Chapter 38 Prince Sloth
THIRTY-EIGHT
Prince Sloth
YOU’RE FUCKING WITH us. You’ve got a mate, Cas?”
My brother Lust was as eloquent as ever. He leaned against one of the bookshelves in my private study that housed my most prized fiction, his arms crossed over his chest.
I gave him a withering look of disapproval, the least of which was due to the nickname I despised. He knew I preferred Lo to avoid any slips of my true name.
And he also knew I hated when anyone knocked those particular books out of their perfect alignment. He leaned back, pushing several books in, his grin growing more devious as I considered the merits of stabbing him.
I didn’t feel like dealing with blood spatter.
“Considering the small fact that I can’t lie, it would appear to the contrary.”
Gluttony’s grin was as wide and irksome as Envy’s, and I regretted my response.
Unlike Lust, the rest of my brothers were seated in a semicircle in my reading area.
Gluttony sat forward, arms resting on his knees, and left the demonberry wine he’d pilfered from my side bar untouched.
Once I’d sent Lore off with a servant for a bath and change of clothes, I’d found my brothers in my private study. They’d helped themselves to my wine and bourbon.
No one mentioned how they’d known to arrive tonight, but one glance in Envy’s direction indicated that he’d played a role in it.
His spies were as good as Pride’s, if not an edge better.
On any given day, this room was my sanctuary.
It was adorned with floor-to-ceiling shelves brimming with books, several overstuffed reading chairs, and an eclectic collection of artifacts I’d gathered over the centuries. I could spend hours poring over texts without being bothered.
Normally, this room, adorned in my House colors of pale sage and rose gold, served as a serene escape from the world, an earthly backdrop to read and relax in. But now it felt like my personal hell as I faced an onslaught of questions from my brothers.
“You did hear me when I said the Liber Noctem is no longer a threat to our realm, correct?” I asked. Six pairs of eyes stared at me like that bit was the least interesting information I’d shared. For fearsome Princes of Sin, they were rather obsessed with romance.
“You’re sure the mating bond is real?” Pride asked.
I gave a sharp nod of assent, and Gluttony barked a laugh. “It couldn’t get any more perfect than that. Especially for you.”
He was baiting me. I knew it; my cursed brothers and their shit-eating grins knew it.
“And why is that?”
“You, the biggest skeptic of romance, the one who’s waxed poetic on the efficacy of logic over love, have been struck down by fate.”
“Not to mention,” Lust added, “you’ve spent years lecturing us on how foolish we are to waste time and energy on romance. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You’re just as foolish as we are. Maybe more so. At least we knew we were morons.”
Gluttony looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. “The scandal sheets are going to lose their minds over this news.”
“One might even dare to say you’ve been laid low by love.” Envy’s emerald gaze glittered with mirth.
The bastard was loving this as much as Gluttony and Lust were. Thankfully, Wrath, Greed, and Pride were keeping their opinions to themselves. For the time being.
“‘Laid Lo by Love’ makes for a rather snappy headline,” Lust said, his grin widening. “Especially since you’re basically Lo Lo.”
I clenched my jaw.
Gossip sheets were tedious to deal with at best. And that was typically when they were focused on Gluttony and his debauched antics.
I wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of having my private life made into gossip fodder for the Seven Circles.
At least not until I spoke with Lore and prepared her for the spectacle.
Gluttony’s betrothed, Miss Adriana Saint Lucent, would no doubt be given the exclusive information to break the story first. I supposed that was the best-case scenario. Adriana would be more respectful than others.
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
I was still filthy from the final battle and hadn’t had time to bathe or eat a meal.
My brothers were lucky I hadn’t stabbed them with my House dagger and sent them back to their circles for coming here without an invitation.
But they were here, and I’d figured there was no time like the present to get on with the news.
I knew it would be tedious to tell my brothers about the mating bond, but this was bordering on excruciating.
I’d rather be back in the realm of nightmares, battling monsters, than suffer through my brothers’ jokes.
“I have to speak with Lore on timing,” I said, turning my attention to Gluttony. “But I would appreciate your assistance with planning a ball to celebrate our union. Lore enjoys romance.”
My brother lunged forward with such enthusiasm that I barely had time to brace myself before he flung an arm around my neck, pulling me into a crushing bear hug.
Lust joined in the hug, and the force of his embrace nearly knocked me out of my seat and sent the wine spilling.
Wrath cursed as his trousers were splattered and sprang up, his sin rattling the walls with his ire.
Pride swiped his glass from the table and shook his head, and Greed looked like he was considering leaving us all to deal with this embarrassing display on our own.
“Are you finally asking me to plan a party?”
“Yes, and I’m already regretting it.”
“That’s the spirit!” Gluttony punched me in the arm. “I’ll make sure this is the most epic ball to celebrate a mating bond to date.”
“It’s the only post-mating-bond ball you’ve done to date,” Wrath pointed out, clearly still annoyed that his pants had been sullied. His gold gaze narrowed on me. “Tell us about Somnia. While you were gone, the fabric of the Seven Circles became… unbalanced. And the old gods sent a missive.”
That was news to me. But it made sense. With my power being drained, my circle would have taken a hit. Which would have impacted their courts.
“What did it say?”
“That the Trials were enacted and they’d do all they could to keep the wards in place. We tried to keep the rumors from spreading, but after the ice dragon situation, everyone was afraid.”
I poured myself a knuckle of bourbon and leaned back in my chair.
Then I methodically shared the facts, from Xavier’s betrayal to using a locating spell and finding Lore, to every story we survived. I skimmed over the parts that didn’t concern them—kissing Lore, our moment in the Fae forest—they were ours and ours alone.
I finally shared how Lore overcame her dark side, how she ultimately chose to remember who she truly was. And how she freed the phoenix that had broken her to begin with. They were stunned when I told them she was Nyantha.
“You need to complete the mating bond and leash her magic,” Wrath said. “She’ll be a threat to this realm until it’s done.”
I flicked my attention to him. “Don’t.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, his mouth pressed into a firm line.
His wife was just as dangerous, but we never questioned her.
We were family, the good, bad, and ugly.
I would not permit anyone to make Lore feel like she couldn’t be trusted, or that she hadn’t already proven herself to the realms. None of us had a perfect past. And none should be judged for former mistakes.
“If this interrogation is over, I’d ask you all to kindly fuck off.” I stood and jerked my chin to the door. “Get out.”
Envy tossed back his bourbon and pushed to his feet, stalking toward me.
He clapped me on the back. “Don’t get your panties twisted, Cas. No one meant any harm about your mate. House Envy supports you and your nightmare goddess.”
Greed rolled his eyes. “As long as the dark book is destroyed, there’s no issue from my House of Sin.”
“The threat to the Seven Circles seems to be under control,” Wrath admitted. “You have my House support as well.”
“Even if Lore burned the realm down, I still wouldn’t have an issue,” Lust said, yanking me into another unbearably tight hug. “I’m just happy our little icy prick of a brother is mated.”
I slowly pried his grip off me, trying and failing to hide my own smile. “No one hugged Gabriellis when he got betrothed.”
“Nobody likes him,” Pride deadpanned.
“Categorically false,” Gluttony said. “Everyone adores me. You’re the one who’s all broody and secretive. I hope you reunite with your wayward wife soon.”
“He’s right,” Lust added. “You’re a miserable prick, Luc.”
“Anyway,” Gluttony said. “No one hugged me because I was never foolish enough to claim that the head was superior to the heart.”
Gluttony swiped the unfinished bottle of demonberry wine and sauntered to the door. “I’ll send over ideas for the ball tomorrow. Better get to completing that bond.”
I silently cursed them all to find their happily-ever-afters. Soon.
After I’d taken a decent bath to scrub the blood and dirt from my body and changed into clean clothes, I found Lore wandering down the main corridor of my House of Sin.
Our House, should she decide to move here, actually.
I stood a few paces behind her, my chest warming with affection as I silently watched her admire the library. For the first time I could recall, I didn’t fight the softness and cast it aside, dismissing it as distraction or weakness.
I felt anything but weak around my mate.
Candlelight gilded her dark hair as she reverently trailed gentle fingers over the nearest row of ancient books.
She paused at one of the towering shelves, tipping her head back as she took in the dizzying height of them.
Row upon row of old tomes I’d collected over the years were stacked toward a vaulted ceiling, the shelves winding through the corridor and chambers, all filled to the brim with books.
Her lips parted on a soft breath of wonder, and I watched as she stepped closer, like a moth drawn to a flickering flame.
There were plenty of half-formed calculations running through my head, but they slowed now at the sight of my mate’s awe.