Chapter 24

ChapterTwenty-Four

“You idiot,” Gluttony hissed.

“Me?” his brother growled in response. “You’re the one who’s had her living here this entire time and didn’t know she was injured?”

“She’s not injured!” Don’t kill your brother, Gluttony told himself. Repeating the words in his head until he got his breathing under control. “She was injured. Just like the rest of us. We’ve all been injured at some point in our lives. It doesn’t mean you get to point out her history!”

“I didn’t! I merely noticed that she has a limp, and that she is rather covered in scars. Both details that you obviously ignored!” Envy slammed his hand down on the table and it cracked right down the middle. “I understand that I was out of line. But you cannot keep someone so fragile, Gluttony. She’s already been through enough. Is this not proof that you need to let her go?”

Gluttony lunged forward. He grabbed his brother by the shirt and jerked him close. “Listen to me right now, Envy. That woman is braver and stronger than any of us. She has been through a lot. Yes, I understand that. But I will do everything in my power to ensure she is never harmed again. And right now? You’re the closest thing that might harm her. So I suggest you leave.”

“Or what?”

“Or I will find out just how powerful of a spirit I can consume.” He snapped the words through ground teeth. “You are no brother of mine. Get out.”

He tossed Envy back a few steps and then whirled to leave. He had no idea where Katherine had run off to, but there was so much for him to fix. So much that made his heart ache.

He hated she even had memories like that. Burning alive when she was so young? The pain of a twisted and broken hip that had lingered with her for the rest of her life? None of it should have been part of her memories. And wouldn’t have been, if he had been with her since the beginning.

Mad thoughts danced through his mind. He wanted to break something. He wanted to hit someone for daring to hurt her, but there was nothing for him to hit. The only person he could yell at was her, for daring to put herself in danger long before he met her. Even then, he knew the thoughts were a lingering madness. He couldn’t yell at her for taking risks in her life. He couldn’t scold her for what she didn’t know as a child.

But what he could do was be here for her. And she needed him. Because the look in her eyes when she realized she had to tell him all that? He knew what that emotion was.

Shame.

He’d seen it in his own eyes more times than he could count, and it struck him like a knife between the ribs to see it in hers. She didn’t deserve to ever feel like that.

Not in front of him. He didn’t care what she had been through or where she came from.

Katherine was his. And those memories were his because they were hers.

Setting his jaw, he followed her scent through his home and all the individual rooms she’d tried to hide in. He paused in one she’d only explored a few moments. She’d wandered into this abandoned study, seen all the sheets over every single piece of furniture, and then turned around.

Where was she?

It took him a little while to follow the trail outside, and then he found her. Limping down the boardwalk. She kept dashing the palms of her hands over her cheeks, and he hated to see that she was crying. For him. He’d never wanted her to cry for him.

“Katherine,” he called out, making his way down the wooden planks.

“Go away, Gluttony! I don’t want to talk.”

“Well, I want to talk.”

“And we do everything you want, is that it?”

Oh, this stubborn woman would be the death of him. Grumbling, he sped up his pace. “No, we don’t. I listen to what you want, and I ask what you want. Why are you running from me?”

She tried to speed up, but then the worst happened. Her leg, oh gods, her leg. He should have noticed that limp a lot sooner than he had. But it twisted underneath her, moving a little too fast and getting caught underneath the other one. She tripped, her hands outstretched to cushion her fall, but he could already hear the snapping of her wrist bones if she fell like that.

So he sprinted forward. And he knew she didn’t want him to touch her, but he had to touch her.

He had to know she was all right.

Gluttony lunged, wrapping her in his arms long before she hit the ground. Her breath stuttered, her eyes finding his arm around her waist as he drew her upright. Carefully, always so carefully.

He put her back onto her feet, holding onto her only until she was stable before he released her and held up his hands for peace. “I just want to talk,” he said. “Will you let me talk?”

“I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

“That’s fine. You don’t have to say anything back. Just listen to me.” He dipped slightly, forcing her to look at his face. “Yes? Will you listen at least?”

His heart wouldn’t stop its rapid beat until she finally nodded. And though that made him sweat, it was permission for him to at least try to save this.

“My brother is an idiot.”

She curled her lips in and he knew that she was trying to hide a disbelieving laugh. Maybe that wasn’t what she’d thought he would lead with.

He smiled, relieved she could at least find some humor in all this. “I don’t care what he thinks or what he says. I’m sorry you went through that. I’m sorry your life has not been as easy as I wish it had been for you, but that changes nothing. You’re still Katherine.”

He saw her melt, just a little. She looked at him, at least, and that soft expression returned to her gaze. “You don’t agree with him?”

“That you’re broken? No.” Desperately, Gluttony moved a little closer and then wrapped one of her curls around his finger. He moved her hair and gently revealed the faintest of scars on the side of her face. Scars he’d never noticed at all. “Like mended bone, you are stronger now than you were then. And that is admirable.”

She swallowed, and he tracked the movement with a desperation he wasn’t used to.

He wanted... No, he needed her to stay. He couldn’t survive without her. Didn’t she see that? And he was willing to do anything, say anything...

“I don’t want to say goodbye to you,” he said abruptly. “I don’t have a lot of friends, Katherine.”

“That’s rather obvious.”

“You could have at least pretended to be surprised,” he grumped, pleased when she finally smiled at him.

“I’m not surprised, though, and I have no wish to lie to you.” Katherine swallowed, and that shadow passed in front of her face again. “Or at least, anymore.”

“You never lied.” Gluttony reached for her hip and then tugged her into his arms. He wrapped her firmly in his grip, needing her to understand that his words were true. “You had no reason to tell me about your history or how you were hurt. I never asked. You never offered. Neither of those are lies.”

“I don’t think we’ve been very good friends to each other,” she murmured against his collarbone. “Friends know about the things that happened in each other’s pasts. They know everything about the person, as though they are an extension of another.”

“Is that true?” He rocked her side to side. “I’ve never had a friend. I’m afraid you’ll have to teach me how to be a good one.”

“Well, I suppose we could start over...” Katherine pulled out of his arms and held out her hand. “Hello. My name is Katherine. I was injured in a fire when I was very little, and I have a permanent limp and a very painful leg.”

He took her hand without hesitation. “Hello, Katherine. My name is Gluttony. I am a spirit who has taken flesh and then named myself a god. Most people in this kingdom are terrified of me. You probably should be too.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I wish to drink your blood, and the smell of it makes me forget that anything else exists.”

She bit her lip. “That sounds like an obsession.”

“Oh it is.” With a solemn nod, he tugged her a little closer, leaning in for dramatics. “I would burn this whole kingdom to the ground for a drop of your blood.”

“How terrifying.”

“Indeed. You should be very frightened.”

She stared up into his eyes, so joyful and pleased, when moments ago she’d been running in fear. “Why would I ever be frightened of you?”

Gluttony bared his teeth in a snarl, knowing his fangs were on full display. “You’re right. I can’t imagine a single reason at all.”

They stared at each other for a few moments. He didn’t know what was going on in her mind, but he knew that in his, he was just happy to be here with her. That she hadn’t left. He’d successfully convinced her that he wasn’t a monster, yet again, and she wasn’t running any more.

That was enough.

It was enough to know that she looked at him and saw a man. Still. After everything she had seen and experienced.

“Well?” he finally said, interrupting the moment and releasing her hand. “Are you going to come back with me?”

“Is Envy there?”

“My brother goes where he wants,” Gluttony replied with a heavy sigh. “I asked him to leave, and I believe it was very obvious I have no interest in taking no for an answer this time. But whether or not he does leave... That is the question.”

“You cannot make him?” Katherine started back up the boardwalk, toward the castle that was a surprising distance from them.

“None of us can make any of our kind do anything. Though we are all powerful in our own way, we are all equally yoked.” He shrugged at her strange expression. “Similar power levels. He has illusions and nasty tattoos that can take any form he wishes. Although I am quicker and stronger, with claws that certainly could rend his flesh, it would be hard to reach him through the guards he keeps quite literally in his skin.”

“And if he were to attack you?”

“I would put up a fight that would destroy most, if not all, of his magical guards.”

She hummed low under her breath, the strange gait of her limp no longer hidden as she stepped across the boards. “Is that the same with the rest of your brothers?”

“In a way.” It felt rather freeing to talk about his family with someone who didn’t know them. Someone who would side with him no matter what he said. “There are two of my brothers who are significantly stronger, one in particular that none of us would wish to fight. Wrath is the dangerous one. But Pride is the brains behind everything, and he plays Wrath like a puppet. So it is... dangerous for any of us to go up against those two.”

“Theoretically, you could team up with Envy and then no one would attack either of you.” She paused, lifting a brow to see if she was right.

“Unfortunately, together we are not even as strong as one of them.” He inclined his head at her scoff. “I know it’s hard to believe, but the politics of kings are... difficult. To say the least.”

“A commoner like myself would have a hard time understanding any of it.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He finally gave in to temptation and skated his finger over her cheek. “My brothers are so beyond anything humans have experienced before. Spirits have limits, just like everything else. But we are infinitely powerful and immortal. Nothing that we know of can kill us.”

“Are you sure of that?” Her gaze searched his, and he wondered why she was suddenly so afraid.

“Many have tried to kill me. I’ve survived it so far.” But he knew there was more to this. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

She turned her attention away from him, toward the town that was far in the distance. He could just barely make out the coils of smoke that rose from their chimneys. Why was she looking there, though?

“Their necks...” she whispered before shaking her head and looking back at him. “Gluttony, I’ve been thinking about their necks. They said it was you, but I’ve seen the wounds you leave. They aren’t intentional, and that’s very apparent in how rough they are. I don’t... I think someone might be trying to impersonate you. Someone is killing these people, there’s no doubt about that.”

“How is there no doubt that it’s not a creature?”

“One of the victims could barely speak. But she continued to say something about him. A man. She kept saying something about how dark it was and how he was so strong.” Katherine shook her head. “It all lines up with you, but rather like shoving a similar puzzle piece into the same space. It lines up, but the picture is wrong.”

“And all we’re left with is a concerning picture indeed.” Yes, her words were troubling. There were very few people who would try to harm him like this.

Gluttony didn’t have a good reputation amongst the townsfolk. All anyone would really need to do was mention that they’d heard he was killing again, and that was more than enough to make people mistrustful.

Why were they killing anyone? It seemed like a lot of effort for very little reason.

He placed his hand on the small of her back and steered her back toward the castle. “You are still certain you wish to work?”

“Yes?” Katherine stared up at him, letting him guide her across the planks. “Why are you bringing that up now?”

“If those men were bothering you because they thought you were with me, then perhaps I will give them a reason to leave you alone. I’d like to come with you into town next time.”

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

“Oh, it’s a fantastic idea.” He wouldn’t let her go alone. He needed to get her safely back in the castle so he could work this plan out a little better. “I prefer to know who my enemies are, and where they are. Rather than let them scatter my people like rats fleeing a sinking ship.”

“Gluttony,” she scolded.

“What?” He looked down at her with mock surprise on his features. “You don’t agree?”

“I don’t think you should risk it.”

“Ah, but I cannot be killed.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he gave her a little squeeze. “And I have my best friend by my side. What could possibly go wrong?”