I froze, mind dropping like a dumbbell on carpet.
A predator? Of humans? If only I could see the expression he wore, then I would know how much of what he said was mischief meant to unsettle me and how much was meant in seriousness. But I already knew the answer. For once, Lust wasn't playing around. This was no joke, and now he waited for my response as if it was utterly reasonable for me to have a response to that at all.
At least the Princes could see and comprehend my expression, if not the other way around. My shock silence must have been answer enough, and the lecture continued without my input. Mammon, surprisingly, was the one who offered his two cents next.
"There are hundreds of different kinds of beasts that like humans best as their primary prey. But in the last ten thousand years, humans learning to band together and create defenses has made them turn to other options. That doesn't mean they've changed their tastes. If they see anything human-shaped, and if that human-shaped prey can't defend itself, they'll consume it. In the outer realms where humans are still scattered and haven't learned how to fight back, they're still caught and eaten in droves by those same species. Some will even capture and domesticate humans for livestock breeding."
I swallowed the rising bile before it could burn my throat and make me gag. They were literally talking about predator and prey. Like animals. Eating human flesh the way humans talked about eating chicken and beef. But I had to remember — I wasn't in the mundane, false world of magic-less humans now, where they thought they were the apex predator. That pretend life was over, launching me straight back into the real world where humans were just another competing species in the great board game of magical and natural selection. Predator. Prey. And had I already forgotten, just because Lust and Mammon had gorgeous faces and shredded bodies meant to attract their ideal prey? That was the whole point.
Because demons preyed on humans, too.
Maybe most of them didn't physically eat human flesh — well, maybe they did, but I wouldn't know since most of my miserably limited knowledge of them involved only cautionary tales about incubi — but they certainly enjoyed feasting on humans' life essence, the energy of our souls. And like they said, witches and humans shared plenty of overlap. I was literally looking at living, warm-bodied evidence of what they were saying. I shouldn't be struggling to process the things they warned me about right now, at all.
"Okay," I said after a pause. "So you're saying, what I'm hearing might not be an inanimate or generally-casted curse, but something specifically cast to hunt me. The bird calls that you can't hear, but I can."
"We don't want to think that way at all," Lust assured me. I jumped when he shifted forward, skin erupting in goosebumps when all at once, the heat of his body was way, way too close. His voice also came from somewhere a bit below me... Was he kneeling? Why? I awkwardly shied away when he cupped my face in both hands, the gentle scrape of his extended claws fluttering sensuously through my hair. "But it is a possibility, my Sable, and I won't risk your life on a vain hope that the threat is less dangerous than it appears. You must stay very, very close to me from now on, at all times. Do you understand, love?"
"I'm better suited to guarding her," Mammon countered. "I'll react faster than you ever could. And if the problem is what I think it is, I can scent them from a league off. You'll only know when they're almost on top of you."
"That will be plenty of time for me to dispatch them."
"They don't come alone, you brainless imp. They hunt in flocks. You might outclass any single one of them, as you fucking should if you're not a cut-rate, piss-poor excuse for a demon, but there will be so many diving you that there won't be enough of you to protect her."
"Be optimistic, dear Mammon. Wolves run in packs, too, yet here you are, alone. Perhaps our mysterious pursuer will be just as... daring." The provocative smile in Lust's voice made me shiver, or maybe it was the way his hold tightened around my face ever so slightly. Despite knowing he wouldn't hurt me, and that those sharp claw tips would never pierce my skin — right? right? — I still found myself unable to move away. Each one pricked at my skin, teasing, lilting. I twitched.
"... Don't threaten me, Asmodeus."
"My, my. How could I threaten you. We're closer than ever before, aren't we."
"And you still forget what I am. I don't need a pack for protection. Never have."
"But of course. A strong wolf from one of demonkind's most ancient and primal races, capable of wiping out armies upon armies in his true form and consuming mighty cities whole. I've seen it with my own eyes, haven't I? It's not said for nothing that Mammon, Prince of Greed, is greedy for carnage most of all."
On the surface, Lust was clearly mocking him. There was no use pretending there was even a hint of sincerity in his false flattery. Yet...
Mammon made a sound that should have been a vicious snarl, but somewhere far in the back of it, an almost confused guardedness propped up his hostility. Yeah, same. "... What are you up to, incubus. You're plotting something."
"Not at all. I'm simply seeing the unintended benefits of this most unlikely partnership. I'm optimistic about the future of it as well."
"We are not partners!"
"I suspect that varies by the task, doesn't it, Mammon."
Only then did I realize what Lust was so shamelessly hinting at, if it could even be called hinting anymore. My face burned as I clutched the edges of my borrowed robes and tightened it around myself hard to hurt. Did Lust literally ever think about anything other than sex! Was there nothing in him but just thoughts of banging and thoughts of talking about banging, and plotting how to get his next hit!
"We were kind of talking about predators," I interrupted. "Let's stay on task if we're going to talk about tasks, okay? Tell me what I need to do protect myself from whatever might be hunting me."
"You are already safe, my Sable." Lust was back to his uncharacteristically serious self so swiftly it gave me whiplash. His hand curled, sharp fingernails grazing my cheek with sensuous tenderness before knuckles brushed against it, achingly affectionate. "I only cautioned you so you don't wander from me and compromise that. Though... it's quite good for us that we have a wolf on our side. A wolf is a natural predator of predators. Mammon will do nicely, for many things, I think. He's of excellent service to you. I wonder how I haven't seen it before."
The second animal snarl that came from Mammon was even more aggressively confused. "Enough! Why are you acting like this!"
"Acting like...?"
"Like you favor me all of a sudden. I'm no idiot, Asmodeus. I can see your tricks coming from leagues away. Don't cross me and you'll live longer."
"I'm wounded," Lust murmured. He leaned forward and pressed a gentle but somehow completely unchaste kiss to the side of my exposed neck before I managed to wriggle away. "My love, he's so unfriendly even when I receive him with open arms. And after I sacrificed my pride for the sake of a common cause... Sable, comfort me. My own covenant brother mistrusts me so..."
Yeah, and he's smart for it, I thought privately, but that would only steer the conversation away from the most important topic, which I suspected was Lust's intention in the first place. "Tell me what I want to know," I said sharply. Annoyed, I even reached inside myself for a speck of power to Command him with — but of course, there was nothing. Drained, still, as I should be. I hadn't slept a blink after escaping the Kunlun Temple by the skin of my teeth, then getting railed nearly to death by two demons not long after. God, I really needed sleep. And therapy. Lots of therapy. When I went back home, I vowed I would throw away my misgivings and try it at least once, though it wouldn't be easy to find one who could deal with my ramblings about Princes, contracts, and the sex dreams that started it all.
"Hm..." Lust mused. "Frankly, there's nothing you can do, my sweet. Even if you retained your sight, your only defense against any creature stronger and faster than you is your magic, but it remains dormant. Instead, I will be your hands, your eyes, your feet. Nothing will come near you unless I allow it."
"And unless I allow it."
"Of course, dear Mammon. And with two such mighty defenders, who could dare to touch my most lovely queen."
Okay, now this was just too suspicious. He was being awfully nice to Mammon and it was only getting worse. I'd better put a stop to things before Lust inevitably tried to murder him in cold blood when he least expected it after all this pretending to be friendly and obliging. No way it was genuine. "You two... Don't forget the deal we made," I reminded them. "We're all stuck together on this island until we find a way off of it. Even if there's some alternative way to travel off the island, the best way is to find the other Shard hidden around here, too. Then Lust can teleport all three of us away. Besides, I don't want to end up back here all over again if Lust ever has to use the spell in the future. You get sucked away to the location of wherever the closest Shard is, right? Lust? So the only way to make sure you and I don't get dropped back on this island in the future is to retrieve it and get rid of that chance completely."
"That is correct."
"But maybe helping you find that isn't my concern after all," Mammon growled. "It only gives Asmodeus an edge against me to reclaim his strength. I might prefer finding that 'alternative way'."
"You—!" I began, frustrated, only for him to interrupt and add:
"Unless we make a pact and it becomes my primary concern. Then and only then. Why should I help him to my injury?"
Back to square one! This was supposed to have been settled before we ever stepped foot on this damn island. It was my fault for bringing it back up and tickling the bear, I guess, but seriously? What was Mammon going to do, strand himself here with us just to hurt us? If his spite ran that deep, we had an even bigger problem than the other Shard we sought. Even if we did find that, until Mammon surrendered the one he possessed, Lust would get teleported straight back here if the spell even worked at all, attracted forcibly by the next closest Shard not in his possession. And Mammon wouldn't be fooled by the same trick twice. I swallowed hard, imagining sticking my hand down his throat again. He'd bite my hand off before he let me ever touch the Shard a second time.
Okay. But that could come later. I was going to go crazy if we didn't fix at least one of the avalanche of problems increasingly crushing me under their growing weight. Was there no end to them? Complication after complication after complication!
"You know what, whatever," I dismissed flatly, and I could almost hear Mammon bristling when I brushed him off. That was what he got for threatening me, though. No sympathy. "Let's run it back. Mammon, you said something before. You think you know what it is that's hunting me, if that's what's actually happening. What is it, and how sure are you that you're right?"
Lust's hand returned to my shoulder and squeezed it in a tight grip as if trying to dissuade me from pressing further, but Mammon answered before he could intervene.
"Man-eating, entrail-sucking, feathered beasts that sing you to your death. Sirens."