Natalya’s visage turned demonic. Her teeth long and sharp, eyes scarlet, and skin scaly violet. Her fingers dug into the stranger’s arms, turning to claws and piercing her skin.
The stranger may be well satiated, but so was Natalya, and her eyes glowed with the flame afforded Court rulers. Even though her domain was small, it gave her strength that meant she far overpowered this being of Envy.
And she’d been stupid. Envy coveted from the shadows. That she’d even shown herself proved how haughty she was.
“You will not have her.” Natalya’s eyes shined bright red. “She’smine.”
The fiend looked surprised. She clearly wasn’t used to being overpowered. But she wasn’t scared.
“I’ve enjoyed watching you have fun with her. You make quite the pair,” the fiend said, voice tight. “I’d ask if the possessiveness you show her is a ruse, but your fingers piercing into my veins answers that question. You’re beingpainfullygenuine.”
At the comment, Natalya dug her claws further into the fiend’s arms. She would have ripped them off if she could, but even pinned to the wall, this woman was still a greater fiend. Killing her wouldn’t be easy.
“I trust you heard me before. When I said what I’d do to anyone who’d harm her,” Natalya said hatefully. “Your death is guaranteed, Envy.”
“Death isn’t the most terrible fate, Lust. We both know that.” The fiend’s expression grew more pained. More angry. Red lines spawned in her green irises. “And I think we’re both acting above our most basic urges,Natalya. I, for one, am currently bound to please. Not my usual purpose. With everything I’ve shared with my Master, I have pleasedwell.”
“How long?” Knowing this fiend may have been in the apartment for days filled Natalya with new fear. Evie had been alone in that time. She could have been killed.
“In the high-rise? Or just in your little love nest?” She flashed her teeth at Natalya. They weren’t as fiendish as expected. “Months in the first. Just weeks in the second. I've beenlingering in the shadows of your lovely home since your human was almost taken. Quite chaste of you to not fuck her again before tonight, Lady ofLust.”
“Who are you!?” Natalya yelled. “Did Varro send you?”
“I go by Vex. Though my Master doesn’t respect the moniker.” She leaned closer. “I cannot give you names. I have orders. But you are familiar with him. Your doting toy has felt his eyes on her body more than once. She didn’t care for it, as I recall.”
Behind them, Natalya heard Evie choke again. Vex’s eyes shined.
“Your plaything is tricky. Luckily, I’ve been watching you two long enough to know how to take things she’d really miss. Easily too.” Vex started smiling. “Darlingis having a difficult time back there. Better check on her.”
Fiends of Envy were thieves. Assassins and spies. They were made to covet and crave. The greater ones could meld with the shadows, and they could steal anything. They could steal your senses and your memories. They could even steal your breath.
Natalya shoved off Vex and rushed away. As she did, Vex tried to pull her back by grabbing her dress. The fabric tore as Natalya wrenched free.
“Evie!” Natalya grabbed Evie’s arms. Her eyes were no longer blind, finding Natalya’s. They were filled with terror.
“It’s not real,” Natalya said, holding onto Evie as she clawed desperately at her throat. She was panicking too much to listen to reason. Maybe Vex had taken her hearing too.
Steeling herself for how much energy this would take, Natalya put her hands on Evie’s face.
“Calm.”
It was one thing to calm someone scared, even someone panicking. Those emotions could be forced down, their source ignored or momentarily forgotten. But Evie couldn’t breathe. Her panic was a bodily reaction to extreme, lethal danger.It siphoned an incredible amount of energy to overpower something that primal.
It would make it harder for Natalya to defend herself. She may have an edge on this Envy demon who had snuck into the high-rise, but she couldn’t stand against a satiated fiend after this. Not for long. But Natalya could delay her.
Evie would live. And she could run. She would have a chance.
The otherworldly calm that flooded through Evie made the panic vanish. It happened so fast. It was like a switch had been flipped. She felt no fear at all, though she still understood, on some level, that there was danger present.
A woman with glowing green eyes was watching them. Her pupils were slitted like a cat’s, her arms bleeding black. A fiend. A greater fiend. Vex, she’d called herself.
“It isn’t real.” Natalya still held onto Evie’s face, but her grip was failing. “She’s doing this to you. Push against it.”
Evie’s throat was taut. Her chest burned, and her stomach was curling in on itself. She couldn’t breathe. It was impossible. But the impossibility was conjured. It wasn’t real, merely something her body had been tricked into believing.
She focused on that one thought. The sensation of something pinching her airways shut wasn’t real. It was a fiendish trick. It wasnotreal.
Evie drew in air so suddenly it made her gasp. She started coughing, and it was like she’d swallowed fire. Aching flames burning through her throat and lungs.
