Page 77 of The Demon Crown

By the seven kingdoms, she was lovely. Her hair whirling around her head, his paint glittering on her skin, and that stolen clothing barely holding onto her form. Could he love this woman? Absolutely. Would it change him? He hoped to the gods it would.

He’d seen how happy Lust was, and how his brother had felt more than he had in ages, and for the first time, Greed realized he wanted that too. He wanted to fall in love and see what it did to him.

Another person leaned against the table beside him, a mug of ale in his hand as well. The dark-skinned man had eyes that saw everything. Eyes that particularly looked at Varya with far too much comfort.

“Is it true, then?” the man asked. “You’re Greed himself?”

There was no hiding it. He was nearly seven feet tall with bright red hair. Who else did they think he was?

Greed nodded. “You found me. Congratulations.”

“Never seen you at the Festival of Lights before.”

“Never had a reason to come.” Greed took a sip of his drink, letting that simmer with the other man before he snorted. “Not much of a reason to come now, if I’m honest. This festival was created before me.”

“Most of us still know that.” The man turned toward him and held out a hand. “Altan.”

“You already know my name.”

They shook hands, and he saw a flicker of interest in the other man’s eyes. “So your name really is Greed, then? I always thought it was a moniker. Like calling someone King.”

Greed chuckled and felt the muscles in his shoulders relax. At least he wasn’t about to be grilled. The last thing he needed was a jaded ex-lover of Varya’s getting in his way. He’d bury him in the desert, of course. Somewhere no one would find his bones until the dry heat had mummified him. But he didn’t think Varya would particularly be happy that he’d done so.

Even if this Altan wanted to protect Varya from the demon king, he didn’t think anyone could sway his mind now. He wanted her, and he would have her. No matter what the cost ended up being.

“My name is really Greed,” he replied, turning his attention back to the woman who had linked hands with another and was now spinning wildly in a circle. They were going to throw up if they kept that speed up.

“So how did you meet Varya?” Altan asked, his eyes seeing a little too much.

Greed turned the question around on him. “How did you meet her?”

“We grew up on the streets together. Her parents died when she was very young, so mine took her in. And then they died too.” Altan gestured toward her with his mug. “She’s like a little sister to me, although I feel more for her than a sibling. She’s not blood, but she’s the closest I’ve got.”

So there was someone waiting to make sure she had come home. He’d known she must have been wrong about that, but he hadn’t guessed the person waiting for her would be such a handsome young man. “Is that so?”

“Her parents left her with one saying in her head, you know? And that’s what makes her story about how she met you even more unbelievable. It makes it hard for me to think that she’s allowing you to be here, with us... willingly.”

Ah, so her parents had hated him. That wasn’t all that surprising. Most people in the kingdom blamed him for the state of their lives, and in some way, he was responsible. It had taken hundreds of years to get their people in line. The nomadic tribes were always fighting each other when he’d arrived. No one had wanted to listen to the redheaded man who didn’t look like them or sound like them or understand their kingdom in the slightest.

He’d fought. He’d won. Neither of those had won him many supporters.

The people in this kingdom had been searching for someone to blame for years. They didn’t want to realize that it was their own folly that had nearly run this kingdom into the ground. So they blamed him. They turned him into a monster who had taken their kingdom by storm, ruined all their good crops and all the people who had once led them.

The rumors about him were terrifying and full of blood. He didn’t care. As long as the people in this kingdom feared him enough to listen, that was all that mattered.

But... The other side of that was how lonely it had become.

He watched as Varya and the other woman leapt through a bonfire together. They ran so quickly not a single flame singed either of their clothing, and they fell into a laughing heap on the sands.

“Varya and I are similar in many ways,” he replied. “She is not afraid to take what she wants, or to hold a knife to someone’s neck and force them to see reason.”

“That is not the expression of a man who sees an equal,” Altan replied. He stood in front of Greed, blocking his view of the only woman that mattered. “But you don’t see anyone as an equal, do you? Demon kings are rare throughout all the kingdoms, and you would be a fool to not realize just how powerful you are compared to the rest of us. Those eyes see her as more than an equal. You see a companion. Why?”

Greed could lie. He could say it was because he’d seen what she looked like with her legs spread wide and her cheeks burned with passion. He could singe the other man’s ears as he told him about the sounds she made as his tongue circled that button between her legs that made them shake.

But that wasn’t what Altan was looking for. And for a rare moment in his life, Greed was truthful. “She sees what I do not. I came to this kingdom knowing it was broken and that it would be a challenge for me to fix it. I like a challenge. I like a battle. She was the first person to tell me I was doing something wrong. She was the first to show me the lies that have been said in my name and the first to hold me accountable. That woman is not afraid of me, and having someone look at you without fear is addicting.”

“Ah,” Altan murmured, then spread his arms wide as he stepped back into the crowd. “You will find many here who would have no problem telling you what you’ve done wrong.”

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