Page 77 of The Demon Mark

“I wasn’t going to say it so bluntly, but...”

“I’ll say it bluntly,” Sloth muttered before slumping in the chair. “Yes, I’m certain it has to be him. Even though I don’t want to talk to him. Give me some time to work up to it and quite a few large drinks.”

“And in the meantime?”

He hated even asking, but... Envy could use all the help he could get.

Sloth nodded. “In the meantime, I’m yours to aim, brother. We’ll battle this together.”

30

She wasn’t sure what she had done so wrong, but Lilith had seen enough people be angry about their futures to know that some of this was her fault. Sloth hadn’t wanted to see his future, but she had to tell him that there was hope for him.

After all that he had suffered, the man at least deserved that much.

Seeing his past had made her heart ache in a way that it hadn’t in a very long time. He had loved that woman so much. She had felt it in him. His entire being had revolved around that woman’s beauty and love. He had needed her to see him like no one else had ever seen him before, and she had not done that.

Sloth had found himself a partner who had loved him back, but she’d always wanted him to change. And that wasn’t right. She should have loved him as he was, even if she hadn’t liked everything about him.

But feeling those complicated emotions had reminded her of her own feelings for Envy. How she felt around him wasn’t like she’d ever felt in her life. She was wanted and needed and desired, and all of that made her a little dizzy.

She knew there was a part of her that needed him. That she wanted to be around Envy more than was necessary. And the longer she was here with him, the less she thought it was just because she desired him. Even though she could lie to herself.

Curling up on the bed, she leaned against her headboard and drew her knees back into her chest. Arms wrapped around her shins, she set her chin on her knees and tried to think through the emotions.

She didn’t love him.

Did she?

No, no, it wasn’t possible. She couldn’t love him when she barely knew him. She couldn’t love a man who had done so much damage in this kingdom and who would still kill people if he wanted their power. But she also couldn’t help but think this was how the other woman had felt. She couldn’t love a monster like that because what did that make her?

And yet...

And yet.

Lilith stared at the wall as she tried to get her head back on straight. She was not like this. She had never fallen in love in her life, and now that she had most of her memories back, she knew that was by design. No oracle was supposed to ever fall in love.

Love made things complicated. It made the future muddy because she was no longer making decisions, only for others. She was more likely to make decisions that protected the partner she loved and the family they would eventually build together. She was more likely to make choices that were selfish because they served her.

She shouldn’t even entertain this. Oracles didn’t do this.

Envy walked through the portal into her room. She knew in that moment, seeing the dark smudges under his eyes and the expression of disapproval, that she would do anything to make him happy. Even choose other people’s ends if that was what it took. Because she loved him.

Oh, shit. She loved him.

He looked at her and caught her expression. With a soft grunt, he landed on his back on her bed, exhaustion in every inch of his body. “Not you too. Why are you looking at me like that?”

Because she had just realized that she’d broken every rule of the oracular order. Because the thought of fixing this and removing herself from his life was like thinking about removing one of her own limbs. Because after all that he had done, all the things that terrified her, all the reasons she should hate him, she had gone in the opposite direction.

She wanted him in her life forever. She wanted him by her side, and she wanted to allow him to consume her.

The thoughts were daunting, but when he looked up at her, everything filtered out of her head. She couldn’t hurt him. She couldn’t do anything but lean down and kiss him.

Her lips lingered on his, still very unpracticed, but she wanted to try. She wanted to kiss him so he could feel the passion and desire in her body. But more than that, she wanted him to know just how much he meant to her.

Words were too intimidating. They bound them together in a way that neither of them would ever crawl out of. She wanted him to be with her, want her, keep her, but none of that was anything she could verbalize.

So she kissed him, drawing her hand up his neck and bringing them closer. Lilith held onto him with every hope in her body that strained for him to see her. She needed him to know that after all of this was over and done with, if they were both alive, she would still be here for him if he wanted her.

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