Page 54 of The Demon Crown

He didn’t seem interested in talking. So she turned her attention to the wild jungle that surrounded them. Tall trees stretched up toward the sky, their leaves swaying in the breeze. So many plants. All that she couldn’t name or had even dreamed of. A giant pink flower the size of her head hovered above them as he ducked underneath a wall of ivy and then drew her deeper into the jungle.

She caught a few glimpses of more glass domes. Some on the same level as them, some much higher up. And all of them were connected by walkways of stone that were carved out of the desert itself. Naturally made, and Greed’s people had built around them so they didn’t harm the natural environment.

This place was so beautiful it made her eyes hurt. Until Greed strode toward one of those glass domes, although more of this one was paneling. She couldn’t even see inside it, she’d have to be even taller than Greed to get a glimpse. At least the roof was still glass.

He kicked the door open, and she flinched back against him in the wake of his anger. “Are you mad at me?” she asked, her words a little testy and angry as well.

“I am not.”

“You could have fooled me.”

He looked down at her then and she saw it wasn’t anger. It was fear. He was practically shaking with it, and why? They didn’t know each other. They had a very explosive and steamy reaction whenever they were alone, but that didn’t mean he cared about her. He cared about his newest toy, perhaps, but why would he have such an emotional reaction to her being hurt?

Stunned, Varya remained silent as they strode inside the room covered with streaks of emerald silk that hung from the ceiling in billowing waves as the sun filtered through them. A massive bed in the corner caught her attention, but she didn’t have time to see much more before he strode into another room filled with water. So much water.

She’d never seen so much all pooled in the center of the room. Tiny crystals decorated the bottom, chips of rainbow colors that reflected the sunlight and cast rays of waves on the walls. There were a few mirrors and so many more plants. Even a few water lilies dancing on the surface of the still waters, and she’d only heard about them in stories that the elders told.

Greed walked them right up to the edge of the pool and then looked down at her. “Can you stand?”

“I haven’t gotten the chance to try.”

“Ah.” Did he just... blush?

Varya watched him with perhaps far too avid attention as he let her legs slip down his body and then continued to hold on to her waist. He touched her as though she was some frail, fragile creature that he had to take care of. And she didn’t like it.

But she was a little wobbly, so maybe it wasn’t that awful of a thing for him to help.

He cleared his throat and then swallowed hard. “Take off your clothes.”

“I’m not wearing much.” She looked down at herself as the blanket slithered off her body. She still had her pants on, although they had been cut up the side of each leg to reveal her skin underneath. Her shirt was gone though, and it was just the band of white fabric around her chest. “And I don’t want to remove more.”

“I will beg,” he rasped. “If I must.”

Her lips parted, and she stared at him with confusion. Why was he like this? Why was he insisting that she allow him to take care of her?

“I can clean myself,” she said, although the words were hesitant and slow.

Greed leaned closer and pressed their foreheads together. He breathed in before she heard the click of another dry swallow. “Let me take care of you, treasure. I need to know you are all right.”

“I’m alive, aren’t I?”

“You almost weren’t. You showed up on my doorstep bloody and broken and it tore me apart.”

Her heart fractured with those words. He wanted to help her. He wanted to piece her back together. When was the last time someone had wanted that?

Taking a deep breath, she stepped away from him and started to unwind the binding around her chest. Then she slid the remnants of her pants down her legs. She had to grab his arm to even do that, but he didn’t seem to mind. A small scrap of fabric served as her underwear, and even that was covered in blood.

He was a thousand years old. He’d seen countless female bodies and she shouldn’t be embarrassed, but she still felt her chest flush bright red as she pushed down her underwear as well.

Glancing up, she saw his eyes turn that molten gold again. But all he did was gently lift her by the waist and carry her into the water. He strode into the pool, clothes and all, uncaring that the wet, white fabric clung to the muscles of his chest as he set her on a small bench underneath the slight waves.

The water licked at her sides, and she winced as the wounds dotting all over her body ached. But her muscles relaxed for the first time in years and it felt so good to be so cool.

Greed said nothing. He leaned over her and then he had a washcloth in his hands that looked like more silk and a small bottle of clear liquid.

He moved her without asking. His hands tugging and pulling until her back was pressed against his chest. She floated in the water as he unraveled the remaining bandages that covered her wounds. Each one that was revealed made him tense more and more behind her, but his hands were gentle as he passed the cloth over each and every one.

The clear liquid turned out to be lovely smelling soap that reminded her of mint and lemon. He poured it onto his hands after cleaning out her wounds and then started washing her body. The blood and sand sank into the pool of water, running into a small drain or filter on the other side. The pool remained clear, other than the streaks of her blood disappearing from her body.

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