Page 70 of The Demon Mark

“I am not willing to give you any more advice. Nor am I willing to help you with your problems. You’re a grown man, you can figure it out on your own.” He reached for one of the women, pulling her a little closer to his side. She landed against his chest with a little thud that echoed through the room, and Envy could smell blood on the air.

Sloth’s scales had cut her skin. He wasn’t certain that his brother even realized that, as he was so intent on glaring at Envy. But he had to let the woman go before more of that blood was smeared over his chest.

Another change, he supposed. Envy would have provoked his brother back in the day, just to see how much of that red liquid would spread before the woman said something. Or perhaps before his brother noticed. But he didn’t want that to happen right now. He wanted Sloth to let her go.

“You’re breaking that one, brother. Perhaps you should let her go before we injure her even more with this conversation.” Envy gestured at the blood on his brother’s chest. “Unless you like to decorate yourself with blood these days.”

His brother’s brow arched in surprise. “Since when do you care if I hurt one of my dolls?”

Envy never had before, but right now, he needed Sloth to let the woman go.

Thankfully, his brother did. Envy wasn’t sure why he was thinking about getting into a fight with Sloth over just some woman, but... he would have. He would have punched his brother in the throat a few times to get him to let go.

And that was cause enough for Sloth to stand. He dumped the woman at his feet and grabbed one of the blankets that covered another. All the women made little noises of upset. Not that he had grabbed items from them or that he’d practically thrown the other one. No, they were mews of need and wanting. They desired for him to stay and not to go with Envy.

What was going on in this kingdom?

Shaking his head, he cast one last look at the countless women before following his brother deeper into the sanctuary. There were more buildings here, more privacy, because even Sloth didn’t trust a single person who served him. Finally, they reached a room much deeper in the sands. The door disappeared down into the depths, but already Envy could see a wink of gold in the distance.

“Opulent,” he muttered on their way down. “Even for you.”

“Greed has the desert kingdom with artifacts hidden beneath the sands. I have the kingdom that shows how great his could be.” Sloth flashed a bright grin behind him, but it was one filled with madness and desire.

The gold was what called to his brother. Not the need to be better than Greed.

And gold there was.

As they walked into the room, Envy was shocked to see mountains of gold coins and jewelry. So many mounds of it that some had melted into the others. This was a regular dragon’s hoard, showing just how deep into the madness his brother had sunk.

“Sloth,” he murmured, gesturing to the mounds surrounding them. “What is all this?”

“You said you were here for advice, so talk.” Sloth made it to the bottom of the stairs that led into the small pathways between the mounds. But then he reclined in the gold. Not a chair, but in one of the mounds themselves. “Don’t make comments about how I live my life.”

“Someone clearly needs to. You’re devolving down into madness a little faster than the rest of us.”

“Talk to Wrath.”

He would talk to Wrath if that’s what Sloth wanted. Someone needed to do something about this. Spirits like themselves could go insane. Just as his brothers had changed into spirits that were kinder and softer, Sloth could turn into one more nefarious.

They could control themselves well enough, but if one of them went mad or evil? That was a problem they all needed to know about.

Sloth narrowed his gaze upon Envy, and he knew there was only so much he could say to fix this situation.

Envy held up his hands in peace. “Fine. Fine, I will say nothing. I need you to return to my kingdom with me. I have a problem, and I need another demon to help me fix it.”

“You know we’re not really demons.”

“We are becoming demons the longer that we rule, even you cannot argue that truth.”

Sloth shrugged. “If that was what we were born to become, then who are we to deny our own fate? However, no. I will not be returning with you to your kingdom, nor do I have any interest in doing so. You can fix your own problems, brother.”

“Part of my problem is her.”

“You can also fix your own sexual issues. Can’t keep it up? She’ll help you with that, I’m certain of it.”

Envy blew out a long breath to steady himself. He hadn’t come here to get in a fight, he reminded himself. “There are people in my kingdom who wish to kill her. She is an oracle, which is important to all of us, not just me. But more than that, I find her to be... unusually attractive and necessary for my own survival.”

“Is that so?” Sloth tilted his head to the side. “So you’ve stopped fighting it, then. Good for you.”

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