink that felt like a promise, Greed started off to find his bride.

He had to wade through crowds of people, but thankfully they disappeared as he reached their more private areas. Even his guards had been aware that he’d want time alone with Varya.

Ivo and Morag stood in front of the stairwell that led to his private chambers. Their arms over their chests, their eyes slashing toward every single movement. He’d never been more grateful for either of them.

Walking almost in between them, he clapped his hands on their shoulders. “You both deserve a little time to enjoy yourselves as well. Run off with you.”

“One of us should stay,” Morag replied. “Just in case.”

“No one is going to find us. Besides, you have a bed mate to find.” He cast a glance toward Ivo and grinned. “And you have another one to chase, I imagine. Still fighting against every ounce of yourself to get her?”

Ivo tried so hard not to grin, but he gave it away immediately. “Ach, she’s a pretty little thing with a heart of fire. I suspect it’ll take quite a while before she bends to me.”

“Enjoy the hunt, my brother.”

And then he walked away from them, allowing them to make their own choice of what they wanted to do. Namely because he had a woman waiting for him. A woman with a heart of gold and beauty that stole his breath away.

She stood waiting for him in the doorway. She’d changed into a lovely, sheer nightgown that hid nothing from his view in the slightest. Leaning against the doorframe with the afternoon sun pouring over her body, he forgot how to speak at the sight of her.

“Are you finally here for me?” she asked, clearly amused that he’d gotten so distracted. “I’ve been waiting for hours, demon king.”

He could have dropped to his knees then and there. She was so beautiful and so perfect for him that it was a distraction.

He wanted... Her. Just her.

And so he would have her.