Page 54 of Their Offering

“Well, well if it isn’t theDark Princehimself,” the head demon taunted, bringing us out of our silent conversation.

“What’re you doing here?” Keir questioned. I could feel his apprehension, how tense he was.

The demon chuckled. “We got wind that a portal might’ve been opened. Came to check it out for ourselves. I think your father will be pleased.” His disgusting yellow eyes flicked to mine, making Keir wrap his arm around me, pulling my chest to his back.

I had to remind myself that this was a scary situation, not time to be giddy I was so close to him.

The demon took note of Keir’s protective move. “Unless… daddy isn’t supposed to know?”

Keir’s body stiffened against mine, and someone in the group spoke, but I wasn’t able to see who it was. “She’s human.”

The nasty demon sniffed in my direction. A vicious smile appeared on his face, and I almost gagged. He tapped his finger on his chin like he was trying to think. “Andshe smells like the portal.” He looked back at Keir. “I wonder what your father would do if he found out his little heir was keeping an open portal a secret?” He looked back at me. “And letting the human who opened it live.” He stepped toward us.

“No one touches her.” Rage emanated off Keir, and I was honestly stunned at his protectiveness.

The demon laughed and turned his head. He looked psychotic. “She has to die,Your Majesty.” It definitely felt like he was insulting Keir, and he knew it. I felt guilty for calling him that the other day. “You know that. Your father is very…particularabout these situations.” He moved toward us, eyes on me now. “Let me take her to him.”

“No.” Had Keir’s deep command been any louder, I’m sure the ground would have shaken.

The demon stopped in front of Keir. “Are you going to take her yourself?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“Wrong answer.” The demon tried to sidestep Keir, but his hand shot out to grab him by the throat, the move separating my body from his.

“You dare defy a Prince of Hell? You peasant demons have gotten stupid.” He choked the demon harder, before withdrawing a sword I hadn’t seen before from his back.

I yelped in surprise as he drove the sword into the demon’s chest. He released his throat and let the demon slide off his sword, crumpling to the ground on his knees. The demon's mouth gaped open as blood poured out with every cough. He stared right at me as the yellow dimmed in his eyes, before it went out altogether.

Keir told me to stay put, or at least that’s what I think he said, because I couldn’t hear him over the ringing in my ears. I was frozen in shock, staring at the dead man––dead demon––laying on the ground. I’d watched Keir kill someone. I’d watched the life drain from his eyes.

Keir held his sword up as if admiring the blood dripping down the blade. He didn’t seem fazed at all, and it occurred to me that this was probably not the first time Keir had taken a life.

I managed to drag my gaze away from the dead body to watch Keir slash his sword through the scattering demons one by one. I watched as he disappeared and reappeared, traveling through the shadows in a violent dance. Some of them tried to fight back, but the scuffles never lasted more than thirty seconds. He was skilled, and he didn’t stop until they were all dead.

When he appeared right back in front of me, I yelped. He stood there, sword in hand, staring at me with such intensity, I nearly fell to my knees.

He was a killer, but he’d done it for me. He killed all those demons forme. To protect me. I wasn’t scared. No, I was in awe of him, and maybe a little aroused, as crazy as that sounded.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Lillian. You’re safe now.” I nodded, and he sheathed his sword behind him before it disappeared into his fading shadows. His gaze softened, the intensity dissipating, and I felt like I could breathe again. “This is why you have to come to Hell with us.”

I cleared my throat, the shock of the situation wearing off. “So you or some other demon can hand me over to your dad? What the fuck, Keir? I already told you no.”

“I’m not going to hand you over to my father.”

I snorted. “How do I know you’re not just saying that so I won’t put up a fight?”

He sighed, his patience clearly running thin. I’d bet money he was hoping I’d just give in after the demons we’d just encountered. “I would think what I just did would prove that. Those demons? Those are nothing compared to what will go through that portal if we don’t close it. Your friends? Your family? Your world? It won’t survive another invasion.”

“Another invasion? What are you talking about?”

“Who do you think started your last war? I think you humans called it World War II? That was my father and his army. World War III is next if that portal remains open, Lillian.”

My eyes went wide, but I gave him a confused look. “So…close the portal.”

His jaw twitched with frustration, and he rubbed his forehead with his hand. “It’s not that simple.Youhave to close it.”

“Okay. Let’s go back, you can teach me how to close it, and I’ll close it behind you guys.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Problem solved.” They didn’tneedme.

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