Fox Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 1)

~~ FIFTY THREE ~~

CAUTION: the first section may make you feel sick if you have a sensitive stomach (she's eating the heart). If you wish to skip the section, skip to the ~~

It was nothing like a peach. Eating a heart as a human was a hundred times worse than eating one as a fox, and I never really cared for them back then – too tough. And somehow demon tasted even worse than rotten meat. I chomped hard in an attempt to get my teeth through and the gag reflex kicked in immediately. Nose burning, I forced my jaw shut. My incisors were rubbish and I was forced to grind the spongy muscle until the muscle wall burst.

Blood flooded my mouth, cold and thick from being out in the air. I shook my head like a dog until I tore a sizeable chunk out of it. A shudder ran from head to toe as a repugnant morsel slid down my throat like jelly.

Swallowing proved tough; my throat seized up, a vice powerful enough to leave me choking on the meat. And this was only the first bite! Even if I was in fox form, I didn't think I'd be able to gobble this easily.

My stomach revolted when it finally went down. I clamped a hand over my mouth and tried not to bring it back up.

"Just breathe, Estra. You got this."

I glared at him and his moral support. "How much do I have to eat?" I asked through my teeth, afraid if I opened my mouth too wide it would all come back out.

"All of it."

~~

Green as grass, I paced the store. Movement made my stomach gurgle but sitting still gave me more time to think of the heart sloshing about in there, then my stomach would churn, then–

I changed my train of thought, but it wasn't any more calming. Had they found Elizabeth and Hawk? Or had they run into trouble? What about Diane and King? It would take them time to arrive but if I wasn't at the gate to meet them, they wouldn't know where to go. Outside surges of magic power filtered through the store but only one felt familiar and it was the unknown power we'd felt earlier. I wrung my hands, walking faster.

Every third step was accompanied by a full body heave and a swallow to force the heart back down. Until whatever was in Leraj's blood started circulating, we couldn't go anywhere. I was anxious to leave, afraid that we'd spent too much time inside the store even though the clock on the wall only showed that since I'd left the front plaza, we had been here for less than 15minutes. My skin itched.

On every inhale, I smelt the rancid heart, and on every exhale, it moved a little further up into my throat.

I'm going to vomit, I know it.

Not yet, not yet. Keep it down a little longer.

No, I don't think I can! It wants out!

Come on, Estra, you can fight this urge!

"Meliodas wants to know if you want to join us," I blurted out which turned out to be a mistake as I wretched. Nothing came out luckily.

Leraj stood redonning his armour. I watched his fingers work, hoping the small, quick actions would help to calm me. "That's why you'd been looking for me. I'm surprised he wants me to join him."

"He said we can use you as an ally." I was not calming down. I wanted to ask about his connection with the Captain but the churning became even worse. "How much longer?" I whined, beginning to pant.

He came over and held my face. He pulled down on the skin near my eye. I inhaled deeply his woodsmoke smell, letting it wash away the rancid scent and allowing me a few seconds of freedom from the agitation happening in my gut.

"I can see it beginning." He let go of my face and checked the inside of my wrist. The veins appeared darker but only faintly. "That means its in your heart which is probably enough." The words unleashed the dam.

"Bucket. Now."

He grabbed it from the counter top and thrust it into my hands not a moment too soon. I dropped to all fours, knowing for sure my legs would give way the minute this started. On my hands and knees, I buried my head in the bucket. What came out was not the contents of my stomach. Black bile poured out of my mouth and then from my nose as well. I faintly felt Leraj holding my hair back as I heaved, unable to breath, unable to do anything except expel the demon blood.

The bucket was half full by the time I pulled my head free, weak as a new-born calf. I slumped back against Leraj and he held me while I rested my head. I shut my eyes, a thunderous headache pounding away. But at least my stomach had stopped performing for the circus.

"You good?" he asked against my ear.

"I feel a million times better." I cleared my throat then spat into the bucket. "But can we just rest here for a minute or two. My head doesn't feel so great. And I'm thirsty."

"That's to be expected. Here." He handed me a flask. "It might taste a little metal though."

I sipped at it, practically sighing with pleasure and relief at the warm water. I kept it cradled in my hands after I'd taken a few, the headache ebbing.

I went silent, half drifting. Turned out getting rid of demon blood forcefully made you tired. I listened to the soft creaking noises of the store, the sudden booms coming from outside and my heart. It thumped wildly against my ribcage and I felt an answering call against my back – Leraj's heart.

"How many hearts did you have?" I asked, lulled. Armour wasn't that comfortable to lean against but fatigue made anything feel like a pillow.

"Seven."

"Seven?!" I spun in his arms to stare disbelieving at his face. "How do you have so many? And do I want to know how many you have left?"

"I told you, I'm a Grey Demon. As for your second question, I'd rather not answer."

Answering with that just showed me that he did not have many left. He avoided my gaze.

"Do all Grey Demons have seven hearts?" I hoped never to face one, but I felt that I needed to be prepared in advanced. Seven hearts would make a dangerous foe, especially since Leraj seemed to function adequately with less.

"No. Only the special ones." He didn't say anymore so I spun back around and rested my eyes. His arms tightened slightly. "Only those chosen," he whispered.

"Chosen by who?" But my question was left to die. It irked me but I didn't push. The gut feeling told me that I wouldn't like the revelations it would bring. "How much time has passed?"

"About five minutes since you last checked. You feeling better?"

The headache was non-existent and the fatigue was leaving my body slowly. Guess my innate healing abilities worked for minor issues as well. Now that I thought about it, that was probably how I recovered from my hangover so quickly.

I nodded my head. "Drink more water," he said, "and then we'll get-"

The ground rumbled beneath us, a thundering earthquake that threw books from the shelves and ornaments form the shelves.

I leapt to my feet, running for the door. The blood pounding in my ears couldn't dispel the crackle of Mana in the air.

"That magic power," Leraj started, appearing at my shoulder as I threw open the door, the blast of power like a bucket of cold water.

"It's Diane!"