Seven Deadly Sins

Chapter Fifteen

"Idiot!"

A resounding slap echoed in the abandoned dungeon.

"You worthless snivelling waste of space!"

A second one followed after the words were screamed out, quickly followed by a body colliding with metal bars.

"Please my lady please! We made a mistake. I apologize! Give me another chance!" A small plump man grovelled at the feet of a hooded figure. His face was bruised and his head and nose were bleeding. For all his pleading, no one could have identified the man as an important member of the council. Then again, he would have to be a certain level of pathetic to betray the people he swore to protect.

"What did I instruct you to do Mr. Phelps?" the hooded figure questioned calmly. The man attempted to push himself off the ground but was stopped by the heel of a boot driving in and through his splayed hand. The scream that followed was stomach turning but the figure simply waited for an answer. It took a minute but soon the man's wails devolved into pained whimpers.

"T-To k-kill the sin of Sloth, and to... To kidnap the Virtue" he stuttered out.

"And what part of that did you accomplish?"

"W-we... My lady, we thought he was d-dead. He had no heartbeat! The other one killed your cousin! We did not think your cousin would have failed to escape with the boy! I swear my lady we tried!"

The woman laughed but humor was absent from her voice. She carefully crouched down to the man's height, causing her heel to dig further into his hand, but the man knew better than to scream in pain. Not now. Not when glowing red eyes locked on him, eyeing him like a worthless piece of meat. She smiled under her hood and with no warning, her hand shot through his chest and on the other side she held his still beating heart. The man stared at her in shock and as his eyes travelled down to the arm protruding from his chest, he opened his mouth to cry out but he slumped forward instead.

The hooded figure chuckled, pulling her hand out of the man's chest and turning the heart around in her palm.

"That was a stupid move sister. The council will be suspicious of his death and first and foremost, his disappearance. You've also lost your only spy within the council." A man spoke from the shadows. He seemed to love the dark embrace of the hidden corners in the place he called 'home'.

"Julian" the queen groaned out with a sigh. "Why do you insist on engaging with me brother? I am quite exhausted with your attempts at civility."

"Asmodeus is onto us. Sending Yesef was a mistake. Not to mention we now have to explain to aunt Helena why there are two parts to her son's body and not one. How do you intend to ward off the inevitable investigation? Especially because your ex husband knows you better than you know yourself. He might still think The Order is behind the attacks on his mates but you can only fool him for so long" Julian mused.

Angelique fumed. Julian always spoke to her like she was a careless child throwing a tantrum. She was going to kill him one day, she promised herself that. "I do not have to answer to the likes of you. As for my ex husband, you forget I know him well too. He always thinks he can control his sin but I'll play him like a fiddle like I always did those many years ago. Besides, if anything happens, those who know of this fat worm's whereabouts think he was meeting with you my dear sibling."

Silence followed and Angelique chuckled, knowing, for now, she had won the battle. Pinning the situation on her brother was both as hilarious as it was functional. He had always been seen as a potential threat, because if the queen could be the way she was, surely her brother was the same. The Queen stood and as she passed her brother, she threw the now still organ in her hand at him. She might not have looked to see it, but she knew her brother flinched away from the severed heart.

"One day Julian. One day that heart in my hands will be yours."

The click of her heels filled the now silent dungeon until it faded away, leaving only a corpse and a man whose only wish was to see his sister suffer and reap the fruits of her evil actions.