Page 2 of Gluttony (Seven Deadly Sins #2)

Saeran

A teasing smile. Beguiling lips. Every memory of him haunts me.

The feel of connection ebbs as the black SUV drives further and further away. Like a piece of my soul being dragged out and ripped away. Good thing I’ve had a lot of time to get used to it.

My gaze flicks to the burning house. What were they doing in there? I want to go in and look around before it’s reduced to nothing.

I can still get in, so long as I move fast. Spreading my wings and stepping off the side of the two-story house, my bare feet land softly on the grass. My guardian companion, a phantom vision, appears at my shoulder, her small wings flapping as I stride toward the towering inferno.

Each guardian specter takes a different form. My own has been with me as long as I can remember, having appeared only days after my birth. A sign of my connection to the Sins.

My rainbow-colored semi-translucent dragon dances around my head, tiny lightning bolts curling out of her nostrils like she’s being electrocuted. I think I have some nuts in my pocket—there they are. I give her a few until she attempts to shove her nose in my closed fist where the rest are. A quick tap makes her rear back. “No, Gyro. Last time you gorged, you got a stomachache, remember?”

She doesn’t remember.

Her little claws dig at my hand, and wings flap rapidly as she exerts energy.

“You can have some more later.” They’re going back in my pocket before she tries to rip my hand off to get them. I’m pretty attached to it.

Standing at the front door, heat flickers at my face from the destructive flames coming from inside. No normal human could go in there and survive. Good thing I’m not normal, or human.

Magic moves across my face, the black tattoos there turning white and lighting as I concentrate. My white-blond hair stands on end, lengthening and twining into a perfect braid. When it’s done, an almost-invisible protective bubble surrounds me.

The flames flick harmlessly at my shield. Nothing on this side of the shroud can penetrate it and especially not something of Gluttony’s making. A white, glowing strand trails out of my open palm, leading upstairs.

Gyro sneezes, the force of it flinging her back a few feet.

With one foot resting on the bottom step of the stairs leading to the second floor, I raise an eyebrow. She wags her tail, a burst of lightning shooting from it. It causes another small fire, adding itself to the ones already ravishing the interior. I hold out a hand, beckoning. “Come here before you get yourself into trouble.”

Her tongue comes out playfully, more crackling energy sneaking out. I’d prefer she didn’t add more flames; I want to be out of here before the entire building collapses in on itself. She flies over to me, twirls three times, and then curls into a ball, nestling herself in the crook of my neck. Her legs dangle down my front, her tail wrapping around her.

My strand of magic leads me to a child’s bedroom, where a burnt-out husk lies in the middle of the room. Easy to spot the handiwork of the Demigod of Hunger. Gluttony’s essence thrums from it, a warm, familiar comfort that I’ve avoided for years. A taste on the tip of my tongue that burns. A cruel tease. Being this close is akin to torture.

Gyro immediately goes for the toy box in the corner, diving into the soft toys peeking out.

One plus about Gluttony’s magic is that there’s no blood to avoid when I kneel beside the body. The broken jaw moves under my grip, barely connected. Gluttony’s cruelty is well-known on this side of the shroud. The things he’s done would make most people’s stomachs turn. Not mine. He’s always been like that. Wrong or not, I’ve never cared. So long as he belonged to me, I never cared about the rest.

It doesn’t matter that the flames haven’t reached high enough yet to destroy evidence. There’s no sign on his clothing of who the man is. If he had something useful on him, Gluttony and the others have taken it.

Luckily for me, I have a few unexpected tricks up my sleeve. I gather the white strand that led me here and wrap it around the body, lifting it and turning it over. Sparks of light rise out of the body, like stars being pulled into a planet’s gravity. The strand absorbs them until there’s nothing left.

Someone Fae touched this body; the essence of their magic is strong.

Conor.

Unpredictable Dark Fae magic, with a tainted smell that only comes from a half-turning. One that came too late, and violently. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I still don’t know why it happened this way. Fae children are born human—at their most vulnerable and extremely protected—and their Fae genes kick in naturally during their teen years. Stronger Fae can sometimes develop earlier than that. No one has ever gone into adulthood without activating.

If Conor is who I think he is, there’s even more reason why he should have developed early, not late. Not like this.

The strand gathers back around my hand, and I clench my fist, pulling it back inside myself. Everything about these events worries me. I’ve waited so long for one of the seven sons to find their Sin, in a way that I can’t. My Sin is right in front of me, and I’ll never be able to connect with him again. It’s up to the others to do what I can’t. I never in a million years thought it would happen during this lifetime. It’s the most erratic reincarnation cycle that I’ve ever seen. None of the pieces are where they should be, and I can’t even find half of them. If I could choose, this lifetime wouldn’t be my first choice for everything coming to a head.

Gyro nudges my hip and then the arm of the corpse. She sneezes, and a streak of lightning erupts, turning it to nothing but ash in seconds.

I sigh heavily and scold her. “I told you to be careful.”

She’s already halfway across the room, poking at a bookshelf, completely disregarding me. Careful isn’t in her vocabulary.

Wood cracks in the distance, letting me know it won’t be long before the second floor collapses. I’m not in the mood to dig my way out of a burned-out building. I have to get back before anyone notices that I’m missing. Tiernan will notice if I have ash all over me, and I’ll never hear the end of it.

The bubble drops as soon as we’re out of danger, the heat licking at me from behind barely enough to keep me warm on a cold night. The white strand dances around my hand, and I shake it off, pushing it back in. I’m losing control of it. I don’t have long left. Centuries severed from the one who feeds me, the deprivation’s finally affecting me. The others don’t have the same ill effects; they were never as strong as me, and as they die in each reincarnation, their clocks reset, giving them infinite time to find one another.

Those I lead are going to notice soon, and I still don’t know what to tell them. They need to prepare for what happens when I’m gone.

Gyro nudges me, her nose against my jaw. I smile softly in an attempt to reassure her. What will happen to her when I die? All the other companions disappeared the night I was left all alone to carry the memories by myself. Did they follow their masters? Or are they simply gone? I’ve searched for answers and never found anything.

When we first came here, escaping the slaughter of the rest of our kind, answers weren’t my focus. My duty was to keep them safe. Hidden. It still is. We worked hard to develop the ability to hide our Fae signature, so we could hide in plain sight. Camouflage was the only way we survived this long.

I’ve spent so long fitting myself into the shadows that I can’t remember what it’s like to live in the light, in the open. What it’s like to live with the touch of a lover or the happiness that fulfillment brings.

Gyro sneezes again, and a strike of lightning hits the pathway, cracking the concrete. I pat her head gently, and she mewls, leaning into the touch. She moves down to bite at my pocket.

“Not yet. You can have more when—”

A loud growl erupts, and I freeze.

Chimera.

Far too close.

Are they here for me, or because of the energy Gluttony left behind? It doesn’t matter. As soon as it catches my scent, it won’t stop hunting.

“Go.” Gyro hesitates and then disappears with a “pop.” She can’t fight it. Right now, neither can I. I can’t protect her the way I’m supposed to.

The second she’s gone I bolt, running straight through someone’s backyard and vaulting over their wooden fence into another yard and then down a darkening, dead street.

The shrieking and growls follow me, easily keeping pace. It’s so fast, I can’t outrun it. On a stretch of road like this, it’ll catch up within minutes.

I need a tall building. One high enough that a chimera can’t reach. They can jump long distances, but they can’t fly . And that’s where my only advantage comes in. It means getting into the city without letting it catch me first.

I’d prefer not going anywhere near populated areas. At least out here in the suburbs, there’s less traffic and bystanders. The chimera is a danger to them, and they are a danger to me. I can’t risk exposure, not after being careful for so long.

Easier to do when a chimera isn’t chasing me.

It gets too close on the next turn, large fangs snapping at me and almost taking one of my wings with it. Not happening on my watch. Even if they’re not as vibrant as they used to be, I’d prefer that my wings stay right where they are. I run up the side of a house and twist, kicking it in the head. One ducking movement and my bow slides from my shoulders. Notching an arrow into it, I wrap a light strand around it and then fire, hitting it in the side of the head. It staggers, giving me enough time to get moving and put some considerable distance between us.

Distance it’s going to eat up in a matter of seconds.

The first thing I run into in the city is a dead-end alleyway, blocked off from the other side by a ten-foot wire fence. Great. Fantastic. What a wonderful sense of direction that won’t get me killed.

I spread my four translucent wings, not unlike those of a butterfly, and use them to propel myself up and over the fence. I land on a single knee, palm to the concrete surface. A quick glance behind me forces me to get up and moving again. It’s too damn fast, and there’s no time to rest. The chain-link fence isn’t going to keep it occupied for long. Reinforced steel won’t even do the trick. They’re mindless organic tanks with a one-track mind.

Finally, a tall enough building comes into view. Perfect for my needs and only two blocks away. I simply need to reach it before the chimera catches me. That’s the tricky part. I pull off my bow again, getting it ready. The sun is going down fast, and I don’t want to be out here with that thing when true darkness falls. The moon no longer strengthens me the way it once did. Not the way it’s supposed to. The shadows still give me solace, allowing me to fade until I barely exist, making travel across town that much easier. They don’t, however, give me the power they should. The connection is severed the same way my soul is.

“Sae!”

My heels dig in, and one foot slips out from under me, almost unbalancing me completely. Tiernan. Where is he? A whistle above gives me a direction. Rooftop. Not the building I’d eyed and not as high as I want, but if the chimera manages to reach us, at least it’s two against one. Better odds.

The next problem, however, is me making the jump before I become chimera food. I’m more than capable if I can find half a second to calm my racing heart and focus. A bit harder when a hybrid abomination is dead set on making me its chew toy, and when it takes considerably more effort than it used to.

“Get up here!” Tiernan hisses.

Looking behind myself again is a mistake. The chimera isn’t far enough away and closing in too fast. Concentrate. I can do this. I used to do this in my sleep. Quite literally as a child not in control of my magic. My eyes slide closed, and familiar heat brushes against my cheek. The tips of my ears curl, magic pushing out and surrounding my wings, giving them the strength they need to—pushing up, I dive into the sky like a rocket. Chimera claws slash at me, aiming for my jugular, missing me by mere inches.

Not today, hybrid.

Tiernan sweeps a critical gaze over me—my face stays deliberately blank—and then looks over the edge of the building. He throws a ball of psychic energy at the chimera, and it yelps, going down. Another shot gouges its side. He fires his own arrow, a perfect hit between the eyes. The arrow explodes and so does the chimera’s head. I wish that meant it’s dead, but I know better. It won’t stay down forever, only long enough for us to get away from it.

“Why didn’t you do that?” Tiernan asks tersely, his blue eyes blazing angrily. “Were you trying to play with it or something?” A head taller than me, he frequently uses it to his advantage when scolding me. Attempts to, anyway. He forgets that I’m older than him, that I was fully grown before he’d even been born. It doesn’t stop him from acting like a mother hen whenever I stray too far from the safety of our homes.

Gyro pops into view, landing heavily on my shoulder. Her butt sticks up in the air, her tail wagging to and fro and smacking me in the face like a whip. I hold it down, stroking gently over her rainbow scales. “There are you. Are you alright?” I need her safe, always. She’s all I have left of my heart.

She wriggles and turns, facing Tiernan and poking me in the cheek with her horns.

Tiernan ignores us both, too lost in his rant. “Where did you go? You should have taken someone with you if it was so important. Why did you flee from the chimera? You ran all this way to avoid fighting it when it’s no match for you. What was the purpose of that?”

A loaded question. They all are. I’ve hidden this illness for so long that I don’t know where to start. The rot took hold over a hundred years ago, a slow wasting disease that’s nearing completion. There’s only one man who can heal me. A demigod who doesn’t even remember who I am. Won’t ever remember.

My choice. My burden. My loss.

“Saeran, what is going on?” Tiernan asks with a frown. One filled with concern and softness. We’ve been looking after each other for so long that it’s second nature. He’s the closest thing to family that I have left. “You promised you wouldn’t roam on your own anymore. Talk to me.”

I can’t. Not yet. I don’t know how to explain. To even begin to apologize.

“Let’s just go, it won’t be safe when it wakes up.” My knees buckle, and I stagger, dizziness swamping me. My vision blurs, everything suddenly too heavy. Oh, no. I used too much energy getting away from the chimera. I know better than to do something so stupid, but I had no choice.

The last thing I see is Tiernan’s wide, horrified blue eyes.