Page 74 of The Demon Crown

Instead, he had to get off his nuckelavee long before he reached the Festival of Lights. The beast would have to travel home on its own, which was dangerous enough, although he knew very few people that would take his mount on in a fight. Still, it was a risk he now had to take because some foolish woman had run off.

Again!

Taking off the bridle, he slid his hand along the leathery hide, patting it firmly. “Go home, now. I can bring her back on my own.”

Even his mount seemed to look at him with disbelief before it wandered off on its own. Clearly, no one believed he could control the wild woman he’d brought home.

Maybe he didn’t believe it either. As he turned toward the crowd of people in the distance, he wondered what he’d gotten himself into. It had taken half the day to even find the location this year, and then a few more hours to ride here. She could be anywhere in that crowd.

Greed took his time getting there, and every flash of blonde hair sent his heart skittering in his chest. Every time it wasn’t her, he felt the anger boiling hotter in his veins. When he got his hands on her, he was going to wring her pretty neck. He’d drag her back by the hair, kicking and screaming, proving himself to be the warlord that everyone remembered him being.

If anyone tried to stop him, he’d remind them all why they feared him. They thought they could just knock him out with that smoke? He’d survived it twice, and he’d kill many more people along the way. They wouldn’t catch him unawares this time.

People flinched away from him, horrified to see their king here when he had never once attended a single festival. Two men's hands shook when they saw him, the tankards of ale spilling onto the sand. A woman hid her child. Likely rumors already had embellished how he’d eaten a child at the last village he’d been seen in. A couple of young women eyed him with interest, though. And their expressions grounded him.

Breathing in the scent of their greed and lust, he steadied himself. She was here. He couldn’t seem too angry before he met her or word would spread and then she would run.

So he tried to look like he wanted to be here. He squared his shoulders and forced a smile, nodding at people who wandered past him as though he cared that they were comfortable. He ducked underneath the bright streamers of colorful fabric triangles and meandered past the tables full of food and drink. He even eyed the tents with some form of appreciation. He wasn’t all that certain. All he knew was that there were at least a hundred tents in every color, and how the fuck was he going to find her?

He didn’t have to look as hard as he thought. The center of all this madness was a crowd of people holding small metal pans. Dots of paint were on each pan, an individual color for each person. It appeared that people were pairing up, already some couples were seated on the sands while they painted each other.

And there, in the heart of it all, was Varya. Her wildly unbound hair had somehow gotten wilder in her ride here. It floated around her head like a dandelion puff of gold. She had a silver plate in her hand, emerald green paint already smeared on it.

A young man stood in front of her, his own silver plate decorated with a pretty shade of purple. They were talking. Varya’s mouth spread in a soft, easy smile.

That wouldn’t do.

Greed reached for a platter that someone was walking around with, smeared with white paint. The woman holding it smiled up at him, although the expression was a little shaky.

“Shall I get paint for you, my lord?” she asked.

“No need.”

He waved a hand over it and the paint turned to gold. He hadn’t used that particular spell in centuries—gold was far too easy to find these days—and yet, it felt good to use his powers. The woman’s answering gasp almost made him puff up in pride, but he had a job to do.

Treading through the waves of people, he found himself behind the young man. With a palm on his shoulder, he shoved the boy to the side. “Not today, young one.”

The young man stumbled, but then righted himself. “Excuse me—”

Greed stared him down, eyes flashing and anger burning in his stomach. “Yes?”

“My lord.” With a gulp, the young man looked at the ground. “Apologies.”

And then he ran. As everyone should when they saw how angry Greed was.

He turned his attention to the woman who had set this fire in his chest, but she was looking back at him with amusement, not fear. How stupid was she? Varya should tremble at his feet. She should prepare herself to beg for his mercy and then grovel with his cock in her mouth for hours on end. She should...

Varya placed her hand over his heart and he felt all the tension disappear. “You shouldn’t scare people like that,” she said, her voice shaking with amusement. “They’re going to think you’re angry.”

“I am angry,” he snarled, trying to get that emotion to burn in his chest again. “You ran.”

“I didn’t. You saw where I was going and I distinctly remember telling Ivo that the festival was happening today.” She patted his chest as though that settled the argument.

It didn’t.

“You can’t run off into the desert like that, Varya. Perhaps you have forgotten how you arrived at my castle doors, but I have not.” Just the memory of it made him want to put his fist through a wall. Which would be difficult in the middle of the desert.

And then again, all she had to do was smile at him and he couldn’t stay mad. Not when she looked at him like that, as if he’d hung the moon in the sky.

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