Chapter 20

ChapterTwenty

“There isn’t enough balm for the both of us,” Katherine said, sitting between his legs and staring up at Gluttony’s angry expression. “I’m putting it on your feet, or we’re saving it for the next time you wish to feed.”

He made a sound halfway between a snarl and a hiss. “No, we will not. You will let me put it on your back so my claw marks don’t get infected, and I will heal fine on my own.”

“You won’t.”

“I am a demon, woman. I’ll be fine.”

She arched a brow. “You have no idea how mortal bodies work, nor do you take care of yourself. I’ve seen how little you eat and sleep. You cannot exist on blood forever, and I highly doubt that you’ll allow these feet any rest. I’m putting the balm on you.”

“You need it more than I do.”

“They’re barely scratches, but if you insist.” Katherine patted his knees and then stood. Her hip ached from Envy bumping into her, but she thought it was possible for her to get to the village and back. “I might need to stay the night there, but I can get more balm at the almshouse. Then both of us will be healing.”

“You know I don’t like it when you spend the night away from me.”

He really didn’t. She’d learned that the hard way, and strangely, found the same reaction in herself. Katherine hated staying in her old bedroom. She hated how many questions everyone had for her.

Of course, she’d been very vague about where she had gone. She’d lied and said her mother had property elsewhere that she was trying to fix up. But she hadn’t been able to keep the secret from Grace. Now her friend knew Katherine was staying in the castle, and she didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing that Grace knew.

Regardless, her hours were much less than they had been before. And apparently her boss didn’t mind. He’d even gone so far as to say that it was probably better in the long run.

Considering her leg and all.

Katherine tried very hard not to let her limp show as she started out of the lab, but she didn’t manage very well. Once she made it to the door, Gluttony called out, “Did Envy hurt you?”

“No.”

“It’s just that you’re limping.”

The laugh she forced out was definitely not something she was proud of. “Oh, he must have jostled me when we collided. I’m fine, though.”

Gluttony stood. He winced the moment his feet touched the ground, but he wasn’t limping as he approached her. He looked fine, honestly, but she didn’t want to risk an infection.

She’d become rather... fond of the strange man. And even worse, he made her heart do funny things in her chest whenever she thought about the way he’d touched her.

“You’re not going to the town if you’re limping,” he grumbled. “I’ll go. I’m certain the almshouse won’t turn me away.”

She was almost certain they would. “You’re going to sit right there. If I was in so much pain that I couldn’t walk, I would tell you. I’m fine, Gluttony. You are not.”

He grumbled again, making little blustering sounds of discontent before he sat back down. And she knew how much pain he must be in if he argued no more than that.

“I’ll be back,” she said, then narrowed her eyes at him. “I mean it, Gluttony.”

He waved a hand, but he wouldn’t look at her. She wondered if he thought she was lying.

Dark thoughts clouding her mind, Katherine left the castle with a shawl over her shoulders and a mission to complete. Gluttony wouldn’t let himself be taken care of. Why? She had no idea. He clearly hadn’t experienced someone taking care of him before, and that wasn’t something she could teach him.

He needed to learn that taking help from others wasn’t a bad thing. She wasn’t trying to take advantage of him or get some gift out of him. All she wanted was for him to be happy and well. Surely that wasn’t such a terrible thing?

The moors were quiet today. Dragonflies buzzed around her head, zipping past on their way to get food. Even the wisps were a little dimmer, less threatening as they watched her move by.

In fact, most of the swamp creatures had left her alone lately. Gluttony hadn’t minded if she worked in the almshouse on days when she was bored, and she found herself making this trek more and more.

Just a few days ago, she’d realized there were new planks in place. Painted a bright, new yellow to show where it was safe for her to walk. She had a sneaking suspicion that a particular demon hadn’t wanted her to fall into the water without him there.

He did things like that all the time. Insignificant actions to help her. And he didn’t even realize her bad hip made this trek even harder. He did these things just to make her life easier and, as such, it was.

She hadn’t expected him to be quite so... kind.

The thoughts filled her with a sense of levity. She would make it to the almshouse. She’d do something for him, after all this time that he’d been taking care of her. For once, she could do the same for him.

Once she was close to town, Katherine noticed there was a shadow behind her. Not much of one, really. Perhaps a person on their way back home after a particularly long day working in the mines or in the swamps gathering peat. Until she saw a second shadow join that one as well.

Nerves churned in her belly. There was no reason for her to be so nervous, but she was. And then a third shadow, this one much closer than the others and therefore infinitely taller.

She shouldn’t have been so nervous. This was her town. Katherine had grown up on these planks and boardwalks her entire life. No one questioned where she came from, how she’d gotten here, or what she might be doing.

They knew her, just as she knew all of them.

But something deep inside her soul told her to be afraid. That those three shadows were a direct threat to her wellbeing.

She could only shrug it off for so long. Katherine told herself that Gluttony had gotten into her head. She was in no danger in her own home, and no one would dare harm her. Goodness, she’d stitched almost the entire town back together at some point, and many of them she’d stitched multiple times.

They wouldn’t want to get rid of her. Nor would they attack her for any reason whatsoever.

Unless they heard she was staying with Gluttony.

Unless someone had told them that she was with him, and then maybe someone might... might...

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. Katherine turned around and met the stares of three men who watched her with hungry eyes. They didn’t seem surprised that she’d turned, as someone might if they weren’t following her. Instead, they crossed their arms over their thick chests and just stood there. Blocking her way back to the castle.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

“You don’t, miss,” the one on the right said. He was larger than the other three, a bit heavy around the middle, and significantly taller. She had to crane her neck to look at him. “You Katherine?”

“I am.”

“What are you doing back here?”

She didn’t need to justify herself! How dare he? She drew herself up a little taller, squaring her shoulders so she looked a little more impressive. “I’m going to the almshouse. I work there.”

“Do you now?”

“I have for years.” And then she realized she didn’t know any of these three men. Not a single one of them.

Katherine knew everyone in her town by name. She’d been there for many of the children’s births. She had played with every towns person and even walked by them a hundred times. She knew the people in this town.

These were strangers.

Swallowing, she took a step away from the three. “You’re not from around these parts.”

“No, miss.” The one on the left took a step toward her, closing the gap she’d just made. “We’re here to make sure everything runs smooth, you understand? There’s been a lot of people getting hurt in these parts, and we just want to make sure that won’t happen anymore.”

What were they talking about? She took another step back, wondering if maybe one of her friends would be out and about this time of the day. Maybe, if she was lucky, Grace might be heading to the almshouse.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, craning her neck to look behind her very quickly before turning her attention back to them. “I have a bad hip, so I really need to get to the almshouse before there’s too much of a line. If you’ll excuse me.”

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll be doing that.” The man in the middle didn’t move, but his thin features and beady eyes made her freeze all the same. “Word on the street is that you’ve got yourself a demon friend. Now, I find it curious that any self-respecting young woman would stay around a monster like that for very long.”

“I’ve been visiting my mother’s property in a neighboring town. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We both know you’re lying.” He tapped his nose. “Easy enough to smell the stench of fear, lovely. I don’t have to be a demon to sniff that out of you.”

Her heart raced. Her palms grew sweaty, and she grabbed her skirts to keep them at least a little dry.

Who were these men? And why were they following her?

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.” Katherine licked her lip, trying to get her dry mouth to work. “I really need to be going, though.”

She didn’t give them a chance to say anything else. The last thing she wanted was to show them her back, but she couldn’t run no matter what. Her hip wouldn’t let her move that fast, so she was forced to keep her back straight and her breathing even as she trusted them not to attack her from behind.

They didn’t, thank goodness. But she felt the weight of their gazes all the way through the town.

It took her far too long to get through the familiar boardwalks and onto the path that lead to the almshouse. She would have liked to stop at her old apartment—the one that her landlord now said she didn’t need to worry about payment for—but she was afraid they’d break in and go through her things.

So she kept her head down, her attention on her feet, and made her way all the way to the almshouse without anyone trying to hurt her. But she could feel the sizzling intensity of their regard as she moved, and it made her skin crawl.

They wanted her to be uncomfortable. They wanted her to know they were there. What she didn’t understand was why?

No one had any reason to threaten her. Other than Gluttony himself, and even then, wasn’t she doing the right thing? She was keeping his attention away from everyone else. She had made certain that he wouldn’t attack anyone at all. She’d given herself, freely and without question.

The almshouse door opened at her knock and Grace stuck her head out. Her lovely friend looked exhausted, so pale she rivaled paper as she looked Katherine up and down.

“Oh, thank goodness it’s you.” Grace grabbed her arm and yanked her inside. “We need all the help we can get today. I’m sure you’ve heard, but it’s so much worse than you imagined.”

“I haven’t heard anything. I’ve been...” She didn’t need to finish the sentence. Not with Grace looking at her with all that pity. “What?”

“It’s Gluttony,” Grace said.

“What about him?”

“He went on a rampage last night. There’s easily ten of them, Katherine. More coming in every hour and their necks...” Grace went even paler somehow, pressing a shaking hand to her own neck. “We’ve lost six already. Maybe you can... Maybe you can help?”

Katherine felt like the world tilted underneath her feet. It all hit her at the same moment. The sound of groaning from the other room. The metallic scent of blood in the air and the exhaustion of her friend, who must have not slept at all last night. And then there was the betrayal, the sudden, strange feeling of jealousy burning in her stomach.

Grabbing Grace’s arm, she tugged her to the side so no one would overhear them. “Are you sure it was Gluttony? He’s been with me, you see, and after our deal, I was certain that he wouldn’t... He wouldn’t...”

Oh, that pity on Grace’s face made her want to throw things. “When was the last time he fed from you?”

She could feel her friend’s eyes on her neck. The mark he’d left on her had almost healed entirely. It was hard for even Katherine to see, and she’d been staring at it for days now.

It had been such a long time since he’d fed. A week? Maybe more?

“Not that long,” she replied, suddenly feeling as though she needed to defend her demon. Her... friend.

Grace shook her head. “Does it matter? He’s killing people, Katherine. Again. Maybe it was a good idea you had, and it sounds like he doesn’t want to break you, and that’s a good thing. But he’s got to be getting his food from somewhere if he’s not getting it from you. So, can you help or not?”

Nodding, not quite realizing she was doing it, Katherine looked back to the room where all the moans were coming from. “I can help. Just for a little while, though. He’s expecting me back.”

“Of course he is.” Grace’s face twisted into an expression that was truly ugly. “Why would he want to give up his favorite meal?”

That wasn’t anything Katherine had ever said. Gluttony hadn’t said that to her either.

Confusion set in. Why was her friend so adamant that this was Gluttony’s doing? And why did it seem like Grace resented that Katherine was in the castle?

She’d done what no one else wanted to do. She’d thrown herself at him for keeps and she had let him keep her. Not for money, not for anything other than their safety.

There would be time to think about this, but right now, she needed to put her attention on the poor souls moaning behind the curtains. But when Katherine made her way back, wrapping herself in a thick apron that would hopefully keep all the blood off her clothing, she couldn’t help but look closer at the wounds.

When Gluttony had fed from her, he’d left two perfect puncture wounds on her neck. They were thin and narrow, easy enough for him to feed from, but certainly not as wide as these.

She bent, gently tracing her fingers over the wound of the nearest body. The person had unfortunately passed, but even she could see these gash wounds weren’t like what Rose or herself had experienced. Her former neighbor had twin lines down the back of her neck, like she had ripped herself out of Gluttony’s arms.

These were rips of the flesh. They looked like knife wounds. Long and gashing, like someone had been very determined to kill this person.

“Katherine!” Grace called out. “Don’t waste your time looking, just get to sewing. There’s two more on the front doorstep. Someone just dropped them off.”

With a pit in her stomach, she went to gather her tools. But she couldn’t stop thinking that this wasn’t right.

She didn’t think Gluttony had done this. But someone else certainly had.