Page 102 of Payne's Envy

Villainous Greed Sneak Peek

The Past:August Age 15

I tossed an apple in the air and caught it as I walked the streets of the City of the Dead with Sebastian. He hung his scythe over his shoulder, smirking and chuckling at every demon passing by. He waved his weapon around while he was at it. If he didn’t stop gloating about his scythe, he was going to accidentally lob off someone’s head.

I shook my head and sighed, hanging back behind him to watch the misfortune of sloth.

“No need to sulk, August,” he goaded, glancing behind him once to grin at me before facing ahead. “Grim will let you call your scythe and become a Reaper when you’re ready.”

I said nothing as I bit into my apple.

“Would you like to buy a gift? For a lover, perhaps?” A young lady stopped Sebastian. It was demon of a feline species. Her striped tail swayed softly behind her.

“What lover?” I asked her, and she turned to look at me.

“Don’t mind him.” Sebastian winked at her, then inspected the jewelry at her stand. “I’ll take this.” He scooped up a blue bracelet—typical sloth. It matched the turquoise color of his essence. I walked over to the stand and stood beside him as he gave her Underworld coins.

“Anything for you?” she asked me kindly.

“No.” I flashed my smile and stared into her eyes. I did so until she could no longer hold my gaze. Biting her lower lip, she glanced down. Eye contact. It was a strange, controlling asset everyone had. I didn’t think anyone knew the power it carried. I loved it—thrived off it. Well, at least greed did. Most demons and humans, old or young, could stare endlessly into a lover’s eyes, and yet put one in front of someone commanding, they shrunk and disappeared in themselves unable to bear the intensity of someone’s gaze.

I was that person. To be manipulative, I needed to be powerful. To get everything in the human and Underworld, I had to be cunning, devious, and wrong in all the ways that Grim was against.

Being wickedly handsome also helped with my misdeeds.

Some days I felt guilty of what I was becoming. The way my brain processed and thought more about my wants than anything else. Most of the time I wasn’t.

My curse was about me after all.

My greed grew more each and every day.

I turned away from the female and eyed Sebastian’s scythe. Power. I was more deserving of a scythe than someone who slept more than he was awake, but Grim wouldn’t teach me how to conjure mine yet. Funny. I already had so much power from him being my father. Immortality. The ability to fade wherever I wanted to be in the world. I could materialize anything I desire within a heartbeat, even weapons, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more, more, more. I wanted the scythe that came from my very essence—that formed from my being and gave me the ability to guide the dead.

Once I had that, I would need more, but that was my driven focus. It only made it worse that my two older brothers, Sebastian and Barron, both became a Reaper. Age was a factor. What a terrible nuisance to be younger than those two.

“Thank you,” she said to Sebastian as we walked away.

“Why didn’t you get something?" Sebastian asked.

I smirked as I held up my wrist and inspected the jewelry lined up it. I did. Between forcing her to meet my eyes and my looks, the feline couldn’t see some of her jewelry disappearing. Just as Sebastian tilted his head back, I dematerialized the jewelry and dropped my hand. His gaze narrowed and I arched my brow.

“August,” he shook his head and exhaled. “Does it really have to be that way? They would have been yours regardless if you had paid her for them.”

No, it didn’t matter. I just liked choosing how it became mine.

Greed liked stealing.

Possession of something was more gratifying when it was taken. Half of the things I stole weren’t even things I cared for. I only took them because they belonged to someone else.

Greed wanted something more when it was cherished by someone else.

What a slippery slope my curse was. I didn’t know what was worse. The fact that I knew that or the fact that I didn’t try to fight it. Barron spent every second trying not to rage, Sebastian tried to fight his sleep, and I… never once tried to be anything more than what I was destined to be.

The bearer of greed.

I fell a few steps behind Sebastian and let him lead again. We walked for about five minutes, and I had counted twenty-three yawns from Sebastian. Any second… I grinned as I watched the way he swayed slightly then righted himself quickly. He shook his head, then turned. “I think we should head back,” he mumbled tiredly.

Sleepy, sleepy sloth.

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