Page 44 of The Demon Crown

She sprinted toward another alley, but there were more Horde members there as well. The sands were up to her knees now. She must be close to the edge of the city that was soon to be swallowed up by the desert.

Nowhere to run.

Turning, she palmed her remaining knife and crouched low. Counting under her breath, she estimated there were at least six of them. Then more came out of another alley.

A smaller figure approached her and tugged its hood down. The woman was terrifying. Broad features covered in scarification patterns, some circles, some lines, all making her sand blasted skin look horribly wounded. Her vibrant blue eyes met Varya’s and she spat on the ground.

“You ruined our hunt,” the woman snarled. “Now you will pay for that.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Varya snarled.

She didn’t hear the man approaching from behind her. And she only barely felt the pound of pain against the back of her skull before the world went dark.

ChapterFifteen

Greed woke in his own castle. How he’d ended up here again, he had no idea. At least he wasn’t in a cage in some cave far away from the safety of his home. However, this was almost worse.

Waking up on silks, alone, his head cushioned by such comfortable pillows that he woke up almost in better condition than when he’d passed out.

But then he remembered the position he’d been in before he had passed out. He remembered all that soft skin, those lovely lips, and words that set his entire body on fire.

Now he was alone.

Sitting up straight, his hair falling in front of his face before he shoved it back, Greed stared wildly around him. His bedroom was the same. All silk pillows and greenery that climbed up toward the walls. There was no soft woman lying next to him, her golden hair spilling over his emerald pillows.

What had happened? Why was he here and where the hell was his treasure?

He staggered to his feet, still woozy. The ground seemed to shift and roll underneath his feet, like he was trying to walk on top of waves, but he would not be deterred. He’d find her. She must have come back with him. His guards would never have left the woman he desired on a street somewhere while others attacked her. They would have brought both of them back to the castle. They must.

“Where the hell are you?” he bellowed, reaching out a hand to grab onto something and then collapsing onto his side. Thank the gods there were more pillows here, or he’d have injured himself again.

The gold double doors leading into his room busted open. Ivo strode inside, lacking the usual presence of his terrifying sister. “Greed.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s out in the sands seeking to find the people who attacked you. I brought you back myself, but Morag refused to return with us.” Ivo sank onto a knee, his bulk making it rather difficult to crouch in front of Greed. “I do not know the spell that has affected you, but we will discover its origin and destroy it.”

Greed didn’t care at all that he had been laid out by simple mist. What he cared about was where that little thief had gotten herself off to because his gut was twisting in his belly. Something was wrong. He could feel it right in his core. She had been taken from his side, and that had to mean something.

Had the Horde attacked them both? Were they trying to take him back and had they somehow found out that she was the one who had released him from that cage?

Greed wasn’t certain he’d survive it if that was the case. He’d never felt guilty for anything in his life, but the curious emotion making him nauseous seemed very similar to what he’d always thought guilt would feel like.

He should have left that man alive. It would have been so easy to do so and yet, he had been the one who had to snap that Horde member’s neck.

Ivo reached forward and wrapped his hand around Greed’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get you up and to a healer.”

“I don’t need a healer.”

“You do.” Ivo was too strong, and Greed was far too weak to fight the man.

He let Ivo drag him upright and then stood with locked knees as his guard steadied him. Ivo was too important of a man to be playing nursemaid, and yet... Well. Loyalty would do anything to ensure that Greed was well. Even if that meant debasing himself in the process.

Greed brushed his hands away. “Please. The last thing I need is another healer chattering in my ear. I’ve survived this before and I will again. What we need to do now is to find the woman.”

“What woman?” Ivo’s eyes squinted at him, as though he might peer inside Greed’s skull to understand what he was asking for.

“The woman who was with me in the alley. The same woman who delivered me back to the castle.” Greed wanted to tear out his hair. “Did you not see her again?”

---