Page 21 of The Demon Crown

Though he felt no more powerful, nor did he feel like he was healing any faster, he still felt his chest puff up with pride.

“I will,” he repeated. “I will keep you safe.”

The doors opened to reveal the armed guards on the other side. There were plenty of them. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he warned her about the manner in which she would be greeted. At least thirty men and women stood in front of them, all armed to the teeth and wearing matching feral expressions of hatred.

And at the front were his two most prized guards. Twins, almost as tall as he was, easily six and a half feet tall. They towered over the others, their hands on the swords at their hips and their eyes missing nothing.

“My lord?” The man on the right asked. He was Ivo, and his twin sister was Morag. They were deadly beings who had more secrets than he could count. And yet, he trusted them with his life without question.

“I am fine,” he replied, pulling his arm from the thief’s shoulders. He needed to stand on his own two feet in front of his people.

Greed refused to be seen as weak. Not in front of them, and certainly not in front of anyone else.

Other than the thief, apparently. He had been weak in front of her and... safe to do so.

The thought blistered in his mind, festering as it grew into something he was uncomfortable and unfamiliar with. Was he safe with her, too? In the same way she was safe with him?

Impossible. A woman didn’t offer safety. A new collection piece did nothing other than exist on the shelf where he put it and gather dust once he was bored with the item. That was how he lived his life.

Morag stepped forward, her eyes flinty and her mouth pressed into a thin line. “We have words to speak with you, Greed. Those people who attacked us were unlike any other we’ve met before.”

“I know. I have seen them.” He started forward into his home, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I do not know who they are, but my companion here has information. Perhaps if we start asking about, we might find more. Send out scouts, if you have them to spare, and inquire about a group calling themselves the Horde.”

“What companion?” Ivo asked. And Greed watched his guard’s eyes skate around him before a frown furrowed his brows. “Are you feeling well?”

“What do you mean, what companion? She’s right here.” But he turned and she... wasn’t.

The thief was nowhere to be found. Turning on his heel, he marched back to the front doors that surrounded his keep and found her footprints still lingering in the sand. Footprints that led back to the dune they’d just clambered down.

Wicked creature. She thought she could drop him off to safety and then disappear? He’d never let her go that easily.

A grin on his lips, he turned back to Morag and Ivo. “Ready my mount. We’re going hunting.”

“Are you so sure that’s appropriate?” Morag gestured up and down his body. “You look...”

Worse for wear, he knew. Greed had never felt so weak in his life, but he was not about to let this woman get away with his heart dangling from her fists as she laughed into the wind. That thief was staying here. Right where he wanted her.

“Get the nuckelavee ready,” he snarled. “I will not let her get away.”

“Can you even ride?” Ivo circled him and then grabbed the base of his tail.

The pain that lanced up through Greed’s spine made him hiss and spin, grabbing his own tail out of his guard’s hands. “Don’t touch that.”

“It’s very broken.”

“I’m aware!” Greed snapped. He also knew that riding would be more painful than anything he’d ever endured in his life. Even Bonescraper hadn’t hurt so badly, and damn it. Had he lost that blade again? He’d forgotten that it had existed while he stared into eyes the color of sapphires.

He was such a moron around items he wanted to keep. Greed saw something shiny and new and the entire world fell away in those moments.

“Damn it,” he hissed, stalking back into the oasis of his home. “She’s gotten away, and it’s all your fault!”

Ivo and Morag shared a look before they made their way after him. Neither of them said a word as he marched up the massive front stairwell that led toward his castle, only to pause and pat down the back of his pants.

No crinkle.

No paper at all.

“That little thief,” he hissed. Greed turned to stare out at the dunes that surrounded his home, not even his eyes catching a glimpse of a figure in the distance.

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