Page 23 of Their Offering

The drive to the edge of the forest was silent, Keir stewing the entire time. Talking to our father always put him in a bad mood. I was honestly surprised he’d continued to work in the tower, but I think it was mostly to appear unbothered by our father, who loved knowing he got under Keir’s skin.

When we messed up, we got a lecture, but when Keir messed up, it was always physical. Our father loved whipping him for his mistakes. Keir always healed––perks of royal demon blood––but it only added to the mountain of hatred he harbored for our father.

Our father had claimed to have heard rumors that Lord Milton, ruler of the Realm of Time, was trying to convince the other lords to revolt. He wanted us to deal with the situation.

Lord Milton was one of my favorite lords. Growing up, he’d always acknowledge us whenever he saw us, unlike the others, who stuck their noses up and ignored us. I couldn’t imagine him wanting to revolt against our father, but no one truly liked Father anyway, so I wouldn’t have been surprised.

When we reached Lord Milton, he assured us, after being interrogated, that he had no intentions of leading a revolution. He even let Keir read his mind, something all royal demons could do, but he excelled at. Keir confirmed that he saw no treasonous thoughts, and we left.

We gave the full report to our father, who dismissed us without really listening, and went on our way.

Back at our flat, we sat silently on the couch, enjoying each other’s presence. I was ecstatic when Keir suggested we move out of the palace into a flat. Living with our father and mother was tiresome and unpleasant. None of us liked playing the roles of the well-mannered princes, never getting to drop the act and let loose, never getting to be ourselves.

We barely got into the bourbons we’d poured before the elevator doors slammed open with a screeching metallic sound.

All three of us shot up off the couch, ready to fight whoever dared intrude.

Our father stormed in with his face twisted, nostrils flaring, and fists clenched. He was angry. No. He was more than angry; he was furious. “Why are you so incompetent?” he spat at Keir, who was standing at attention in front of me and my twin. He always did that. He felt the need to protect us, especially from our father, even if we were more than two centuries old.

“What do you mean?” Keir half-taunted him.

“What do I…what do Imean?” our father yelled, shaking a finger at him. “Imeanthat I sent you to take care of Lord Milton, and his puny, little, traitorous heart is still fucking beating!” He threw his hands behind his head and swung them back down, a mere centimeter from our brother’s face. Keir, to his credit, didn’t flinch. “You…” He dug a finger into Keir’s chest, pushing him back a step. “Couldn’t even finish one measly little job. This is why you’ll never be king. I could never let it fall into such impotent hands.” His insults continued, but Keir refused to crack, staring our father down as if his words were going in one ear and out another.

I looked at my twin, who was staring back at me with the same dumbfounded expression. Lord Milton was innocent. We had interrogated him ourselves, and Keir had dived into his head. He wasn’t a traitor. We’d been thorough. What was our father talking about?

“Father, I think––” my twin started.

“Don’t defend him, Aiden.” Our father looked at him, then me. “You either.”

“But you’re wrong,” Aiden said, his voice calm and steady, despite the fuming king of Hell yelling at us. “We,” he pointed his thumb between us, “interrogated him, and he didn’t admit to anything. Plus, Keir jumped into his head and saw nothing. Lord Milton is innocent.”

Our father’s eyebrows shot up as if in shock, and he chuckled. “When I sent you to investigate that ‘rumor’, I told you to take care of him. What does that mean to you?”

“Investigate. Find out the truth. Handle accordingly,” I spouted off.

He closed his eyes, took a breath, and opened them back up. He was no less angry. Now he seemed disappointed on top of it.

“When I sent you to take care of Milton, I wanted him dead. I didn’t ask if he was innocent or not. I didn’t ask you to investigate. I didn’t ask you to look into things. I told you to take. Care. Of. Him.” He focused his attention back on Keir. “This is your fault. You’re a lousy excuse for an heir, and it's rubbing off on your brothers. I knew this would happen. I knew you’d ruin them. You’ve made them weak and pathetic, just like yourself.” His low snicker made my skin crawl. “Come home, boys.” He looked at us, his twin sons, the sons in his image. “Come home where you will be molded into the strong, formidable princes you were meant to be. You are better than this. Than him.” He gave Keir a side-eye.

I looked at Aiden, who nodded at me.

“We’ll stay here,” I told our father, confident my twin agreed with me. I could see Keir’s shoulders relax. He knew we had his back.

Our father snarled. “You’ll regret that. Your brother is nothing. He has your mother’s humanity; it has weakened him, and one day, you will see that.” He looked at Keir once again. “Meet me in the dungeon tomorrow morning for your punishment, or I will take it out on them.” He gestured towards us. He knew Keir’s weakness was us and our mom. We’d always been.

Our father didn’t wait for a response before storming back to the elevator, fixing the doors with a twirl of his hand so that he could leave.

Once the doors closed, we all relaxed.

“You didn’t have to do that, Keir. We will go with you tomorrow.” Aiden placed a hand on Keir’s shoulders.

“No need. He’s done this before. Nothing I can’t handle,” our brother assured us. There was no arguing with him.

By the next afternoon, Keir was sore from the lashings he received from our father. He loved taking out his anger on Keir. Yes, Keir would heal, but it was about more than the physical pain he inflicted. It was a mental game, too. He wanted Keir to know he was a disappointment, that he’d never stop making his life a literal hell.

When we reached the portal, Keir looked worried.

“What’s wrong?” Aiden and I asked at the same time.

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