Page 72 of The Demon Mark

Her last master had been a terrible person. He had treated her horribly, and that was enough reason for her to be well aware of what she had done wrong. Trusting any man to take care of her was the problem. She needed to take care of herself.

So she had gone to the library that she’d found days earlier. There had to be books on how to take care of herself. And yet, there was nothing in there other than stodgy old books full of spells. And she didn’t know the first thing about magic, so it wasn’t all that interesting for her to read them.

How had he only been gone for a couple of hours?

Lilith had gone through her entire thought process of what she’d done wrong in her life, everything she could have done better, and of course, what she should do moving forward. Then she’d gone to the library again. And then she’d even gone back to her room and organized all the clothing that was left in her closet. She pulled every piece out, inspected all of them to make sure they were in good enough quality and then ended up flat on her back in bed, staring at the ceiling.

“What is wrong with you?” she muttered. “You used to be fine without men. You could wander about without even thinking of them, and now, all of a sudden, you’re incapable of living without him?”

Of course, she knew there was another factor in all of this. A factor that made her cheeks burn bright red and every part of her body flare white hot.

Maybe it wasn’t that she missed him at all. Maybe she just wanted to fuck him.

After all, he’d made it seem like it was going to be quite the ordeal to even get him to fit. Her hand wandered down her torso, lingering on her breasts before it meandered down her belly.

If he was here, he’d know how to scratch this persistent itch that never seemed to leave her. He could whisper in her ear, telling her all sorts of naughty things until her entire body lit aflame. That’s what she wanted, after all.

Lilith didn’t miss him. She just missed the feelings he gave her.

Yes, that was so much easier to think about than to consider she might actually miss a man who was responsible for hundreds of deaths throughout the kingdom.

The crackling sound of a portal filled the room, and she was about ready to end the person’s life. Who cares if it was even Envy at this point? If he walked through there, he better be crawling on his hands and knees, ready to beg her for her forgiveness with his tongue. But no, of course it wasn’t him.

She was still reclined on the bed when the other man was flung through the portal. He caught himself on the bed in a whirl of movement, naked as the day he was born with a blanket pooled around his feet, spinning to glare at the portal before looking around the room as though he expected to be attacked.

The moment his yellow eyes landed on her, they warmed. And she had the distinct moment of realizing his eyes were slitted before they widened into normal pupils as he looked back at her.

“Well, what do we have here?” he asked, his voice deep and gruff.

Lilith took her time surveying him. He was, after all, a rather impressive specimen. Taller than Envy, he was long and lean in an almost shocking contrast. There was the faintest dusting of scales along his cheeks, quite pretty as the fake sunlight glinted off of them. His deep brown hair was tousled, as though he regularly ran his fingers through it. And there was the faintest hint of pink on his cheeks, as though he’d run here.

Or perhaps, as though he’d been thrust out of bed before he was ready. But perhaps her thoughts had turned far too much into the lustful lifestyle that Envy had given to her.

She didn’t know what to do. So she stayed frozen where she was, looking at him while he looked at her before she blurted, “Who are you?”

He tossed his hair, like the rake he clearly was, and flashed her another bright grin. “Oh, pretty ladies like you have to earn my name. Who, I should be asking, are you?”

She wouldn’t tell him a thing about herself. That smarmy smile made her skin crawl, and she pressed herself against the headboard and drew her legs in tight to her chest. “I’m not sure you’re supposed to be here.”

Another man stepped through the portal and it closed behind him with a sizzle of magic. Envy glared at the two of them before bursting into movement. One moment, the stranger was leaning against the bed and the next, Envy had and yanked halfway across the room before yanking a long tunic over his head.

Envy glanced over her, making sure every part of her was where he had left it before grunting, “You’re well, oracle?”

She nodded, lest he start fighting with the man in his grip. Or hitting the man in his grip, she supposed. The stranger wasn’t fighting in the slightest.

Instead, that stranger was now looking at her with a rather slack jawed expression. “Oracle? Wait a second. Is this her?”

Envy rolled his eyes and loosened his grip on the man. “Yes, brother, this is her.”

“Brother?” Lilith asked.

So much was happening at the same time here, and she didn’t have a chance to catch up. How did this man know who she was? How were they even brothers? They looked nothing alike, and she would have noticed if they did. Why were they even in her room? And what was the point of all this?

She shook her head, trying to clear the questions from her mind so she could ask at least one. “What are you two doing here?” she finally asked.

Envy gave his brother a little shake. “Loop holes.”

“Loop holes?” Now there were even more questions on her mind. “Envy, I don’t follow.”

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