Chapter 26

ChapterTwenty-Six

“Envy?” Gluttony said, pushing his glasses up his nose as he looked at his newest experiment. “Get out of my lab.”

“I’m just looking.”

“No, you are not. You’re touching.” He sighed and spun around on the stool, watching his brother poke at everything he could get his fingers on. “You’re leaving smudge marks.”

“I am not.” Envy lifted a vial up to the light, tilting it back and forth. “See? Perfectly clean.”

“Still touching.”

His brother heaved a rather dramatic sigh and then placed the vial back on the table. “You really are too finicky about these things. I can replace any vial I might break.”

“But not what’s inside it.”

“Yes, yes, we all know how finicky you are about your things.” At least Envy put the vial down, but apparently he was taking this opportunity to talk.

Gluttony didn’t want to talk. He was getting significantly closer to solving his brothers’ problems, and that was all because of a small amount of lunar caustic he had left over from a while ago. He’d found the dust covered bottle in the very back of his lab and thought to give it a try.

The black mist had turned a pretty deep blue. Which meant, unsurprisingly, he was correct. The mist that had been used to attack both him and Greed was alchemical in origin, and he could figure out what it was made of.

Envy was only prolonging that process, however, and he needed his brother to leave.

Envy, apparently, had other opinions. His brother snatched another stool and set it in front of Gluttony, plopping down beside his workstation and grabbing yet another vial.

“Has she forgiven me, yet?” Envy asked, looking at the pale yellow substance through the glass.

“For telling her that she was less worthy because of her past injuries?” Gluttony snorted. “Oh, sure. She’s forgiven you.”

“Well, that’s good then.”

“I was being sarcastic.” Gluttony pushed his glasses up again and turned back toward the vials, ignoring his brother’s spluttering anger. “She will not forgive you without a reason to, and all you’ve done since then is hide or lurk around us. You need to actually apologize for it.”

“I did.”

“You haven’t said a word to her since the whole ordeal.” Gluttony rolled his eyes, trying his best to focus on his work and not on his idiot brother. “She’s not a toy for you to play with. She’s a woman who was extremely insulted by what you said. And has every right to be.”

“I’m not good with women. I’m better with toys.”

“Is that what you call your conquests these days?” he asked, while tilting a slight amount of ammonia into his vial. “I’m sure they appreciate that very much. They probably return to their mother and sing your praises about how the demon of envy thought they were fun to play with.”

“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you.”

“Oh, it always has. You just don’t like hearing that you aren’t a very good person.”

Envy stiffened beside him. “I’m a fine person. Besides, we aren’t people, anyway. We’re demon kings who rule our kingdoms because no one else could do it properly.”

Yet again, another one of his brothers showcased the arrogance that had gotten them all in trouble to begin with. Instead of arguing, although he wanted to, Gluttony peered at his experiment and asked, “Do you really believe that?”

They sat in silence for a while as his brother thought over his words. And Gluttony found himself surprised at Envy’s response.

“No, I suppose I don’t. My kingdom had always been well off long before I ever got involved, and I inherited that. My councillors do most of the work for me, while I live in luxury until there are times when they need me.” Envy shrugged. “It’s not the same existence as the others, and I acknowledge that. I am less of a king and more of a glorified god they send out to their enemies when the time comes.”

“Enemies.” Gluttony coughed out a laugh. “What enemies do mortals make?”

“You’d be surprised.” Envy’s voice had darkened into a low growl. “They make more enemies than you or I could ever dream of. They spend their lives fighting and fucking and dying. It’s all they care about. Those three things.”

“You sound like you have more experience with their kind than you’re letting on.” Gluttony finally put down his experiment and turned to his brother. Removing his glasses to clean them, he asked, “I thought you were always the brother who avoided humans?”

“I take what others have,” Envy replied. “So what makes you think I haven’t taken mortals as well?”

They stared at each other while Gluttony tried to understand what Envy was telling him. “You clearly wish for Katherine to forgive you. Why? Because you wish to take her for your own?”

“I cannot lie and say that I haven’t thought about it. You and her are so very comfortable with each other. It is tempting to want that for myself.” Envy held up his hand before Gluttony could lash out. “But I have no interest in your pretty little broken doll, brother. I only wish to not be the person who has ruined that for you.”

“Why?”

“Because there is change in the wind, brother. Change that neither you nor I can understand.” Envy leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Lust is no longer the same spirit. Neither is Greed. I have to wonder if this is a reckoning for all of us.”

“We all knew it would come.”

“We did. But we do not know what will happen if we cannot control ourselves.” Finally, Envy looked back at him. “I fear what will happen if we do not adapt. You or I are not ones to change who we are easily. I see myself in you, Gluttony. What will happen if you cannot fix yourself and your need to consume? Will your kingdom be taken from you? Will you fall behind as the tides of change sweep everyone else to sea?”

“Are you worried?” Gluttony asked. “You seem so very much unlike yourself.”

He had to admit, however, Envy’s words struck true. They had seen two of their brothers change, and their kingdoms flourished because of it. Both of them now had a partner to rule with, and the women had made significant changes to their realms.

Lust worked harder than ever, and with more focus than any of their brothers had seen. His kingdom was already producing spells and magic for people to bring to their own kingdoms. Greed’s kingdom was slowly piecing itself back together. The fractured desert had always fought, but now it appeared to be fixing those long open wounds.

What would Gluttony’s kingdom do if he changed himself? He had a hard time imagining it.

“So you think this woman might be the one to change me?” he asked, before tossing his head in denial. “I doubt it. Katherine is a captive who made a deal with me to save her people. There is no love between us. Nothing other than an understanding that she is here to do her duty for her people.”

“And yet, she keeps coming back.”

“Because her people need her to.”

“Because she wants to,” Envy hissed. “How can you be so blind? I have seen her with you, brother. I’ve seen the way she even moves differently. As though you put her entirely at ease and no other person has ever given her that chance. You need to open your eyes or you will lose her.”

“Why are you saying all this?”

“I am afraid!” Envy shouted, and his words echoed back at them. The truth ringing clearly in every word. “I am afraid I cannot change and I want to make sure that you are well. If I cannot fix myself, then I will damn well fix you.”

Gluttony stared at his brother, wondering if Envy had lost his mind. “Of all our siblings, you know I am lost the farthest in darkness. There is no saving me, Envy.”

“You see yourself in a far different light than anyone else who meets you. I can save you, brother, and that starts with the woman I gravely insulted.” Envy turned his head toward the door and then gestured for Gluttony to get up. “She’s back. Go to her.”

“I have work to do. Katherine knows this. I’ll see her tonight when I... I...” Gluttony paused when he saw the absolute devastation on Envy’s features.

“Don’t waste so much time,” Envy said, his voice pitched little more than a whisper. “Go to her, brother. We never know how much time we have with them until it is too late.”

And Gluttony found himself standing. Perhaps it was the thought of losing her so soon, when he hadn’t actually said everything that needed to be said. Or perhaps it was the strangeness in his brother’s voice, but he couldn’t remain here.

Not when Katherine was in his castle. Not when her footsteps echoed through the halls and the scent of her trailed through the air.

He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. This woman who was so lovely, but who had no idea just what she was.

Gluttony caught up to her halfway to her room. She was muttering to herself, words he couldn’t quite catch, but he relaxed the moment he heard her voice.

“Katherine,” he called out, rushing a bit to join her in the dusty, dark hall. “I wasn’t expecting you to return so soon.”

She whirled around and he saw the frantic panic in her eyes before she burst out, “Are you sure you’re not killing anyone lately?”

Gluttony froze. Hadn’t they already had this conversation? “I am not.”

“You’re not sleepwalking?”

“No.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t sleep.”

“Then I know I am right. Someone is impersonating you, trying to kill as many people as they can, and then get away with it.” She shook her head, tiny furrows appearing between her eyes that he wanted to smooth out with his thumb. “But I cannot puzzle out why they’re doing it. You’re an easy target, certainly, but do they simply just enjoy killing? It’s a gruesome way for someone to die. And yet, nothing seems to make sense.”

He approached her, arms raised like he was trying to tame a wild horse. “I’m not following what you’re saying, Kat.”

“I’m saying there are so many new people in town. Ten? Twenty? More men than I saw, I’m certain of that. They’re all swarming that town and bringing in these mangled dead bodies while saying you did it. It doesn’t make sense.” She tapped her lips before her shoulders rounded in on themselves. “I’m sorry. I can’t figure it out.”

“Someone clearly wishes for your town to rebel against me. It’s not the first time it’s happened.” Gently, he reached for her hands and took them in his own. “It’s not your job to fix this, you know.”

“I feel like it is.” She stared up at him, those big green eyes seeing far too much. “I’m the only one who can tell them the truth. You cannot defend yourself. They won’t believe you. And every single one of them wishes to paint you as some kind of demon, and I just won’t let them.”

He squeezed her hands and tried to smile. “Kat.”

“What? Don’t use that tone with me.”

“I am a demon.” He tugged her a little closer, because how could he leave her so far away from him? She was a lioness, protecting him until the bitter end. “My brothers and I are all the villains in these stories. I’ve accepted it a long time ago.”

She let him reel her in, but she didn’t come into his arms as he’d expected.

Of course she didn’t. His Katherine was not the kind of person to take comfort in a time like this. Instead, she braced her hands on his chest and stared up at him with determination and strength.

“Someone needs to tell them the truth,” she said. “Someone needs to show them that you are not the monster they believe you to be.”

“How are you so certain of that?”

“Because I have been here for a while now and I see how hard you struggle. How much you work to make sure that your brothers are safe even when they give you no reason to treat them so well.” And then, as if she couldn’t help herself, Katherine reached up and traced her finger across his bottom lip. “And I have seen how gentle you are. I know what it feels like to have these hands on me. To touch you as I wish and to know what it is like for your fangs to be in my neck. You are not a killer, Gluttony. I truly believe that.”

Oh, and how that hurt. She had to know that he’d killed before. The rumors were rampant in his kingdom about the young woman he’d murdered in cold blood.

“You know that’s not true,” he whispered.

But he’d expected her to withdraw from him, and instead, she only took another step closer. Their hearts beat as one, thundering against each other as though struggling to touch through their ribs. “Tell me the truth of it,” she said. “I want to know.”

And for the first time since it happened, he wanted to tell someone.

“It is not a pretty story,” he murmured. “That part of my life is not something I am overly proud of. Nor is the ending happy.”

“I saw her body.” Katherine didn’t even stiffen when she said it. Just allowed the words to come out of her, so pragmatic and simple. “I was there when they brought her back to town. I remember her father crying and shrieking. I remember everyone in town believing that they should hunt you down.”

“They likely should have.”

“You didn’t let me finish.” This time, she put those gentle fingers over his mouth to keep him silent. “I remember what she looked like. How peaceful and serene her expression was. How her eyes were fluttered shut like she’d just closed them and how there were only two twin drops of blood on her neck. So pale and graceful she might have been asleep.”

Oh, the words hurt to hear. He remembered how she’d looked. Gluttony had been the one to bring her back home after he’d done... what he’d done.

It still hurt to think about. It still killed him that he’d had to do it, and now, he had to tell this other wonderful woman. She’d look at him differently after this, but... It was the right thing to do.

And he was trying so hard to do the right thing these days.

Folding his hand around hers, he drew her toward his study. “Come. We’ll want to be comfortable for this story, and I need a good few glasses of brandy before I say it.”

Katherine squeezed his hand back and followed him with a small limp. “Take all the time you need. I’m just proud of you for telling me the story at all.”

He wondered how long those feelings would last once she heard the truth.