Sinners' Kingdom #1: The Book of Lust (Complete)

60

"Hm?"

"No, thanks," I repeated. "We're busy with other issues. No need."

"We're fairly unoccupied, actually—"

"If there really are more threats on this island than just sirens, we should organize better and be prepared. You can start by telling me what exactly you can do. Both of you." I turned and faced the rear over Lust's shoulder, and though I had no idea where Mammon was, I gave it my best guess, judging by the slightly tan smear of color amid splotches of dull green. "If we pool your knowledge, abilities, and resources, we can raise our chances of escape. But you have to be transparent. Lying won't help any of us."

"My Sable is the cleverest," Lust praised. He had the gall to sound genuinely proud. "I agree we should be more open with each other, Mammon. You'll never find an opening to attack me, so you might as well give up and try cooperation instead. We're doing so well already. I'm more rejuvenated than ever thanks to both our efforts."

I ignored that last part. Pretty sure I knew what he was so blithely talking about, and we didn't need to get into that. What happened then was a one-time thing and didn't bear mentioning again. Ever. "Anyway. Mammon. What is it you can do? You can shapeshift into that — wolf. And you can regenerate quickly. Right?" If he couldn't, his head would be almost severed from his shoulders thanks to Lust's bladed tail, yet Mammon's throat was in perfect working order, enabling him to speak.

"... Asmodeus should confess his limits first. Then I'll do the same."

Lust gave that a disapproving tut-tut, but it sounded far more amused than disappointed. No doubt that would only make Mammon steam even more — yeah, there it was. I fidgeted in Lust's arms against the oppressing cloud of black rage that simmered harder behind us.

"Stop it," I told Lust, dropping my voice to scold him quietly and quickly. "You're provoking him."

"Oh, love, this is just how we get along."

I sincerely doubted that. To his credit, though, Lust promptly complied with Mammon's demand.

"My Shards are missing, so of course I'm not at my prime. You have one in your safekeeping, one is somewhere on this island, and the other four are lost in the wind until I find them one by one. Until I reassemble them, I'm disappointingly limited, but my contract with Sable now allows me more... breadth of movement, shall we say? Dreamwalking, mesmerizing, and some shapeshifting myself, but unfortunately I can't alter the entirety of my appearance in this state. Parts of my body, though, most certainly. The more Shards I regain, the more... versatile."

Why did literally everything he said have to sound perverted? I quashed the thought before it could go anywhere. Clearly, he'd left out the bit about a passive aura of seduction while describing his abilities. "Can you heal, too?" I pressed. "You and Mammon fought on the mountain" — violently — "but you're both fine."

"At present, his capacity for recovery far exceeds mine, love."

Mammon snorted. "Not only at present. Always."

Lust ignored him. "That said, he must be quite weakened himself to not have overwhelmed me then. Considering that I'm at only a fraction of my power, the fight was suspiciously even, wasn't it? Even if we consider that you already had my Shard inside you to prevent you from killing me, that we were evenly matched is shedding unexpected light on your condition..."

"I was imprisoned for years," Mammon snarled.

"So was I."

"Hiding in humans' dreams isn't the same as being trapped in a fucking prison spell!"