Envy (Dark Waters Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-nine:

Pride didn't have to move. The shot didn't push him back or cause him to fall, but his cocky grin faded immediately. His head dipped to the side, and blood dripped to the floor. There was a small bit of hope that'd he dropped dead, but this was Pride, the oldest out of all of us, the destroyer of civilizations with just a snap of his fingers. It'd take more than one shot to kill him.

But it was enough to get him mad.

Priscilla's shot got him in the face. The skin around his mouth was pulled back, singed, and burned by the bullet. When he clenched his jaw. I saw his teeth. Blood dripped from the opening, down his chin, and onto his shirt. He tried to touch it, but when he realized the skin was gone and he was left with exposed bone, his eyes turned red, and he snapped that stare in our direction. It was as if there was fire and blood in the iris; Pride revealing Wrath was not a good mix for anyone to see.

"Priscilla!" I called out. Pride's blood had already spilled onto the floor, puddling in the circle's center. My shoe slid through it as I reached for Priscilla and pulled her toward me. She grabbed hold of my sleeves as she looked at Pride with wide eyes. She wasn't afraid, more irritated that her shot didn't take him out.

Pride stared at the blood on his fingertips and smirked, pushing more of it through the hole in his face. "Your girlfriend has a good shot." He slid his tongue between his teeth, letting red stain the tip. Like a snake, he pulled it back into his mouth and hissed. "Too bad no one ever ever attacks me and lives."

The second I blinked, Pride turned into his mist form and appeared in front of us. He pushed me to the left and grabbed Priscilla by the neck, lifting her off the floor, her legs dangled. She coughed and grabbed his wrists, but he shook his head, pulling her close to his face. "Never."

Panic came over me. Pushing up from the puddle of blood, I rushed toward Pride. I aimed for his neck. If he hurt her, I'd kill him. All of this wasn't happening for him to take it from me.

But Pride blocked my hands. He pushed them out of the way, looped his arm around my attack, and grabbed my neck. His thumb pressed into my Adam's apple, and I choked. He had more fury with me; he squeezed his hand, and I couldn't breathe.

"Do it, Pride!" Wrath shouted. "Get revenge for me, too! His fucking angel friend ruined my legs!"

"He did." Lust sighed, frustrated. "Your best asset..."

"Fuck you," Wrath hissed. "Focus."

"I'm trying," he whined.

Despite the bickering in the room, Pride's focus remained on me. The edges of my vision flashed red, pulsating, throbbing with the pain of death that couldn't hit me; I couldn't suffocate, but it still hurt.

My gaze slid over to Priscilla to make sure she wasn't in the same state. She struggled and was red in the face, but her heart beat with such ferocity, I had hope.

She's stronger than she was. She has strength and power.

Pride sucked his teeth. "You're hurting us, your family," he cooed. "And for what?" His eyes panned over to Priscilla. "A piece of ass?"

My chest clenched as I sucked in a breath. "Fuck... you."

Pride laughed. "Oh no, I wouldn't even give you the opportunity. Your pesky non-existent soul has always been a thorn in my side."

I knew I'd been a nuisance; I knew it from the moment I stepped into the circle and accepted Sin into my heart. Pride looked at me with disgust, his nose always in the air like I smelled. And no matter what I did, which souls I slaughtered, I wasn't good enough.

I grabbed his wrists, attempting to loosen his grip. "If... you hated me so much, then why? Why give me an assignment? Why... why make me believe I'd have a chance?" I coughed. "Why lie to me?"

"Why?" He pulled me in close to his face. Our noses pressed against each other. I saw the red spirals in his eyes, dancing, spinning with his fury. When he pulled his lips back and snarled, I saw into his mouth; the wound spreading the red muscles in his cheek, spilling blood onto his chin. And I heard him, his sound deep from within his throat as if it boiled up from his core. "I'm a Sin, dumb ass! A demon! What part of me is good, hm?" He squeezed my neck again, and I couldn't help but cough again. My spit landed on his face. "Why would I change who I am because of you? And besides," he spat, "I knew you'd fail, and I wanted an excuse to kill you!"

As he yelled at me, the dark portal above his head reacted. My gaze slid up to it, watching as it pulsated slowly, then quickly; thin sparks of lighting pushed out of the corners. Each line of light hit the floor, brightening the temple space on contact, but Pride didn't seem to care. With Priscilla in one hand and me in the other, he was more focused on causing us harm than what was happening behind him. This magic... wasn't his magic, was it?

Pride hissed, and blood and saliva spilled over his lip. "I'm in charge! They," he pointed at everyone, "obey me! We are a unit, and we are tired of you! You and your disgraceful father!"

Pride is Pride, but he was never a smart one.

I saw the tips of large fingers push out from the portal. Panic came over me. Fuck Pride and his monologue; something was coming out from that magic, and it was coming for us. I kicked my legs, trying to free myself. Priscilla had to have noticed because she did the same thing. The two of us fought with everything I had to break out of Pride's grip. Yet, after a second passed, we didn't have to.

An entire hand shot out from the portal. The large fingers reached for Pride and grabbed him by his head, lifting him like a rag doll. Because of it, we fell as he left the ground. Coughing and struggling to breathe. Priscilla crawled over to me. I kept my eyes on Pride as he hung above us, legs kicking wildly, his hands scratching at the sides of his face.

There was nothing he could do. He was in the grip of magic.

"Pity," a deep female's voice echoed. My gaze drifted down into the darkness of the temple. A shadow of a woman appeared, voluptuous and tall, slowly walking in our direction. She didn't have facial features, but I knew she watched Pride. Her tsk, tsk, tsk echoed in the air as she shook her head. "Pitiful Pride."

I kept Priscilla close to my side, my arms around her, as I stared at the shadow. And at the hand. I knew exactly what was happening and who they were. I gulped, biting the insides of my cheeks.

Him and Her, our lords of darkness, in all of their glory.

I lowered my head in respect. "Sire," I said. "Mistress."