Page 98 of The Demon Crown

“Shut up if you aren’t going to keep an eye out,” Greed snarled.

“An eye out for what? We’ve come out here every day for five days now and we haven’t gotten a single whiff of what you’re looking for. Just admit you’re asking the impossible and let’s go back to your castle.” Again, Gluttony shifted on the saddle, wincing slightly. “I’m getting sores.”

“Maybe those would remind you to keep your mouth shut around Wrath, then.”

“I wasn’t the one who told him I’d been feeding.”

“No, but you did it.” Greed could use a fight right now. He was itching for it. His hands opened and closed in clawed fists, and he stared at his brother with eyes that were already slitted in the sun. “You’re the one who can’t control your own urges.”

“Hilarious.” Gluttony looked him up and down, then gestured in the same motion. “Look at you. We’re out here, starving, burning up in the sun, and you’re quite literally salivating. There’s drool on your chin at the mere thought of keeping her forever, and you think I’m the one who can’t control my urges?”

Was he drooling?

Greed wiped at his chin. And damn it, there was some foam after all.

What did that mean? Nothing. Only that he couldn’t control his urges with her and that was realistically something he shouldn’t worry about. There had been other objects he’d wanted just as much. Armor that would protect him from every type of weapon. Magical amulets that made him stronger or allowed him to be as weak as a human if he wished. There were plenty of items here that had been tossed aside by so many kingdoms he could wallow in the power for the rest of his life.

And yet...

Yet, he knew his brother was right. Gluttony saw straight through him. His reality was that he was pleased with the idea of keeping her because it was Varya. Of anyone and anything he’d ever seen in his life, he wanted her. More than magic. More than power. More than his namesake.

He wanted—no, needed—to have her. And he would give up the rest of his collection if it meant she stayed with him for just a little while longer.

Gluttony’s eyes widened, watching the emotions flicker across Greed’s face. “You’re in love with her.”

“No.” The word wrenched out of him before he could catch it. Greed cleared his throat to get rid of the sudden tension there. “That’s our brother’s new domain, yeah? Not me.”

“You think you cannot be greedy while also being in love?” Gluttony leaned over the pommel of his saddle, turning his eyes out to the sands. “Lust might have been the only one of us who struggled with love. And Pride, I’m not sure that bastard even knows what love is. But none of us are immune to the notion. We can love, Greed. Just as hard as we can fuck and live and conquer.”

Ach, it wasn’t the right thing. He wasn’t in love with Varya. She could barely look at him right now and ... she wouldn’t be able to do it after this.

He scrubbed the back of his neck with his palm, an ache blooming in his chest. “And if I do? What do I do with that? She doesn’t want this life or anything that I can give her.”

“Perhaps all she wants is you.” Again, that soft gaze turned to him, seeing right underneath the armor that he’d so carefully built up around himself. “And you’re so afraid to show her that ugly underbelly of yours.”

“That’s all she’s seen.”

“Then you’re afraid to show her the best of you because you do not believe there is anything left of that person.” Gluttony shrugged. “There are many reasons to be afraid, brother. Countless reasons to convince yourself that you are unworthy, or that she could never want a man like you. Or you could let go of your fear and dive in. See what she can offer you and what you could offer her.”

When had his brother gotten so perceptive?

Eyeing Gluttony, he tried to see past the hard exterior. Or perhaps it was better to call it Gluttony’s mask, since no one really knew who his brother was.

Gluttony had left them all very early in the battles for their kingdoms. He’d seen the swamp kingdom and taken it for his own, knowing that none of the others would want the dark and the muck. Since then, Greed hadn’t heard from him at all. None of them had. Gluttony had taken to his kingdom like a fish to water and then was gone. From all of them.

So what had his brother been doing? Certainly not becoming this rather insightful version of himself. He refused to believe a man who devoured his own subjects was so able to look within himself and see reason.

“You eat people,” he muttered, then shook his head. “I shouldn’t take any advice from you.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.” Gluttony’s eyes never once moved from the sands. “Wrath tells whatever story suits himself best.”

“You mean suits the kingdom best.”

“Sure. Claim that’s what it is. Put that mantle of goodness and righteousness on the brother with the greatest anger problem and the background to prove how fucked up he really is.” This time, Gluttony met his gaze without hesitation. “Neither of our brothers like me very much. Have you ever asked why? Does Pride see fault in me? Does Wrath wish to punish me? Or is it because I seem to be the only other brother who sees fault in them, and they do not like feeling inferior to anyone else?”

This opened up way too many doorways that he wasn’t all that certain he wanted to walk through. Greed had never cared that two of his brothers seemed to think they ruled all the other kingdoms. He didn’t care as long as they didn’t meddle, and they didn’t. They took whatever they wanted as far as respect, and then they left him alone.

He was fine with that. Greed rarely left this kingdom anyway. It was large enough for him to spend a thousand years exploring, and that was enough.

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