Page 126 of The Demon Crown

He came across his first one as he started cutting through the first tent. He smelled the woman before he saw her. Greed whirled, blades ready to silence her before she could make a noise, only to hear a wet sound as her eyes opened wide.

Gluttony was attached to her neck, drinking deeply as his own eyes rolled back in his head.

His brother disappeared into the darkness, dragging the woman’s heels through the sands, and he couldn’t find it in him to care at all.

They would all die. No matter how innocent they were.

He finished cutting through the tent and then slipped into the firelight inside. No one was awake. Three Horde members, all men. He bared his teeth in disgust at what he was going to do. No one deserved to die without at least trying to fight. Unfortunately, these people would not end up in the afterlife they hoped for.

He sliced two of their throats with a ferocity that was unnecessary. The knife slid through their flesh all the way to the bone, not giving them even a moment to wake up before he’d nearly beheaded them. But the third one? Ah, he had plans for that one.

Landing hard on the man’s chest, he put his hand over the man’s mouth and the knife to his throat. As the Horde member woke with a start, eyes wide and then filled with terror as he realized who had him pinned, Greed said, “You’re going to tell me where she is, my friend.”

ChapterForty-Five

The little spirit inside her was working hard. Though there wasn’t as much for her to heal, it continued whispering in her mind, “We need to run! Disappear into the darkness. They’re going to find us, and that’s not the adventure either of us wants.”

No, it most certainly wasn’t. But she also had no intent on running because she knew that if she stayed put, Greed would find her faster.

Besides, there were so many other people who needed their help here, too. The other prisoners needed her help, so the moment she was free, she had to focus on them.

No matter what the Horde planned to do, that would all change once they realized she’d killed their leader. And the timing of that realization would happen more quickly than she wanted.

He’d had guards outside his tent, making sure no one interrupted them, and probably looking out for Greed. Unfortunately, that also meant she was privy to all the conversations happening right outside the tent walls.

At first, the words were all pretty easy going. After the lashing she’d given the dead body beside her, they’d snickered about his tastes in bed, and how so many of their own women had tried to go head to head with him and very soon realized they would only fail.

It made her sick to her stomach, wondering what that meant. Was he known for harming women in bed? Was that supposed to benormalfor the people here?

And then their conversation had gotten quiet. They were clearly whispering, so they didn’t disturb their leader, where he must have fallen asleep on top of his new toy. But then... then they started to wonder.

“Should we check on him?” one of them muttered, the words sending lightning up her spine.

“He’ll be mad if we walk in there and wake him. And then he’ll probably start the whole process over again. You know how his mind works.”

“Yeah, but what if something happened?”

“That little slip of a woman? She didn’t kill him, that’s for sure. And if she had tried to escape, don’t you think one of us would have seen her? We don’t even have our backs to the tent.” The sound of a smack echoed after that. “Keep your greedy eyes to yourself. He’ll have your head sooner than allow you to see him bare assed.”

So, she had a little more time before they got suspicious again, but not for a very long time. Soon enough, that meddling prat who thought he knew everything would say again that they should check in on the couple who were making no noise.

Should she speak again? She could throw out some “no, please, no” and maybe that would put their mind at ease. But the Horde leader hadn’t been a quiet man. Everything about him was loud, from his footsteps to his voice. And if she was guessing right, he was probably just as loud when he was...

Ugh. Her stomach lurched in her body and bile threatened to spew from her mouth at the very thought. Whatever it was they called it when he brought a woman into his tent, that was a good enough explanation for her rioting mind.

Just a little while longer. She could wait a bit more.

“Why wait?” came the little voice inside her head. “We’re capable of escaping ourselves.”

She didn’t want to point out that the guards admitted to staring directly at the tent. No matter where or what she did, they’d see her move. And if the tent was even so much as lifted on any of the walls, they’d know that something was wrong.

Varya knew she had to just sit here. And wait for something to happen.

Whether that was Greed arriving and tearing everyone apart, or them discovering that she’d killed their leader long before he got here. Those were the only options she had.

The shakes started a few hours later. Varya shivered so hard her teeth clacked together. She tried to fold in on herself so she wouldn’t make more noise, but she wasn’t exactly quiet. They would know that at least someone in the tent was awake. They’d come in and...

Rustling came from outside the tent. Not the sound of someone approaching, but of the guards turning.

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