Page 59 of Malice
As Sin began leading her down the trail toward the château, she stopped and looked back, her eyes wide. “My flowers.”
I held up her ruined shoe, filled with the delicate blossoms, and winked. “Way ahead of you.”
Chapter
Fifteen
LUCIFER
“Well, isn’t this cozy? Boy, girl, girl, boy...” I waited to see if any of them would get my excellentWhite Christmasreference, but alas, uncultured swine, the lot of them.
Gluttony, Pride, Lust, Greed, and Envy all sat around the boardroom table, three of the four horsewomen scattered between them. Apparently, the sisters weren’t so close these days.
“Where’s Famine?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t seen head or pointed tail of her since her little disappearing act.
“How are we supposed to know?” Death asked, her pert little nose wrinkling as if she’d smelled something rotten. “She abandoned us all after my success.”
“And here I always took Pestilence as the jealous one,” I mused, not bothering to hide my laugh when she sneered at me.
“I am not jealous,” she snapped.
“Keep telling yourself that, darling,” War crooned.
Slamming my palms on the table, I let my frustration get the better of me and sent a wave of power surging. The lights flaredso brightly I wondered if they’d burst, but they didn’t. Still, it shut them all up.
“Are you quite finished?” I asked, my voice dripping with saccharine sweetness.
No one responded.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Rising from my chair, I stood over them all, fingers steepled in front of me. “Gluttony, why don’t you introduce yourself since you’re the newest member of our tribunal?”
I stared at the Prince in question, almost envious of his beauty. I said almost, because he’ll never quite reach my level of insurmountable glory. But then, who could?
Gluttony raised a dark brow. “Everyone already knows who I am.”
I blinked at him, my ire surging at the disrespect. I’d just given him an order, and he willfully ignored it. That was not how this was supposed to go.
“Indulge me,” I gritted out, noting the start of a twitch in my eye.
Do not kill your Princes.
Do not kill your Princes.
Well, at least not before success is guaranteed.
Gluttony stood and cast his dark gaze around the room, his eyes lingering a beat longer on Greed than the others. Those two had always had a thing, though whether it was a pseudo-rivalry or something else, I couldn’t be sure. If they could ever set aside their egos long enough, they’d make quite the mess together.
“I am Gluttony,” he said, and I stood there crestfallen. Where was the gravitas? The pomp? The circumstance? What an utter disappointment.
“Just... sit down,” I said with a gusty sigh. Pride began a slow clap as I was speaking, and I whipped my head to the side to glare. “No.”
“Sorry, boss,” he muttered. Despite the deference of his voice, his eyes tightened in anger and the tips of his ears were bright red. He didn’t appreciate being called out in front of his brethren.
Greed snickered but pulled herself together.
Lust glanced around the room, quietly drawing the attention of the rest of us, as was their habit. Androgynous and ever-changing, Lust was whatever the person looking at them wanted them to be. A perfect fit each and every time. The fluidity of their gift made Lust one of the most powerful Princes.
“When are we going to get to the point, Dark Lord? I had hoped to hurry this along. We caught a whiff of your intended. Just a blip, really, but she was there. I’d like to speak with my Knights and begin pinpointing the origin of her lust.”
