Page 112

“If one more of you bastards steps into this room without a bottle of apology in your hands, I swear on every vintage I’ve ever hoarded?—”

“It was an accident,” Envy said.

“A magickal accident,” I added.

Gluttony glared. “I got suplexed by a goddess mid-climax and sent through a barrel rack. You want to talk about magickal accidents?”

“She’s a repressed witch,” I said. “We forgot. The sex?—”

“Yeah. I felt it,” he growled, massaging his temple. “The bond magick was like swallowing the sun and chasing it with bad brandy. Lust is out there somewhere losing his mind.”

“And it’s only going to get worse if we don’t figure out what else that did,” Envy added grimly.

Gluttony sighed, looked down at the shattered glass and crushed barrels, then glanced back at the gaping hole in the ceiling above.

“Well,” he muttered. “At least it was good wine.”

Gluttony's anger deflated like a torn sail.

He paced a tight circle around the edge of the warded room, fists clenched, jaw twitching—but there was no fire behind it anymore. Just a hollowness that sat heavy in his chest

I was shit at this lovey-dovey stuff, but it was harder to see Gluttony suffer like this–Gluttony, the one who always took care of everyone else.

So I’d give it a fucking try.

“Clio messed you up pretty bad,” I managed, sitting down on the dirty, debris-ridden floor.

Envy glared at me harshly. We had an unspoken agreement as brothers never to mention her unless we had to.

Well, it was time.

“She didn’t even look back,” Gluttony muttered, voice hoarse. “After everything. After me. Clio just...walked away.”

Envy and I shot each other looks. Gluttony never spoke openly about his feelings.

And here he was, sprawled lazily over the ruins of a collection worth millions.

“Muses are heartbreak incarnate. That’s kind of their thing,” Envy added, when Gluttony went silent again.

Gluttony’s shoulders hunched tighter. “I thought I could handle it. Thought I’d be enough.”

“You’re a sin,” Envy drawled, tapping his nails against his thigh. “Not a story. She left the moment she didn’t like how yours ended.”

There was silence for a long beat. Even Envy didn’t smile this time.

Gluttony finally stopped moving, staring at the floor like it held the answers. Something changed then in his demeanor; a sudden snap that made him feel more like the family patriarch we relied on him to be.

“We have to find Lust. Or Juniper and Lust, together. If we can siphon that power—share it equally—we can end this. Finish what Wrath started.”

Envy perked up, eyes gleaming.

“This would be a great fucking time for Hades to come back,” I said under my breath.

Gluttony’s eyes zeroed in on me.

“Good idea. I’ll send Sloth and the fae child to hunt down Hades. I will attend the council meeting. You two will go after Lust and Juniper.”

Envy covered his face with his hands, hiding an inappropriate grin.