Pandora is given a box. Quite simply, she must never open it.
And Pandora is normally very good at following rules.
Until she isn't.
Out comes her curiosity and out comes the contents of her box.
It's not all the disasters you've read about in t...
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𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑. THEIR INNER FUED
•••
"Tell me everything."
Beast let out a near-guttural sound. "My box led me to the mortal realm after decades of silence and Pandora your scent—" His jaw ticked. "When you had the visions, I felt you. Your fear, your panic, everything." He sighed through his nose, pacing back and forth before me. "I couldn't just take you away to our Court for inspection like a fucking toy. My box wouldn't let me leave so I stayed. But not to use you. Never to use you."
I sat on the edge of the sofa, rocking back and forth on my heels. I was a second away—a mere moment away from bursting. I didn't know how I'd do it, how I'd explode or what I'd destroy alongside me but I knew I wanted the release.
More than my next breath.
As if sensing my edge, Pride settled on her knees before me. She looked to hold my hands, before deciding against it. "What else do you want to know?"
"What's the maximum damage I could do?" I knew from her face that it was I that had spoken. But the voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere far away, from someone I didn't know.
"You could kill us all." Wrath inched around the sofa, ignoring Pride's glare. "You could take down our Court. And then some."
I shot up out of my seat and Beast looked like he was seconds away from hurling Wrath into the wall.
Wrath met his glare hard on and he curled his lip back, bearing his teeth.
I'd let myself forget what they were all too often.
Wrath was the Sin of anger.
And to anger him would be foolish.
"You utter arse," Sloth snapped at Wrath, his dark shoulder-length hair tied tightly in a knot.
Wrath shrugged, the blaze on his face dissolving. "I doubt she wants anything but the truth."
The reak of alcohol grew stronger, a light touch landing on my shoulder. "I'd offer you some of this but," Glutoney clicked her fingers and her flask disappeared, "I don't think it would be of any help."
I cast a wary glance down at her hand. She followed my gaze and her fingers tightened. "Do you trust us?"
I wanted to shake my head but the glow in all of their eyes had dimmed. In a matter of hours, they had become my lifeline.
"I do." I rasped, my throat dry.
She gave a single nod, a small smile tugging on her lips.
I sat back down, grateful that she'd let go. "What do I need to do?"
A look passed between the siblings, between the rainbow of their eyes.
A leafy-green flash shocked through the air and Greed stepped out of his cloak of invisibility. Amidst the chaos, I hadn't even realised his absence. I wondered if one day I would be able to forget what I was just as easily.
"The Virtues and Ophidians should be here by tomorrow morning," he replied as if to some silent thought that had flown between his siblings.
I met the lush colour of Greed's gaze. "I thought the Unholy Court was just for the Sins."
Pride scoffed. "I wish we had this place to ourselves." Her face went still. "But the Virtues occupy the other half of the Court."
I raised an eyebrow. "Virtues? Like, Chastity, Temperance—"
All at once, Beast's hand was against my mouth, the hardness of his body pressed against mine. "Remember how easy it was to summon them?" He cocked his head to his siblings. "It's even easier to summon those bitches."
I bit into his finger. "At least I'd called for them," I hissed. "Your box showed up uninvited."
He grinned, his gaze dropping down to my lips. For a second, I became caught up in the golden hue of his eyes, the intense shade of them. One glance at Sloth's risen eyebrows had me shuffling further away from Beast. I shot them both a glare.
"The Sins and the Virtues don't get along." I marked the fact into my head. "Got it."
Pride let out a laugh. "Oh, Pandora. You're in for a real surprise, babe."
"What?"
A grin played at her lips. "I am Pride and I have a Virtuous opposite." And then she pointed a finger at herself. "And I'm mated to that son of a bitch."
I raised another brow. "So you guys are mated to your opposites?" I rest my head in my palms and the colour drained from my face. "And Beast is mated to Chastity."
Envy huffed a pained chuckle, her claws slipping out from beneath her knuckles. "Easy on the jealousy there, sister."
"I'm a little different," Beast said, his eyes twinkling. He tilted my chin up with a finger. "But the jealousy certainly suits you, love."
I slapped him away. "How are you different?"
He sprawled his arms out behind him. "I'm both Chastity and Lust."
Still, my confusion marched on. "But how?"
"Think of me as the..." he cocked his head to the side, "referee. I have something in common with both the Virtues and the Sins."
The rest of his words went unsaid; he was the ringleader of the Unholy Court—some sinful form of a king.
I focused on hiding the emotions surfacing in my chest, ignoring the graze of his leg against mine. We'd moved closer to each other again like there were magnets inside of us, and our compasses pointed to each other.
The metal of Glutony's flask returned alongside a neat tray of glasses. A bronze liquid flowed in them, glittering beneath the lights overhead. I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of something ribboning through the alcohol, swirling and mingling in the liquid poison.
I took hold of one, letting the warmth of the alcohol spread through my chest. It was sweet, a slight tang bordering beneath the taste.
"It's a wine," she gestured. "Savour it."
I did, letting the crisp taste swirl in my mouth. "Who are the Ophidians?"
Greed let out a low whistle. "They're a dangerous set of twins with even sexier—"
Envy smirked, tapping the side of her head. "Keep them quiet for me this time."
He let out a warning growl and Envy snarled back at him.
"Do you guys read each others' minds?" I blurted. Slowly, my voice had returned back to me from that empty, dark place miles away. Miles inside me. Whatever Glutoney had mixed into my glass had worked and I raised it at her in a silent thank you. She nodded, pouring her wine into her flask.
The gold hues in their drinks shone too and I found she'd added it to everyone's glasses—not just mine.
"What?" Beast grinned. "This?"
Stop thinking about me. The thing in my head said. It gets noisy in here.
