Chapter 28 #2
Merchants had covered their carts with leathers and skins for the evening, tucking them away in favor of flickering, fiery torches.
Evening entertainers made their way up and down the street.
Ladies of the night and young, sculpted boys with outfits that left little to the imagination approached the entourage of demons.
Arek kept his head down and hands in his pockets, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
Saer followed suit, growling and jerking away from their unwanted touches.
Alus’s tactic proved just as effective, though more welcoming in its dismissal.
When caresses glided over his bare arm, the twin smiled and slid his hand over the owner’s, lacing his fingers through theirs.
Lifting their knuckles up to his inviting lips, Gluttony kissed, then drew the offending humans in close and spoke low into their ears, “Thank you, lovely. We’re in a hurry. ”
The first time he did this, Saer noted the ear Alus whispered into curved into a fine point at the tip, different from any human he’d ever seen. He made a mental note to inquire about it once his irritation abated.
Alus then released them to make sense of their own fluttering heartbeat and lightheadedness.
Twice this happened with women. The third, a youthful man. The outcome went unchanged.
The lust emanating from each lodged in the back of Saer’s throat, choking, intoxicating, and infuriating. He refuted the reminder of what he’d taken from Neyu, hated the villagers for pressing it into him with such ferocity.
By the time Alus rejected his final offender, Saer’s agitation threatened to boil over.
On ships, in Runeak’s camp, and amongst the environments he’d been in immediately after Neyu’s demise, he avoided her aspect.
Manipulating lust wasn’t a thing he’d practiced.
The sheer rawness felt wilder than the pride he knew firsthand.
Too late, Saer realized he should have spent time refining the sin rather than ignoring it.
He wielded a weapon he’d never laid eyes on before, let alone touched, and it threatened to gut him.
“Almost there, Boss.” Gluttony provided the reassurance with a sharp clap to Pride’s shoulder.
True to his word, music amplified with their approach. Thick and dramatic tribal drums paired with lively wind instruments in an upbeat tune. Amidst the jovial shouts and laughter, Alus’s eyes shone in anticipation as they drew closer—in contrast to Arek’s disinterest.
Saer harbored skepticism more than anything. He was no stranger to human celebrations, though he didn’t tend to partake.
The crowd thickened. Makeshift tables stood in random places in an open dirt square. A band played to one side while a small group of carousers danced and clapped. Standing torches lit the space with uneven ribbons of flame and shadow.
Saer’s gaze caught on one of the young men slapping his palms upon drums. The auricles of his ears also extended to points.
He parted his lips to ask, but Alus curled his hands by his mouth to make a shout better heard, calling over one of the humans handing out receptacles filled with spirits in exchange for coin.
Once the woman locked eyes with Gluttony, her face glowed.
She approached and Alus grasped her wrist, pulling her close so the lengths of their bodies touched.
He bent and whispered something to her, and she giggled.
Arek rolled his eyes, then busied himself locating a poorly fashioned stool to sit upon in front of one of the tables.
Sending the woman off with a brush of lips to her cheek, Alus found two other stools and thrust them upon the ground in front of their proclaimed table. He slammed his palm down on one. “Crown Prince of Conceit, your throne.”
Saer glanced at Arek. “He never lets up, does he?”
“No,” came Arek’s deadpan reply.
Alus, being Alus, smiled and waited.
Saer pulled the proffered stool his way with a grunt and sat at the same time as Alus, so the three demons formed a triangle about the small table.
Alus raised his voice over the drums and surrounding partygoers. “What we’re about to teach you, we discovered alongside our Lady Ardor herself.”
Recognizing the nickname for Neyu, Saer leaned forward, letting the silence speak for him.
“We”—Saer could tell by the way Alus said the word, he referred to himself and his twin only—“had never stopped to think about why our bodies aren’t as affected by spirits as humans are. But she was always more clever than the rest of us put together.”
Saer thought many times over that, while he could pick up on things quicker than most, Neyu embodied curiosity and ingenuity.
He solved problems out of necessity, but she tackled puzzles for amusement.
His love often accused him of being too serious, of needing more fun in his life.
He’d told her she was the fun in his life.
No longer.
The memory ached inside his ribcage like yesterday’s bruise.
“Red and I took her to a gathering not unlike this one, centuries back. I made mention of the spirits, how they can make you feel…lightheaded? Rocky? But only if consuming a substantial amount at an alarming rate. Even then, the feeling doesn’t stick around.”
The twin paused for so long that Saer’s lip pulled back in a snarl. “Well?”
Alus laughed and Arek took over. “Neyu pointed out the drink can be lit ablaze and disappear shortly thereafter. She made the connection to the natural fire in our blood and suggested we, for lack of a better word, burn through it too quickly to feel much of anything.”
The dark-haired beauty from earlier sashayed to their table and unloaded a tray of three tall receptacles, each with a sloshing, golden-brown fluid inside. Alus graced her with another kiss to the cheek, rewarded with a faint blush before the girl went on her way.
Saer reached to take the beverage and studied the contents within while musing, “We can’t change what we are.”
“No,” said Alus. “But we can change our internal temperatures without too much fuss, so long as there’s a place to shove that heat.”
Saer frowned and took turns glancing between Alus and Arek. “You’re suggesting we weaken ourselves? To get drunk?”
Gluttony snapped and pointed a finger at Saer with his captivating grin.
Saer was too flabbergasted to speak.
“Which is why,” Arek cut in, “it’s important not to indulge unless there’s more than one of us present.” He squeezed Saer’s forearm to draw his attention. “Neyu offered to take Alus’s fire. He jumped on it like...buzzards on a gut wagon.”
Alus winced. “We need to expand your colloquialisms.”
“One of us has to work instead of read, or cook, or dance once in a while,” Arek shot back.
“Sounds like I’m doomed to have fun for the both of us.”
“Enough,” Saer sighed.
“That word has never been in our vocabulary,” Alus said.
“Alustar!” Both Arek and Saer yelled at the same time.
Alus, of course, laughed.
When Gluttony brought it down to a chuckle under the glare of the other demons, he forced his lips over his teeth into a lop-sided grin. “We’d gladly give you a demonstration, as it were.”
“Why are you so intent on showing me?”
Alus’s smile didn’t dim, but somehow grew more nostalgic. He glanced at his twin. “You wanna take this one, Ace?”
Arek inclined his head. “Neyu deserves to be remembered.”
“You think I don’t remember her every second of every day?” Saer asked, bristling.
“Let me finish. Something that helped Alus and I move past her absence has been thinking back on memories. Fond memories. There’s something extra in it when shared amongst others who cared about her.”
Saer tensed to pull his arm away from his brother, but Greed held fast to Saer’s wrist. “This memory, about the drink—it’s something worth sharing.
We want to hear stories you have as well.
” Saer fixed his brother with an icy glare, and Arek’s voice lowered.
“You’re not the only one who lost her, Saer. ”
The ice fractured.
Arek, for the first time since they’d all been brought together, smiled a genuine smile—though it carried grief around the edges.
After a long pause, Saer nodded.
Alus clapped his hands together. “Fabulous. Who’s going first?”