Page 127 of The Demon Crown

“Did you hear that?” someone asked on the opposite side of her tent.

“I heard something.”

“I thought the sentries were already at their posts?” The sound of a sword being drawn followed the question. “They were supposed to send out the signal if they saw anyone.”

A third person answered from her right. “Then there must be nothing out there. We’re skittish. It’s not unusual when we all know who’s hunting us. Keep your ears and eyes open.”

“Someone should tell the captain.”

Damn it. One of them was going to walk into the tent and realize that their leader had been dead for a very long time. And unfortunately, that meant she had only a few minutes to scramble beside the tent flap and clutch the knife close to her chest. Varya would murder them if she had to. She could do it. She’d killed before and would likely have to do it again, even if it made her want to scratch out her own eyes.

The tent flap lifted. A guard stuck his head into the space and before he could so much as open their eyes wider at the scene laid out before them, she palmed the back of his neck and threw him onto the sand.

He shouted in anger, and that’s when the entire world seemed to explode around her. The guards swarmed, all of them slicing through the tent with their blades, and there was nowhere for her to go.

So instead of running, she grabbed onto the unfortunate guard who had volunteered to look, and used him as a human shield. He spluttered in terror, his shouts slowly degrading into nothing as the swords and knives sliced through him.

He fell onto the sand, right on top of her. Varya grunted, but that worked in her favor as well. Though the knives and swords were no longer right around her, she might need to use his body as a shield for a little while longer. She wrapped an arm around his waist and held him in place, ignoring the wince of pain from across her forearm.

Had she gotten cut? Maybe. And then the knives descended lower.

Unfortunately, they also cut into their Horde leader a few times. But maybe since he wasn’t shouting, they thought he had left? She had no idea what was going through their head.

Until the knives stopped and she heard the growl that rumbled across the desert like thunder. And then she realized why they had been cutting so quickly and frantically.

They were afraid.

They were terrified because what stood on the other side of the tent was likely more threatening than their Horde leader or any other evil creature they had faced. Because Greed would show them no mercy. And if they killed her, that was their last bid at defiance before he hurt them very, very much.

She heard the screams first. The cries that were garbled and messy. The sound of flesh being parted and the horrible stench of fear. Maybe that was the man who’d fallen on top of her, though. He was still alive, but only barely.

The sounds outside died down. Getting quieter and quieter until there was just... nothing. Not a single thing.

The sound of the desert was the only thing she could hear. The faint hum of wind as it brushed through the sand grains, and the whisper of a breeze through the holes in the tent. Just complete and utter silence.

Was that a good thing?

It had to be Greed outside the tent, right? She couldn’t imagine it was anyone else fighting the Horde. Unless another town had gotten it in their head that they were going to help. But she hadheardthe growl. She knew that sound anywhere, so surely...

Another growl rippled through the night air, and then she heard his voice. “Keep them all back.”

Gluttony responded with a snort. “Won’t be too hard.”

“Don’t make too much of a scene. We don’t need any of this getting back to Wrath about how I unleashed you on an entire encampment of my people.”

There was a strange sound, like fabric rustling, and she wondered if Gluttony had just saluted Greed. “You know I’m more careful than that. I’ll drain them, and they won’t scream. Besides, no one is going to make it out of here alive tonight.”

“Get the others, then. Make sure they’re all together when they attack the Horde. Everyone’s waking up now.”

“Understood.”

Quiet from outside the tent made her muscles tense up. What if he continued on? She didn’t want to yell and draw more people to the tent. They were clearly at least trying to be as quiet as possible.

But she wanted him to find her. She wanted him to know she was here, and that she had waited. She was doing her best for him, and she was so close to breaking down.

Then his voice broke through the silence. “If you’re alive in that tent, anyone other than my queen, then you will die. I’m giving you this chance to run, but know that I will hunt you. I will chase you. And I will devour you the moment I find you. Do not stand between me and my woman, or I will cut you down and gut you.”

Oh, if that wasn’t the most romantic thing he’d ever said.

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