Pandora's Box | 18+ (completed)

Chapter Thirty Seven - NINE MUSES

- unedited + unformatted because i feel like i haven't updated PB in a month

The second Pride finished speaking, there was a shift in the air. I could almost feel it—as though there wasn't enough air left for us all to breathe.

A breeze washed over us all and the Sins and Virtues' conversations quickly fell silent.

Before, their voices were buzzing with curiosity and excitement.

Now, their silence was almost as painful as the looks on their faces.

Diligence strutted in, her normal confidence slightly askew. "They're here," she said. "The Nine Muses."

And if they were here, someone in this Court had mated last night.

My eyes drifted back to Wrath and Patience—Wrath's face was struck with uncertainty and Patience shuffled awkwardly in her seat, her eyes pinned to her lap.

It was like a scratch at the back of my head, like a small whisper in my ear.

Something wasn't right.

"Wrath," I spoke before I knew what I was doing. "Pass me that plate, please."

He blinked to the plate and then back to me. "Are you seriou—here." He held the plate out for me, and I took the chance to brush my fingers up against his.

Colours glittered behind my eyelids and a swift, startling sensation rocked all the way to my toes.

I sat back with a small smile and slowly piled the food onto my plate. "Thank you."

Memories. Memories were what I saw whenever I came into contact with the Sins and Virtues. Normally the memories I saw were the ones on the surface of their minds—the one memory they were always thinking about, could never forget.

When the Seraphics turned each one of them—turned each shred of what was human into a Sin.

This memory was confused. Wrath had greater problems to think about than the horror of the Seraphics.

He couldn't even remember what had happened last night.

I looked up in time to catch his unwavering glare on me—angry and red. It wasn't just him. All of the Sins were carefully watching me, their calculating gazes flickering between me and their siblings.

A series of echoes bounced around the room; Pride grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet just as the other Sins and Virtues stood.

"Keep your head down," she whispered. I could only stand behind the huddle forming in the centre of the room—I quickly ducked behind Sloth's broad shoulders and not for the first time, I wondered where Beast was.

There were nine of them and all nine of them appeared at once. They walked—no, glided—as if the floor was something they didn't require, as if they were beyond the rules of gravity.

"Ah, finally. My favourites," the woman in the middle spoke. A writing tablet floated just above her palm, moving as she did. The other Muses stood on either side of her, in a perfectly symmetrical line. "The Unholy Court. How long we've waited for this day—you have no idea."

She was easily the prettiest and somehow, even though I stood behind all of the Unholy beings, her eyes still found mine.

"You are new." Nothing about her tone was sarcastic or unpleasant. Something told me that the Nine Muses weren't capable of being unpleasant.

Sloth's back visibly tensed and he shifted to hide me better. "She's not a permanent member of the Court."

A moment of silence passed and each of the Muses shared a glance. The woman in the centre smiled. "We'd like to meet her."