Page 98 of The Demon Mark

Wrapping an arm around his neck, she drew him into her for a kiss that seared through every part of her body. She kissed him as though she was dying and this would be the last time she ever kissed him. Because it felt like it was. She loved him so much and there wasn’t a bit of her that would ever forget it.

He’d not only saved her from the villains who wanted to kill her, but he’d given her a future that was the best she could dream of. A gift of a future like that was far better than any she could dream up on her own.

When they finally came up for air, she heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stone stairwell toward them. With her arm wrapped around his neck, she covered them with the mist of her power. It was so easy now. All of a sudden, it was like the attack had linked her power with what she wanted. Now, it wasn’t her and the oracle, they were one and the same.

But it was just Sloth. Not another person coming to attack them. Just a demon king who staggered up the stairwell, breathing hard, with Orphe perched on his shoulder. His stomach was rather distended and uncomfortable looking.

“Sorry to interrupt, lovebirds. I just thought we could get out of this crumbling room, if it’s all the same to you. I can’t leave without Envy making me a portal, after all. And I think I’ve done my fair share of the fighting, so I’d like to go home.”

Right, of course. They were wasting time and...

Envy caught her chin and made her look at him, not his brother. Those green eyes were filled with mirth and he pressed one more kiss to her lips. “My queen, do you give me leave to bring my brother home?”

“If you must.”

“I think it would be best to get rid of him. I have plans for what I want to do to you.” His eyes heated for a moment before he stood with her in his arms. When he turned, he hesitated when he saw Orphe on Sloth’s shoulder. “Where did you get off to?”

Orphe spread her wings, an aggressive stance that said she was very much prepared to fight her master if he said one more word. “I got the dragon. You were going to lose the fight.”

“I fought them off just fine. I didn’t need Sloth.”

Her feathers ruffled, but she settled down a little. “You were going to lose.”

“I was not!”

The words rang throughout the room filled with her prophecies, and Lilith swore she heard the whispers all combine into one sentence.

“Look at her,” the prophecies seemed to say. “She’s finally found a home.”

39

He’d never sent his brother off faster than he did after saving her. He settled Lilith in her room at the castle and then summoned a portal and practically shoved his brother through it.

Of course, Sloth didn’t let him off easily. So when his brother had reached through and yanked him into the portal after him, there was nothing Envy could do to stop it. Angry, and perhaps a little sexually frustrated as well, he endured his brother only to get back to her faster.

“Envy, you have to be careful with her. She’s more delicate than any of us. You know Lorenzo will not be the last person who thinks they can control her. And if they think that, then they absolutely are going to come after her. You needed a dragon to defeat them this time, so you had better assume that you’re going to need more than that next time.”

“I know.”

“I don’t think you’re taking this seriously. You need better tattoos. More of them. Perhaps even a dragon of your own, although I’m not sure you have enough space for it.” Sloth’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Actually, you really should have a dragon by now. Why don’t you? We hunted them in this kingdom for ages before you moved into your underground home.”

“I know how to take care of her, Sloth.”

“I’m just saying it seems like you needed me for a lot more of that than you should have. I don’t understand how you are so incapable of saving her if you have all that power at your fingertips. I had hoped that you would be more involved in the fight, but instead you just sent me out there like your leashed animal. Which I am not, by the way.”

Finally, he’d had enough. Envy reached forward and slapped his hand over Sloth’s mouth. His brother’s brows rose in shock, and there was a flash of yellow that meant his dragon was a little higher to the surface than it should have been.

But this was important, and he needed Sloth to shut his mouth for once.

“Listen to me, and listen well, Sloth.” He waited a few more seconds to make sure that his brother was listening before he continued. “That woman is part of me. I would no sooner carve off my own arm than let someone lay a single finger upon the golden hair on her head. I refuse to let her be harmed again, and it will not happen. I will do everything in my power to make sure. Do you understand?”

Sloth nodded, but Envy didn’t remove his hand. Not yet, at least.

“Now, as far as you being the weapon who saved her, you needed to save her. After losing your own woman, I could see that you were starting to fracture. You’re not yourself, Sloth. You’re barely the emotion you have always been, and if you are not the spirit of that, then what are you? You needed to save Lilith just as much as I needed to save her. You needed to prove to yourself that you could save one of our loves, even if you couldn’t save your own.”

And there it was. Sloth deflated and all that anger drained out of him. With a nod, he stepped back and then waved a hand toward the portal. “You’re right. Go back to her, brother. I know how much you want her.”

It stung to see the need in Sloth’s gaze. His brother wanted his own woman to return to. Not just any woman, but his. The one who had rocked his entire world and changed everything.

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