Page 52 of Their Offering

“What is it? Can’t it wait? I’m not going anywhere with you in the middle of the night.”

He grabbed my wrist and jerked me closer to him. I held in a surprised yelp. “Youwillgo with me, or I willmakeyou come.” I felt my thighs clench, though I knew he was using that word in a different context than his brothers had many times before. It just sounded so damn sexy coming out of his mouth.

“Fine.” I wanted to know what he needed me to see so badly; that was the only reason I agreed to go with him. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

I got dressed and met him at the bedroom door. When he opened it, it creaked, and he cursed under his breath.

Aiden and Nicholas jumped out of bed, their eyes literally bright with alertness. Aiden’s hands held fire within them, and Nicholas’s gripped ice daggers he’d created out of thin air. It was kind of hot to see them all worked up and ready to fight. It made me want to jump back into bed with them and make Keir wait for me, maybe even watch.

“What the fuck, Keir?” Nicholas asked as their eyes returned to normal. He rubbed his face tiredly.

“Sorry.” Keir didn’t sound that sorry. “I had some things to do. We’ll be back.”

“We?” Aiden looked between Keir and me with his eyebrows up. “Where are you taki…” Realization spread across his face. “Keir,no. She has to go willingly. She has to choose this on her own. You know that. You can’t force h––”

“I’m not forcing her to do anything. She needs to see things for herself. Besides, sheiscoming willingly, aren’t you?” He looked at me, and I nodded, tugging my bottom lip between my teeth.

“Where are we going?” I asked, hoping he would feel inclined to answer me now that I’d taken his side against the twins, who still looked confused.

“You’ll see when we get there.” I huffed; he left me disappointed, as always.

Nicholas pressed his lips to my cheek, and I knew it was his goodbye. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” He stared Keir down as he spoke.

“Shehasto make the decision, therightone. We…I…we don’t have time to play pretend here. We’re wasting time, time we don’t have.” Nicholas must’ve understood where his brother was coming from, because he nodded before walking back to the bed.

“Don’t let anything happen to her, Keir. I mean it.” Aiden’s eyes blazed as he gave his warning.

Keir laughed. Only a dark, sadistic man would laugh at a threat like that. “Don’t worry. I’ll bring her back in one piece, as long as she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist, and my breath caught at the touch as goosebumps erupted down my flesh. My toes practically curled at the innocent touch. It was the first time he’d touched me since grabbing me by the throat. My heart was racing, but I looked at the twins and gave them a reassuring smile.

The next moments were a blur.Literally. One moment, we were in the room, and the next, we were outside the cabin. Then, we were in the middle of the woods. We weren’t moving, but it felt like we were. The wind was even whipping my hair around as we blew past trees, rocks, and a few roads. When things finally stopped moving, we stood in front of the portal.

I pulled away from Keir and bent over, nearly losing my dinner. I felt like I just got off of a rollercoaster after riding it fifty times in a row. “What the fuck was that?” I asked between breaths and stomach wretches.

He chuckled and waited until I stood back up to answer me. “I can travel through the shadows quicker. It’s more convenient. We needed to get here fast.”

“Sure. Yeah.” I rolled my eyes. “A little warning next time?” He shrugged. “What are we doing here?” I pointed at the building.

“We’re taking a little trip to Hell.”

I shook my head and backed away. “No,weare not. I told you I’m not––”

“I get it, Lillian. I know you’re scared. I can feel it radiating off you.” He closed the distance between us; he was so close, in fact, that if I lifted just a centimeter, our lips would have brushed. My skin tingled when his warm breath hit my face. “But we…Idon’t have time for you to hold us in limbo. You need to see what your entire world is in for if you don’t come with us.”

I scoffed. “What do you mean?” Did I do something wrong? Did opening that portal doom the town? The world? That seemed a bit much. Why couldn’t we just close it like they did last time?

“It’s easier to show you.” He disappeared into the building; I looked around the creepy, dark woods and quickly scurried after him. No way was I staying out here alone. What could one tiny trip to Hell hurt?

I followed him to the back wall, where the brothers had first appeared. He didn’t say a word as he reached his hand out to me. The moment I took it, the white light I remembered blazed bright around us.

I tried to bring both hands up to shield my eyes, but Keir’s grip tightened, so I did my best with my free hand. The brightness faded, but I didn’t open my eyes, not yet ready to look.

“You can open your eyes now, Lillian.”

I opened them to find a building just like the one I’d stumbled into that crazy night. It felt so long ago, yet it had only been a few days. This room was different, though. There was an intensity here, like…Hell.

Keir walked out the door, and I followed.

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