Another great beast, this one with the head of a lion, charged into the arena while the vampire prince stalked closer, still aiming for Envy’s back.

Camilla was out of her seat, leaning over the edge, shouting for Envy to look.

Alexei grabbed her, hauling her back. She nearly turned and punched him.

“Do something! He cannot fight against three.”

Alexei’s gaze sparkled. “Zarus is attempting to make it a fair fight.”

“How is three on one…” Camilla’s voice trailed off as the answer came to her. “Envy is that much more powerful.”

“Not quite.”

Alexei nodded to the arena, where another two giant creatures emerged. One had a bull’s head with the body of a man, and the other had the head of a bird of prey. Five. It took one vampire prince and four giant beasts to even the fighting field.

“Exactly how strong is Envy?”

“The Kiadara each possess the strength of two hundred men. They are rumored to be the by-blows of the old gods. Because of their taste for blood, they’ve aligned themselves with the vampires.”

Camilla’s mouth went dry.

Envy was fighting the equivalent of eight hundred mortal men and a vampire with immortal strength of his own.

The demon prince turned, saw the raging beasts descending, lifted his dagger, and smiled.

ENVY HADN’xT HAD a decent fight in a good long while.

He was glad now that he hadn’t taken Wrath up on his recent offer. He channeled his less dominant sins into weapons to be used on his enemies, stoking his wrath and gluttony and lust for killing.

He saved the best for last.

Envy summoned an image in his mind, one that made his sin snarl. For once he let his envy out of its cage, let it consume every thought, save one. Zarus had touched Camilla, knowing it was only a matter of time before Envy arrived on his doorstep.

With the memory of the vampire’s hands on her body, his teeth scraping across her neck as he used his powers on her, Envy spun, sinking his dagger into a leg.

The vampire’s growl was animal, the splurt of blood satisfying.

He’d aim for Zarus’s unbeating heart next.

Ice shot around the arena, a result of Envy’s power. He needed to pace himself, rein his magic and emotions in, or he’d burn out too fast. Already he felt breathless, the strain of moving his body more difficult without his gods-forsaken heart.

Sadistic Death goddesses.

The Kiadara used claw and fang and might, falling on him like starved animals in a frenzy. Daggers made of his ice stabbed the creatures.

Envy landed punches that sent them flying back, took some hits, and quickly realized they’d come prepared to win using any means necessary.

The Kiadara coated their claws and blades in toxins, slowing his already sluggish healing abilities.

If he had to guess, based on the searing pain shooting down his back, they’d made hellebane. If he’d placed a bet at House Greed, he’d have wagered Zarus had done the same.

Blade had said Zarus planned to poison Envy, but hellebane was different. The plant was only found in the most remote regions of the Seven Circles, and wasn’t toxic unless burned to a powder.

A barbed whip slashed between his shoulders, right where his wings were still tucked away. Hellebane seeped into his flesh, scalding. The pain honed his fury.

Envy spun, punching through Canidae’s chest to rip out its still-beating heart. He tossed it to its brethren, who grew ravenous as they fought over it. The Kiadara’s hunger knew no bounds—they’d eat their own severed limbs if blood lust had taken them.

He raised his blade to the vampire, his teeth bared. This needed to end.

Quickly. But he’d still make a good show of it.

“Come play.”

“I’m going to make that little bitch come before I suck her dry,” Zarus sneered.

It was the wrong thing to say.

Regardless of how drained he was, Envy moved with as much of his immortal strength as he could muster, dragging his blade across the vampire’s neck.

The wound was superficial, a warning that Envy was still playing.

He spun and struck again, this time sinking his blade into flesh until he nicked bone.

Zarus howled.

Envy barely noticed the hellebane-coated blades as they tore at his flesh.

His gaze was fixed, hungry, on one target.

He brought his dagger down on the vampire’s right knee, bone shattering from the impact. Zarus, for the first time, lost his sneer. He hobbled back, wincing.

Envy stopped playing. Only one of them was walking out of this arena and it sure as fuck was going to be Envy. Fear entered Zarus’s eyes.

Vampires healed fast, but bones took time to mend.

Envy struck again, breaking his other kneecap. It shattered to dust.

Zarus wouldn’t be standing again.

The Kiadara circled them both, spittle flying, landing in acidic hisses on the sand. Envy was momentarily distracted, and one of Bovinae’s bull horns pierced his shoulder, going clean through.

The wound didn’t begin to heal.

Envy gritted his teeth, swinging his blade up and through the Kiadara’s rib cage, despite the ripping pain in his own chest.

His earlier wound had split open, but at least the Kiadara had crumbled into a heap, twitching.

Zarus had summoned the other two Kiadara to his side, forming a meager line of protection. His knees likely wouldn’t heal until he feasted on blood and had a day’s rest.

Zarus would not see sunrise.

The remaining Kiadara growled and screeched.

Envy’s grip on his dagger tightened.

Lion or Falcon. Panthera or Falconidae.

In the end it didn’t matter where he started. Envy felt no satisfaction in destroying these creatures, descended from gods. It was a waste.

And one more reason he would kill this vampire who took life without care.

Not kill, he reminded himself. That final blow belonged to another. Envy might be a soulless demon, but Zarus was a rotten bastard. His court deserved better.

Panthera roared, the sound vibrating the ground with its force.

Until this point, Envy hadn’t paid attention to the crowd; he’d tuned them out, focusing instead on the sounds of his blade, meeting and tearing and shredding flesh. Now he heard their jeers, their cries for blood. They didn’t care whose it was.

He wanted to look for Camilla again in the stands, to know she was still secure, but didn’t. Alexei had his instructions. He’d die by Envy’s hand if he didn’t follow them.

Panthera prowled in a circle around Envy, closing in slowly.

Falconidae let loose a shrill call meant to distract. They would come at Envy as a team.

The wounds in his back bled freely, the drops turning to gold as they hit the ground. The creatures scented it, their gazes turning fully black. Envy was damned, but his blood was still divine; one taste was worth dying for. Or so he’d been told.

“I know I’m pretty. But are you going to stand there mentally undressing me all night?”

They leapt in tandem, each striking out at him. Envy narrowly missed Panthera’s teeth but wasn’t as fortunate with Falconidae’s sword. It carved into his side, hitting a rib.

Hellebane made the wound twice as painful, his breath turning sharp with each damned inhalation. His gold blood mixed with the red and black of his opponents and their previous victim, spilling faster than it had ever done before.

Fucking hell. He was getting… dizzy.

Panthera used the distraction to knock Envy to the ground.

Sand ground into the wounds on his back as Panthera’s teeth gnashed at his throat. Where its saliva hit his skin, it sizzled like water hitting hot rocks.

Envy bucked, sending the lion flying across the pit, its body hitting the stone wall with such power that it fell, limbs and head crooked, dead.