Page 135 of The Demon Court

“You’ve been talking with your servants and subjects for days and yet you have no time for your brother.” Greed’s snarl was no less intimidating than his own. “Would you at least look at me? I know everything happened so suddenly, but I would like to know you won’t off yourself when I leave.”

“I’m not going to.”

“That’s not enough. Telling me that you’re fine through a closed door isn’t the reassurance that I need.” Greed paused, and then quieted his voice to a low murmur. “Pride has been asking about you.”

Of course, their brother on high was getting involved. Any time someone even sneezed in the direction of their kingdom falling apart, he got involved. Pride made sure that all the kingdoms were doing exactly what they should, because his damned emotion wouldn’t let him do anything else. All of their kingdoms had to flourish, or it looked bad on him.

“Tell Pride I am fine. My kingdom is fine. I will not let it fall because of a mortal woman that I... I...” He swallowed hard, the words thickening on his tongue until he couldn’t even say them.

All the fire in him, that momentary rage, burned out. Lust turned around then, pinching his nose with his eyes squeezed shut. “How is she?”

The long pause before the response was enough of an answer, but he still forced himself to hear Greed say, “She hasn’t woken yet. The healer is doing all she can, but her injuries...”

“Are extensive.”

“Are fatal.” Greed took another step closer until Lust stared down at the tips of his boots. “You may have to let her go, brother. I know you don’t want to hear that, and I know it’s not something any of us want. But it may be necessary to make the decision for her.”

Never.

She could stay there in that bed like a princess, asleep until the day she struggled out of the darkness to find him again. And he knew she would. She’d battle through anything to get to his side because she’d said she loved him.

Wasn’t that what love was? No matter what happened, no matter how hard it was, she would find him. That’s how it worked.

His eyes burning—why were they doing that?—Lust finally looked at his brother and shrugged. “What am I supposed to do, Greed? I can’t let her die.”

Though his brother clearly intended to speak on that subject, Greed’s eyes widened in shock and his jaw fell open. “What... What happened to you?”

Lust ran a hand over his own scruffy jaw. “I haven’t been sleeping well. Apparently these mortal bodies we took, although perfectly capable of rather impressive feats, don’t do well with lack of sleep. It’s been days since I could get my mind to stop racing with all the ways I could have saved her.”

“No, it’s... it’s not that.” Greed groped for the chair behind him and sank down into it. “You’re... You’re...”

Lust waited, but when nothing came out of his brother’s gaping mouth he prodded, “I’m what? Tired? Sad? Worried? Yes, I’m all those things and I’ve never felt them before, so I’m rather frustrated with it all.”

Again, Greed shook his head. “No, you’re... not lust.”

“I am the same person I was before.” He took a deep, disappointed sigh and then sank into his own chair at his desk. “Albeit more tired and with more of a weight on my shoulders than I’ve felt in a long time.”

“No, Lust. You’re not... lust.” Greed emphasized the last word. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

He had no idea what his brother was getting at, but the headache already blooming behind his eyes was enough to make him throw the other man out. He needed time to heal from all that he’d seen and done. Even his body ached after that form change that shouldn’t have been possible. He didn’t remember it hurting the first time they’d all done this.

Another knock at his open door had his eyes rolling. “Who is it now?”

A glowing pillar of light glided into the room. Affection had grown to the same height as Selene, its form now lithe and shifting with a slight breeze whenever it moved.

“Your brother means that you are no longer a spirit of lust,” it said, and the tone in its voice was full of pride. “You have changed because of her.”

His fingers flexed on his thighs, feeling suddenly coming back to them as shock rocked through his body. “What did you say?”

“You’re not who you were before her. Saving her life, it has altered the spirit inside you.” Affection lifted a glowing hand and gestured over its heart. “You are no longer lust. That is what your brother is saying.”

Greed stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “I didn’t know it was possible.”

“It’s not,” he snapped. “We are the way we are. We were created as such and we cannot change.”

But they could.

He’d heard of it before, although it had been said to be impossible. Spirits had changed before if they were bent under circumstances that made even a spirit question their life’s intent. A spirit of honor could be swayed throughout the tidings of war, and become a spirit of rage. A spirit of hope could be thrust into a world with none of that emotion until it was nothing more than a speck forced to become a spirit of woe. These were changes that only happened under dire pressure or desperation, and had never happened to one as powerful as him.

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