Page 38 of The Demon Court

Surely that would prove to Selene that others trusted him. What would be more symbolic? Women were most protective of their children, above even themselves. Lara would loan the child—what was her name?—to Lust, and then he would bring the child to Selene. The sorceress would know what to do with a little girl, and he could make a point.

Easy. It was a good plan.

Except then his attention drew back to Lara as she slid onto the floor in front of him. Her hands on his thighs, fingers shaking as she begged. “I will do whatever you wish, my lord, my king, my god. I will lick your floors to keep them clean if you wish it, but my daughter remains in her home. Away from the castle. Away from here.”

Now this was confusing.

“She is just a child,” he murmured, running his fingers through her hair. “Surely I cannot do anything to break her? There is no safer place in the kingdom than this castle.”

“I do not wish her to be like me,” Lara whispered. Her eyes dropped to the floor between his feet as her hands slipped off him. “I am not ashamed of what I do to keep her life comfortable, but it is my choice that she not end up here.”

“Fuck.”

Lust leaned back in his chair, biting his lip as he realized two very important things at the same time. First, Lara didn’t really trust him. Perhaps to pleasure her, but not in any way that was important. And second, she thought he wanted her daughter to serve him as she did. And that made her ashamed.

“Fuck,” he said again, leaning into the word.

How had that damned sorceress wriggled into his mind this easily? He’d been happy without her question mark hovering over his head and making him question every aspect of his life.

To make the day even better, a golden orb floated in through his window. An orb that could only be one of his brothers attempting to contact him.

“Go,” he said, waving Lara away. “I have other things to attend to.”

Her face somehow paled even further. “Home, my lord? Do you not wish...”

“Fucking—” He stared up at the ceiling. “Go back to work, Lara. You have done nothing wrong. I am not angry with you.”

She pulled herself back together. He watched as she reeled all those unraveled and unnecessary thoughts back into herself and then smiled at him. “Thank you, my lord. If you need anything other than your lunch, please have them send for me.”

He watched her leave with a sense of confusion burning inside him. Could all women do that? She’d seemed eerily similar to Selene in those moments. Maybe it was a female thing he would never understand.

No, that couldn’t be it. Even as Lara closed the door, he could taste her sense of disappointment that he hadn’t taken what she’d offered.

But she still didn’t trust him. And that bothered him more than he’d thought it would.

Slumping back in his chair, he waved his hand at the orb that hovered over the chair on the other side of his desk. The magic in it pulsed, brightening for a moment before a cascade of golden lights burst out of it. They gathered up to make the vague impression of his brother, sitting in a chair, likely at his own desk.

“What is it?” Lust growled.

“Angry today, are we?”

“I have other things to do than entertain you, Greed. What do you want?”

His brother was looking rather peaky. Not a good look for a man who already had very little self control. The plume on top of his head was longer than Lust remembered, and it looked like he’d cut the sides a little closer. That hair right now looked golden, but Lust knew it was bright red as the flames Greed surrounded himself with.

He wore nothing but a leather vest and leather leggings, the broad expanse of his chest bare for all to see. He looked like a warlord who had just gotten back from a conquest. Considering his kingdom was full of desert, sand, and more desert, Lust wouldn’t be surprised if he’d made himself into a warlord.

Greed eyed him with a feral smile. “Oh, hush. I can’t check in on my baby brother?”

The memory of Selene’s laugh when he’d gotten frustrated over that term flashed in his mind. And somehow, that memory made it a little easier. He hated that she’d eased the sting with the riotous memory of her laughter.

Instead of arguing, he calmly replied, “No. Not usually. Most of the time, you ignore that I exist.”

“We both know that’s not true.” Greed leaned forward, eyeing him with no small amount of suspicion. “Why aren’t you fighting back?”

“Because I find you boring, Greed. We both know you have something to say, so get it out.”

And also because Lust wanted to go back to pondering the horrible realization that even his closest lover didn’t trust him. Not entirely. She’d place her body in his hands, but anything beyond that, she wouldn’t. Was it because she didn’t care what happened to herself as long as everyone else remained cared for? That was a horrifying thought.

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