Epilogue

CHAPTER 47

The portal opened beside her husband’s desk, and neither of them even flinched. Katherine had set herself in a comfortable armchair nearby, a book on her lap that described all the magical properties of a kelpie mane. She didn’t believe an ounce of it, otherwise her people would have been using the magical hair to stitch wounds closed for ages now.

Of course, it would have been impossible for them to even brush the water horses without Gluttony’s intervention. So perhaps there was some merit to closing wounds with a kelpie lock and then it staying closed forever. Apparently, it was rather good at healing human skin.

How someone had found that out, she didn’t want to know.

Gluttony was at his desk, where he had set up a small amount of alchemical substrates. Because nothing was flammable or explosive, he’d deemed it acceptable for them to work in his office.

After all, he was trying to figure out a way for them to mine the peat without encroaching on the homes of the natural creatures who still wanted nothing to do with the humans. It was all a work in progress, of course, but Gluttony was fairly confident they could find some kind of trade. And if the humans were able to make a specific kind of food for the creatures that they couldn’t get anywhere else, that was the first start toward healing the wounds that had plagued them all for a very long time.

But the portal opened regardless of their work, because Envy always thought everything was about him. Gluttony’s brother hadn’t come to visit them after the whole fiasco had happened, and Katherine was glad for it.

She wanted nothing to do with the brother who had almost kidnapped her. Nor did she think she was obligated to make amends.

Gluttony had different ideas, of course, but he’d feuded with his brother for centuries. He was used to arguments like this. She, however, was not.

Envy stepped through the portal and adjusted the fine suit he wore. The crushed black velvet was unlike anything she’d seen before, with silver threading traveling in swirling patterns of magic.

“You’re dressed up,” she said, then turned her attention back to her book, lest he think she was paying attention to him.

“I have other situations to deal with rather than just this one.” He clearly wanted her to ask questions about that, but when she didn’t, he sighed and snapped his fingers. “Are you going to give me back my falcon, or not?”

“You haven’t asked a single thing about us.” She snapped her book shut with a slam and glared at him. “The last time you saw the two of us, Gluttony was surely about to be attacked and you dragged me off to be kidnapped and then sent me through the swamp on my own!”

He waved a hand in the air. “My spies have already filled me in on everything. You’re both fine. I’m not worried about you.”

“You should have been! Your brother might have died!”

Even Gluttony gave her a strange look for that. “I can’t die, Kat.”

She was going to murder both of them and prove them wrong. “Oh, the two of you are just ridiculous. You do understand what I’m saying. I know you do. Envy, you should care more about your brother’s wellbeing and you shouldn’t be such an ass about everything. Ask him how he’s doing before you barge in here making demands!”

Although Envy gave her a strange look, he turned to his brother and asked, “How are you doing, Gluttony?”

“The same as always,” Gluttony replied, clearly trying to hide a grin. “I have changed into Restraint, but you may refer to me by my original name, as our brothers have set the precedence for.”

“Wonderful. Restraint is a good choice for you.” Envy turned to her with no small amount of exasperation. “Are you happy now, harpy?”

She ground her teeth together so hard she could hear them creak. “Not in the slightest.”

“Well, clearly you cannot be satisfied.” Envy sent a glare over to his brother. “Good luck with this one. I think she’s going to run you ragged. Now may I have my falcon back? I have use for it soon and I know you’ve been overfeeding it.”

Gluttony rolled his eyes. “One cannot overfeed a creature made from magic.”

“You can and you have.” Clearly annoyed now, Envy looked back at her and snapped his fingers. Again. “Give it back or I will take it back by force.”

Katherine stood, wandering over to the window of Gluttony’s office to summon his damned bird. “You know, one of these days you’re going to find a woman as well and she’s going to make you realize what an ass you are. In fact, I would hazard a guess that she’s going to make your life a bit of a nightmare. I hope she leads you on, and then I hope you feel horrible for all the things you’ve put everyone else through.”

Envy snorted. “First of all, no woman has ever been able to deny me. Second of all, there is no woman in this realm that would make people envious enough for me to waste my time. There are countless beauties, but there are no diamonds large enough to put the world on its knees.”

The falcon flew in through the window with a shriek. And Katherine was rather horrified to see it careen into Envy as he absorbed it. Literally. The magic hit him like a bolt and he didn’t even flinch. It just turned into ink that splattered across his face and neck, then sank into his skin and somehow disappeared.

Unnerving. This man was incredibly wrong and uncomfortable to look at sometimes.

Envy sighed and cracked his neck. “That’s better.”

“You’re going to find someone,” she called out as he strode toward the portal. “Mark my words, demon! And she’s going to make you regret every choice you’ve ever made.”

He looked over his shoulder at the last second, eyes glowing bright green. “Impossible, Katherine. She’d have to be perfect, and that doesn’t exist.”

“Maybe it does,” she murmured as he stepped through the portal and disappeared. “Stranger things have happened.”