7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

Midj organized baths and got them ready even before the sun went down. She wanted to get to the Wrath Tower memorial right at dusk because she liked to watch the light fade. She loved Nesting Day—it was one of her favorite parts of Yullolly. To Gray, she seemed to love every part of the festival equally. Midj was beside herself to get to the dancing. She spent a little time trying to show Gray and Lilian the basic moves because everyone moved in lines across the floor.

Gray was going to go to the dance in First Field greens but the women were dressing up in warm dresses with thick leggings. They’d bring their hooded coats just in case.

Gray soon found himself at the pit where the Wrath Tower used to stand. It was much the same except new magic had been added. The boats would lift off the water and drift around the sky, their candles blazing in the gloomy cold. Every so often, some snow would fall, but not much.

Drums boomed across the marketplace—the food and drink vendors were open but most stall were closed.

Midj grabbed Tomi’s hand. “You have to dance with me! I insist! You’ve nested enough!”

“There’s never enough nesting,” Tomi said with a laugh.

The pair moved off and joined one of the many lines, moving in sync to the music. According to Midj, the dances were acting out the entire history from when the gods created Midmere to the birth of the blood races to the epic battles between the demons and the angels during the Third God War. For that one, you had to choose a side and each of the lines faces one another.

Rynn knew the dances, since the north had something similar. Ames was a little more hesitant but she soon joined the elf girl and both were smiling and sweating because there were so many little fires burning here and there and so many people.

And the pit wasn’t the only place that was packed. The Pleasure Market would also be filled to bursting with all sorts of activities. Last night, Ames had told them stories of Nesting Night orgies where large groups of people got together to see how far they could push themselves and each other before being bonded. That had made Rynn go crazy and led to more sex. It was a miracle they’d gotten any sleep at all.

Pinch was drinking some concoction of melted chocolate and manafied hard liquor, off to the side at a covered table near a fire pit and Lilian was with her. He hoped the princess was smart enough not to drink anything manafied because she’d only had mana in her core for maybe a couple of months if not less.

Gray left the dancing to check on Softie and Emerilia but he found their store closed. He wasn’t surprised and wondered where they were. Probably at home—not everyone left their nest on Nesting Day to venture out to the public dancing, drinking, and feasting.

It was a wild night, and Gray was surprised that there weren’t the cambion orcs that usually patrolled the marketplace. Then again, everyone seemed so happy, and their cores were brimming with mana. All the colors, all the shapes, all the power levels—it was interesting to see how everyone was similar but so different at the same time.

Gray wasn’t naïve enough to think there weren’t pickpockets and cutpurses about, but if they were there, they were few and far between. Everyone seemed so happy and grateful to be alive. It warmed his heart, and he was surprised.

Cradleport had their holidays and festivals—most around fish and the ocean and the rainy seasons—but it was nothing like this. It was like the people of Pity City weren’t just celebrating Yullolly but life itself.

Why shouldn’t they? They had a world, they had life, they had magic—and since people had healing spells, everyone was healthier. That didn’t always translate into happiness, but on that night, it seemed to.

He saw people of all ages, all the races, and those with gluttony resonances were eating—some weren’t eating, though they wanted to, which suggested a temperance resonance. The same could be said for lust and chastity. It was the instincts of life or the denial of those instincts, pushing people to do all sorts of things.

Rynn eventually grabbed him and insisted he join them in the First Avatar Dance, Zaccai of the fire. It was a repetitive series of movies that tracked the Conflictagato, when Zaccai stood in fire and used hope to fill his core with mana for the first time. And then, he had access to all fourteen resonances. They did the Marinatus—when Zaccai crossed the ocean to face off against the Troublemaker. At the end of the fight, Zaccai locked Malchutt in hell and sealed it shut millennia before the seven towers were built. Lastly, they did the Flovios, when Zaccai sat beside the river in the mountains near the monastery where he lived.

Gray watched at first, but soon got the rhythms down, but so did Lilian, who was a very a good dancer. Of course she was. She’s spent her life perfecting the wind dance, which had taught her how to fight right under her father’s nose.

Dancing with Rynn and Ames, he could anticipate the next move, because of their bond, and he realized he was having fun, though he hadn’t done much dancing at all. Mostly , the music was the drums, but others joined with different instruments, including a very old, very beat up piano, they had rolled into the middle of the drums. The keys had to be enchanted, though, because for one song, each note sounded like lightning striking. Other songs had violins.

Midj knew them all.

He was wondering why Tomi was dancing and not napping. The he had to laugh. For her, it was about re-enacting history rather than singing.

Gray took breaks, but he was soon out on the floor, and eventually, Pinch was with them—well, she was with Lilian, the pair were striking—the blond angel-headed princess and the sharp-faced fae girl with black hair and purple eyes.

Hours past, they ate, drank, laughed and danced.

For the Third God War, Gray ended up on the side of the angels with Ames, Midj, and Tomi. Rynn, Pinch, and Lilian were on the demons side, and they danced right up to each other, mimicking the moves of battle.

Accidentally, Gray had thought to partner with Rynn, but he miscounted, and ended up dance fighting with Lilian.

A thought came to him. Demons weren’t just hell and evil, they were also personifications of despair. Angels, on the other hand, symbolized hope. So it was both angels versus demons, hell versus heave, and hope versus despair.

It was ironic he was on the side of hope, since a part of him hated the world, hated the gods, hated it all. He’d experienced the worst the world had to offer, and he knew, there was no one coming to save them. And yet, he’d been given a new by Captain Settie. Things could change, at any moment, on any. There was something fearful about such chaos but also something oddly comforting.

He had a new heart. He had magic. He was far stronger than he’d ever been in his life. He was dancing in the Belly of the world, with the gates of hell not ten miles to the south. He didn’t just have one wife but two—and one had come back from the dead to be with them.

He was truly blessed. Why not choose hope over despair?

The happier he felt, the more he smelled, and more Lilian frowned, until she was glaring at him. That only amused him more. He could handle her hate and anger. Her and her ruby necklace were in the past for him. He wouldn’t be cruel to her, but he wouldn’t be nice either.

The dancing ended with each “angel” touching each “devil” and soon they were dancing on the same side, though leaders of the dance did divide them into seven groups and they ended by dancing in seven circles to symbolize the seven towers that had sealed the Weeping Well shut.

When the song ended, everyone clapped, and Lilian grabbed his arm. “Fine. If we’re doing this, let’s do it. Pam said that you might see something. You better not fucking see anything, do you here me?”

She was drunk. He hadn’t known how drunk or he’d have appreciated her dancing more. She’d moved perfectly even though she now was having trouble standing.

Connecting to her core for the first time was delicate business—doing it intoxicated wasn’t a good idea. “Listen, we should wait—”

“Nonsense! It’s now or never!” She pulled him through the crowd until they were at the edge of the pit—colorful boats gleamed on the shimmering water just as other glittering boats drifted through the air.

They ended up facing one another. Her face was so familiar, and though her hair was a little wild from the dancing, it was still braided and nice. She was so beautiful. A million memories came back to him. When she’d summoned him, he’d never would’ve thought he’d end up in her bed. And here she was again.

His eyes went to the ruby necklace around her neck. It had been covered by her dress ,but she’d been so warm, she’d undone a few buttons.

“You wore it,” he said in a soft voice.

Lilian giggled and pushed him. “Yes. I didn’t wear it much until I lost it. It was my mother’s…an heirloom. She gave it to me, before she died. It’s been handed down from generation to generation.” She shoved him again. “And you fucking stole it. It was the one thing I had from my mother, and suddenly, it was gone.”

His insides turned cold. “I apologized. I won’t do it again. You have it back. Are we going to do this?”

Lilian closed her eyes and nearly fell. He caught her before she did.

She laughed again. “Well, it’s not like you haven’t been inside me before. Only this time, it’ll be a little less sweaty. You were always sweating on me. Silly me, but I liked it. You smelled so good when you were on, thrusting away. Thrust. Thrust. Thrust.” She tapped his chest to emphasize each word.

He held her—she’d been dacning so much, that a lot of her perfume was gone, but he didn’t mind her musk. He’d liked smelling her when they’d been together. “We could just hold hands. We don’t need to be this close.”

“Shut up, Grayson Fade. Let me enjoy this. I haven’t been held by a man for a long time. I tried women, after you broke my heart, but it was never the same. There’s just something that I like about a man. Even a skinny little runt like you were. Not now. I can feel your muscles. I bet you’re yummy, all strong and virile. Bet you a million shekels you have a lust resonance. My little Gray, also so lusty.”

He tired to ease her back, but she clung to him.

“Not going to get rid of me that easily,” she giggled. “Tell me about your sex life. Do you do the wives one at a time or in a big pile. Ever miss one and fuck the other? All those have to be confusing.”

He didn’t want to vent his core, but he was getting tired of her shit. He didn’t need mana to peel her off him. He was strong enough to push her back.

She gave him a fake pout and started talking like a child. “Mean Grayson Fade never wets Princess Lilian ever have any fun. Meany butt.”

He reached out to her. “Give me your hand.”

“But I’m using it,” she whined. That turned into a giggle, and she nearly fell again, but he caught her by both of her hands and maneuvered her against the low wall of the Wrath Tower memorial. It was enough to keep her on her feet.

“I have a wrath resonance,” she said suddenly. “I know you’re not supposed to talk about it, but I don’t fucking care. It’s a weird wrath resonance though, because I also maybe have sloth and envy. I have more than one, or Settie thinks that’s the case. But I don’t need it, right? Because you’re going to keep my core all filled up all the time. Fill me. Fill me. Fill me. Are we doing this?”

“Hold still,” he said.

“Don’t tell me what—”

He found her core, easily enough, since it was this big throbbing thing inside of her, blood-red and small— far smaller than he would’ve first thought. But volatile. It boiled with that rusty blood mana like a cauldron of rust-colored sludge.

He easily channeled golden mana into that darkness—but then, he saw her weeping in the palace. She couldn’t leave her bed. It was her, after he left, but that got all mixed up with her weeping when her mother died. She’d gotten sick—no healing spells for her. Was that her or was it Sindara? Didn’t Sindara have a sick mother?

What happened to Ames’s mother? He couldn’t remember. Had she died in childbirth? She hadn’t been there to protect her daughter from her cruel father.

Lilian also had a cruel father.

He saw him slap her and his words echoed in Gray’s mind. Get out of bed, you lazy fucking bitch. You have fucking responsibilities. We all do. And you’re going to be strong. If you’re not, I’ll slap you until you are.

She had trouble leaving her bed in the morning—sleeping too much. She couldn’t deal with losing her mother. Or was it losing the necklace? He had no idea it had meant so much to her.

A second later, he saw her in the ruins of the castle in Cradleport. The stones themselves were burning. The sky was black with a storm, a hurricane, ripping the island city apart. But not just that, it was the eclipse. All light was gone form the world.

He’d been born during the hurricane eclipse. What he was seeing was impossible.

And yet, there she was, a very different Lilian Everheart, with the power of goddess, destroying Cradleport and all the world. Her blood-red core exploded and all the sea turned to blood around her as the flames grew higher and higher.

And still she laughed and laughed and laughed—though it wasn’t a happy sound. She had gone completely and totally insane. She didn’t just have the one mana mark but several all trailing down from her left eye, across her face, and down her neck.

The vision faded, and he was looking into her face. Her mana mark was glowing red. He’d not seen anything like that before.

“Get away from me!” She exploded, venting her mana into her meridians and shoving him with all of her magically-enhanced strength. He went flying back, and he hit the ground, landing on his back, all the breath knocked out of him. He slid across the stones and then went tumbling back, hitting a wall with a crunch.

For whatever reason, the crowd loved that. They howled and laughed, fists raised, and Gray tried to get up, but he couldn’t. Every bone in his body felt like it was on fire.

Lilian came over to him, a bit more sober now, or so it seemed. Her mana mark near her eye was visible, still glowing red a little, before fading back into a rash.

She caught him looking at it and put a hand over it. “Don’t. Don’t stare. I hate it but there’s nothing I can do. I thought about covering it up with makeup but no. I guess vanity isn’t one of the seven sins. Neither is despair, though I kind of think it should be.”

He kept trying to get up, but he couldn’t. He’d broken something—well, Lilian had broken something inside of him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. And then his shoulder suddenly started screaming. That was it. The joint was ruined.

He relaxed back onto the stones. He had to laugh. “Yes, you broke my shoulder, but at least you didn’t try to kiss me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she said, barely able to stand. Her core had only a tiny bit of mana left in it. It was a miracle she was on her feet at all.

She licked her lips. “That part of our relationship is over. I have a core now, and I’m not going to bind it to anyone. Ever.”

He channeled mana into her and her core drank it up.

He still had plenty left, and he thought about trying to heal himself, but he was too tired. He’d barely gotten any sleep the night before, and he was feeling it.

He was about to ask Lilian to go find his friends when he heard Ames shriek. “Get away from him! What did you do? What did you do?”

The Quelling elf charged through the crowd and grabbed hold of Lilian, who screamed in pain, going to her knees.

Mana swirled around Ames’s core. Her cruelty resonance was giving her mana—a twist on her normal kindness resonance.

Gray managed to get up, but just barely, and he couldn’t use his right arm at. With his left, he yanked Ames’s away.

He was so surprised to see her so enraged. “In the ruins of the world, a fire that turns it all to fire, worse than demons, worse than angels, worse than gods. An eternal fire that will devour all and then itself and then nothing, Gray. Nothing.”

Lilian was crying but Ames didn’t seem to care.

That was going to be a problem since Redemption Midnight was three days away and they were all going to have to work together. It was a big problem indeed.