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Twenty-Two

ENVY

Greed and I sat at the corner table near the back, half-shrouded by dragon kamasutras and advice columns for vampires, sipping moss wine and pretending we weren’t eavesdropping.

We were absolutely eavesdropping.

Pride sat rigidly at the center of a quiet emotional hurricane, his cravat a little bit crooked. Lust lounged beside him like he’d walked off the cover of a forbidden romance novel.

“I didn’t expect her to crack that fast,” Greed muttered beside me, twirling the stem of his glass with one finger. “She’s usually better at bluffing.”

“You say that like she’s a card game,” I said.

“She is a card game. Everyone is. The trick is knowing when to fold before they self-destruct.”

I rolled my eyes. “Gods, you’re exhausting. She’s just a witch. And a lonely one, at that. Everyone has a breaking point.”

Across the room, Juniper was offering an apology. A real one, for once. And then she was leaving—fast. Shoulders tight. Chin trembling.

Pride said something—I think it was a solid no, and she fled, wiping her eyes before crossing the threshold.

Something in my stomach flipped.

“She’s crying,” I said.

“Women do that,” Greed gritted out, but he looked troubled as well.

And rarely was Greed troubled by anything, even himself.

We both stood. Lust was still at the table. I crossed the room first, Greed trailing behind me, adjusting his jacket.

Lust looked up when we approached. “Figured you would be here.”

“What was that?” I demanded, ignoring him. “She just left in tears, and you didn’t stop her.” I turned to Pride. “I thought you liked her. You aren’t supposed to let girls you like cry.” I paused. “I think.” My experience with women wasn’t the best.

“It wasn’t my place,” Lust said simply. “Call it a...canon event.”

Greed snorted.

“You know she’s not built for quiet shame,” I snapped. “She burns. She explodes. That’s how she survives. This? This might wreck her.”

Greed raised a brow, turning to me with alarm. “Since when do you care this much?”

“Since I started noticing things you’re too busy monetizing to feel,” I snapped back, feeling off-balance.

He held up his hands, unoffended. “Hey, I feel. Just with...margins.”

I turned to Lust again. “And what about you? Going to tell us this is all fine and dandy? Because it’s not. The gods are twitchy. Things have been restless in the north quadrant. You disappeared for a day and a half. And you’re the reliable one.”

“I took a nap,” Greed said, looking pleased with himself.

“You vanished into a hedge maze for 36 hours with a siren and a suitcase of fireworks.”

He smirked. “Boy, did I. And rest is important.”

I ignored him. “G wants me to stick around her–Juniper. He’s taking to tracking the wolf himself. Wants to keep a personal eye on things.”

Lust sighed, setting down his tea with a little more weight than necessary. “Wow. He hasn’t done his own tracking in–”