Page 69 of The Demon Court

And then he realized Greed had said nothing since he’d sat down. His brother, the man who never seemed to shut up, hadn’t said a word.

That did not bode well for him. Frowning, Lust glanced over to see Greed was pulling on his bottom lip and staring off into space. It seemed like his brother hadn’t even noticed he’d sat down, which was wrong all on its own as well.

Sighing, Lust hooked a leg over the arm of his throne and cleared his throat. Loudly.

Greed flinched and then glared at him. “What was that for?”

“You’re here to visit me, are you not?”

“I am allowed to keep quiet thoughts to myself.”

“If you want to do that, then go back to your own kingdom.” Lust nodded at a servant, who looked at him with a questioning glance. They could bring breakfast out. He’d return to Selene later with a plate of food and a bottle of maple syrup. Maybe she’d let him play now that they both knew how she felt.

His thoughts turned wicked. He needed to distract himself before he joined his brother, staring off into the distance, wondering what it would be like to lick syrup from between those beautiful breasts of hers. He’d only touched a small amount of her, and now his hands itched for more.

Greed’s voice interrupted those thoughts, and he found it almost impossible to think of licking Selene’s velvet skin when his brother was rambling.

“What if she’s more than a sorceress?” Greed asked.

“There are only sorceresses in my kingdom. Are you suggesting she’s a witch? They’re the same thing.” He waved a hand when another servant held out a jug of wine. As if he needed more of that. “She already showed you her power, brother. It’s not much, but it’s enough to label her as one of them.”

“I’m suggesting that she has more than one power.”

Impossible. The thought made Lust snort. “Sorceresses have been the same for centuries. They are not all that interesting, Greed. They have one power they are born with. Their parents toss them to the Tower because magic is frowned upon even these days, and then the girls grow up there. They can do paltry tricks and spells that take ages to cast, that’s all.”

“What if she has two powers?” Greed looked at him then, those golden eyes slicing through every ounce of certainty Lust felt.

“I have not seen such a thing before.”

“There’s a first time for everything. We’ve felt the warning signs. Even Pride has admitted there’s a change in the air.”

Lust rolled his eyes. “I’ll believe it when Wrath agrees.”

“He has.”

Silence stretched between them. If Wrath admitted something had changed, that the world felt different, then they all had to believe it. Their brother in the depths lived with the ancients who had shaped this world. He would know more than any of them.

Uncomfortable now, he ran a thumb along his lower lip. “What would you propose, then?”

“I have no interest in knowing what you do with the girl. I only see that you are growing weaker while she seems to be growing stronger. Perhaps she is like us. Perhaps more spirits have taken mortal form.”

He snorted again. “Oh, it’s not that.”

“What would you suggest it is, then?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she has another power. But she’s let me taste her now, and I will not let that go so easily.”

Greed’s eyebrows rose and reached for a plate a servant held near his elbow. “Well, that explains why you’re so energetic this morning.”

“Ah, not in the way you’re thinking.” Another servant appeared beside him, and Lust took the offered plate that was full of bread, cheese, and fruit. “She let something slip. I could feel her lust this morning, taste it in the air like a wave. Like she’d been bottling it up somehow.”

“I dislike the unknown,” Greed muttered.

“Yes, you are as greedy with information as you are with everything else. You don’t need to remind me.”

But his brother had brought up a good point. He knew nothing of Selene’s history. Who she was. Where she came from. What if she was something else entirely? Not a sorceress or a witch, but a creature they had yet to discover?

The thought lingered a little too long, and suddenly he had to know the answer.

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