Page 75 of The Demon Mark

So Sloth was slowing down considerably. And it was rather easy for Envy to catch up to him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he shouted up the stairs.

“To your office, where I am sure there are all manner of objects to get me home,” his brother replied testily. “I didn’t come here to have my future told, Envy. And I didn’t agree to having that witch look through my memories.”

“Careful who you call a witch.”

“Oh yes, yes,” Sloth shouted down the stairs, the words echoing through the entirety of Envy’s home. “You fancy yourself in love with her! How dare I insult the woman of your dreams?”

Not quite the woman of his dreams, if he was being honest. Envy had always thought if he was going to take a consort, he’d take a woman who was much more agreeable and less argumentative. However, Lilith had more than a few perks.

He enjoyed being around her. And that was more useful than having a woman who always told him that he was right, or just said yes when he asked her questions.

Still marching up the stairs, he gave Sloth some room to cool down on the way to his office. But he muttered a few spells under his breath to make sure anything Sloth touched wouldn’t work.

He understood the other man’s need to disappear and that he needed some space to himself. That didn’t mean Envy needed to give him that space.

Sloth stalked into his office and started looking around. It appeared that he had a particular item in mind, so Envy let him search. He just leaned against the doorframe and watched.

Sloth knew his magical objects. His brother was far more invested in sorcery than any of the others, even if he only dabbled in it compared to Envy. And though he took a few moments longer to find what he was looking for, he’d certainly done it faster than Envy had anticipated.

There was a small crystal sitting on one of the shelves. Innocent looking at first glance, but it was specifically created for teleportation. With just a few words, that crystal could bring someone anywhere they wanted, even if that was in another realm. It was a priceless piece, and one that many of his people had spent years trying to create.

They’d only created one before the mineshaft with those crystals had spontaneously crumbled. It crushed every single crystal within it. So it was the first and last of its kind. At least, until Envy found another vein of that same crystal and used it to his advantage.

Sloth reached for it with a small grunt of relief before his fingers hit an invisible shield.

As if Envy would ever let him just grab something from his office. There were too many priceless objects here. Objects that Sloth had no right to touch.

His brother gave him a dirty look over his shoulder. “I found it, brother. Give it to me.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You have no right to keep me here. I let your oracle do whatever she wanted to do in my mind. She found the answer you were looking for. That is good enough. Give me the crystal and let me go home.”

Envy shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”

“I have a kingdom to run of my own. The longer you keep me here, the worse things could go for my people. And if you think I’ll suffer through that, then you don’t realize just what I can do to yours.” His eyes slitted and then glowed with an inner flame. “I’d be happy to show you what a trapped dragon can do.”

As if Envy wanted to fight right now. After all that Lilith had revealed? The last thing he wanted to do was that.

Sighing, Envy pinched the bridge of his nose. “You are just as bad as the rest of us. And I thought working with Gluttony was bad. Sit down, Sloth.”

“Fight me on this all you want, brother, but I’m not sitting. I’m leaving.”

“You’re not doing either, it seems. Because that crystal stays where it is, and you’re just standing there like a complete dolt.”

Sloth bared his teeth, and Envy could see they were getting a little pointed. A bad sign. “Listen to me, Envy. I do not enjoy feeling trapped and I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“Well, I don’t like that my brother has been lying to me for years about far more than just his kingdom.” With a flick of his fingers, Envy summoned the chair to shoot closer to Sloth. The chair screeched as it moved across the stone floor before settling right beside him. “Sit before I make you sit.”

Sloth bared his teeth again, but this time, he at least sat down. Though his eyes continued to flick toward the crystal, he was listening to what Envy had to say. At least for the moment.

Envy stayed by the door. Sloth was more likely to bolt again the moment he started talking. At the end of that thought, he also muttered another quick spell to lock his balcony doors. It would take an actual dragon to break through those doors now. Which Sloth could do. But it would be another problem entirely if Sloth changed into his second form in this room.

Sloth remained grumpy and out of sorts until he sighed and gestured toward the crystal. “It’s a habit of mine to run from conversations. I’m not... I don’t like to talk about feelings.”

“Does this have something to do with why you think the rest of us are changing?”

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