Page 73 of Their Offering

By the time he reached ten, I was on my knees, my tongue swollen and bloody in my mouth. He didn’t say a word as he walked out, leaving me a torn, bloody mess.

Within minutes, my mother was beside me, cleaning me off and applying salve to help me heal. As royalty, I wouldn’t scar––not physically anyway.

Once I was bandaged up and in bed, she sang to me, brushing my hair off my forehead. She always did this after I was punished. Maybe she felt like helping me afterward made up for letting him abuse me. Whatever the reason, I never stopped her. It was one of the few moments she felt like home, before he broke her, molded her into the cold, hardened queen of Hell he desired.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

He let out a snort. “I just wanted you to sign these.” He gestured to the desk, at a stack of papers and a pen. “Confirming the mission to find the open portal was a failure.”

It was hard to keep from rolling my eyes. “It wasn’t exactly a failure if there was no open portal.”

His eyebrows shot up, and his head bobbed once. “Whatever the reason, sign the papers. Formalities, you know? Doesn’t matter if you’re an officer of the crown or the heir, paperwork is paperwork.” He shrugged.

I held back a sigh before bending over my desk and signing the paperwork. My father wasbeyondmeticulous about his paperwork. He had records of everything, for thousands of years. He was prouder of his room of records than he was of his sons.

Pleased with my signatures, he gathered the papers and left the room. I let out a relieved breath and sank into my chair, looking out over the city. I really did have things to do, but my mind was stuck on Lilly seeing Austin, who was tied up downstairs.

When I opened the door the basement, Austin sat up in the chair.

“Let me go, you fucker,” he yelled, yanking on his binds. “Let. Me. Go.” Fury filled his eyes, but his anger was nothing like the anger I felt for him.

He’d been with Lilly on multiple occasions. Not only that, but he tried to force himself on her when she didn’t want him anymore. When she wanted us. He couldn’t take no for an answer and my Lilly…shit… Lilly got hurt because of him. I should’ve killed him right then and there, but I wanted him to suffer.

I’d been down here a few times since I brought him to Hell. He made a good punching bag when I was frustrated, especially with Lillian. Our bond, which hadn’t even been sealed yet, was growing stronger, and it was getting hard to deny my feelings. I tried avoiding her, leaving early and coming home late. I tried to keep our interactions short and sweet, even though I wanted the opposite. I had to stay strong, for her sake.

I stood in front of Austin with my arms crossed.

“What’re you gonna do? Punch me some more? Bring it on.” He spat in my direction, none of it hitting me.

I chuckled, the sound deep and ominous. “No. At least, notjustthat.” He furrowed his eyebrows, waiting for me to continue. “You’ll have a visitor today.” I paused, letting him wonder a little longer. “Lillian.”

His eyes widened as he shook his head. “You’re fucking crazy, man. No way she’d show up to something like this. She’s a weak little bitch.”

My fist connected with his face with a thud, opening his old wounds from our previous times together. Blood trickled down his cheek.

“She is actually looking forward to this little… meeting,” I said with a cocky grin. “She specifically asked about you. Shewantsto see this.” I punched him again, my knuckles landing on his nose, the sickening crunch telling me I’d broken it.

I continued punching him until I was satisfied with my work. I wanted Lillian to see what I was truly capable of, to see the lengths I would go to protect her, to avenge her. I couldn’t have her, but that didn’t make her any less mine to protect.

I reached into my shadows for a dagger and held it up to the light, admiring how it hit my blade.

“No. No. No,” he pleaded.

I stabbed the dagger into his thigh and snickered as he passed out in the chair.

“She was never yours to touch,” I whispered to him, even though he was out cold. “You’ll suffer for touching what’s mine.”

I felt my heart race suddenly, a nervous feeling crawling up my skin.

It was then I heard her voice outside. She was here. I slunk back into the shadows, concealing myself for the time being, excited to watch her see what I did.

She did not disappoint. My Lil…Lillianapproved of the mess I’d made of her assaulter.

It took everything in me not to bend her over and claim her right there, while everyone watched. It was even harder to not take her from my brothers as they fucked her. Instead, I made Austin watch with me, whispering things in his ears about how the girl he once knew was a filthy slut for me and my brothers. I even granted him one last taste of her, taping her soaked panties into his mouth to muffle his useless screams.

Lilly knew I was watching her, wanting her. She stared at me for as long as she could, desiring my hands on her pretty, pale skin. I couldn’t, though.

Once my brothers finished and I’d stabbed Austin’s heart, Lillian confronted me, and I almost let things slip. For a moment, I thought she’d heard my thoughts, but her face didn’t change. I’d been practicing keeping my walls up, and I hoped I’d succeeded, but I couldn’t be sure.

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