Envy (Dark Waters Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-five:

As she stepped forward, hands in fists at her side, I knew I was right. "You used us," she said. "You're still using us, right?"

Gluttony's thick brows knitted together. His frown was obvious under his beard. He lowered his head, hands pressing up to his cheeks. Leaning into the pose, he sighed. "I wouldn't call it using—"

Priscilla shook her head. "Then why am I alive?" she snapped.

I touched her arm. "Priscilla..."

"No," looking at me, she shook her head, "I should've died with you. You committed a crime, they were going to kill you, kill us, and we would've..." She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Her eyes rimmed with tears. "I died anyway and was taken from you. We were separated because they have an agenda."

"Priscilla." Gabriel came toward him, shaking his head. "If I hadn't gone in and recovered your soul, you would've been demon's dinner."

"Okay, that." Pointing at Gabriel, I looked back at Gluttony with wide eyes. "That's what I needed to know," I said. "Because I thought Priscilla had been given to Him when I couldn't do it. And that was the case. How is she here?"

Gluttony slid his hands before his fingers brushed through his beard. He chuckled, then hissed when he shifted uncomfortably. "I always feared this conversation," he said, lifting his gaze to look at Priscilla and me. "But what I did was to give all of us a chance."

"You sacrificed us for who?" Priscilla sighed.

"Everyone," he said. Then his gaze softened. "But I first did it... for both of you. I killed you before anyone else could, and Gabriel recovered your soul before a Sin came for it."

Priscilla stepped back as she gasped. What Gluttony said echoed in my head. Did he kill her? "You made me believe one of the others killed her..."

"No." Gluttony shook his head. "That was something you thought of on your own."

I gritted my teeth. He allowed me to believe that? The idea that a Sin killed her and then acquired her soul haunted me for years. He saw the pain it left me with, so why?

"So, you killed her?" I asked again.

Priscilla covered her mouth. "You killed me? Why?"

"Because I saw Octavio's joy and need to love you, I thought... Maybe he'd be the first successful of us to achieve what many of us fell victim to. If I killed you in a normal mortal way, then your soul would be reborn. The two of you would have another chance."

A breath of—I wasn't what to call it—relief? Surprise? The moment the puff of air left me, a pressure lifted off my chest. Gluttony saved her soul to give your romance a chance. It made sense to me as to why he killed her; remove her presence from this realm so the Sins couldn't find her.

But it was clear Priscilla didn't like the answer. Angrily she stepped forward. I saw the tears well up in her eyes. "You decided to kill me without telling is your fucking plan?"

My arm shot out and wrapped around her waist. Like this, I could look into Gabriel's eyes as he leaned against the wall, shaking his head. I exhaled and pulled Priscilla close. "Calm down," I said quietly.

"Oh?" Turning her body, she looked up at me. "You're okay with this?"

"Maybe because I was born into this world that I am." I pursed my lips. "It makes sense. In a way, he protected you. It may not seem like it, but a sacrificial death to Him and Her is worse than what he gave you."

***

"No!" Pushing off me, Priscilla rushed toward the front door, tears sliding down her cheeks. Gabriel didn't reach out for her; he let her run. But as she passed him, he lowered his head, sighed, and rubbed his temple.