Page 81 of Their Offering

The lobby was huge and open, with a giant corner desk. The woman sitting at it didn’t even look up. She had a phone to her ear, looking at something on her computer screen.

“Stay close,” Ida whispered under her breath. “This is when it matters.”

I kept my head down as she’d instructed, staying as close as I could to her side without being on top of her. As we got closer to the revolving door, I saw the doorman out of the corner of my eye. He was huge, muscular,andtall. His face was aged, but his eyes were a bright, vibrant, yellow-green color.

He bowed his head in greeting to Ida, and then his eyes met mine. I quickly looked back down, worried I’d drawn attention to myself since I hadn’t kept my eyes on the floor as Ida had told me.

“And who’s this?” the doorman asked rather loudly, making me squirm. Ida stopped abruptly, forcing me to stop as well. “She smells…” He paused, taking a sniff in the air. I winced, knowing we’d been caught. The boys were going to kill us; that is, if their father didn’t get to me first.

“She’s human. Your nose isn’t tricking you, old man,” Ida teased him.

She grabbed me by the chin, and I gasped. She held my head up to face the doorman, who was looking at me with curiosity.

“She’s my new slave. I’d left her with the princes to take care of them, but she keeps messing things up, so we’re going to do more training in my kitchen. Hopefully, she can get her wits about her and care for the boys as she should. It’s an honor to serve them, and she should be more grateful for the opportunity.” She wiggled my face a bit, then let me go.

I immediately cast my eyes back down to the floor, playing the part of the ashamed human slave. It must have worked, because Ida and the doorman finished their conversation, said their goodbyes, and we were out the door.

I started to look up, but Ida pulled me. “Not yet. I know you want to look around and take it in, but we are still being watched.”

I followed Ida to her small silver car and got in the passenger seat. When both our doors slammed shut, we erupted in laughter.

“Satan spare me, I can’t believe we did that!” she exclaimed.

“You can’t believe it? I can’t believe it even more!” I wiggled excitedly in my seat. “So, where are we going?”

I looked out the windshield, then my window. Everything looked so normal. Cars filled the streets, and demons walked the sidewalks.

“We really are going to my house,” she said as she pulled us out of the parking spot and into the road. “I think it’s time you make another friend.”

Chapter 37

Lillian

I had no idea what Ida meant by making another friend, but it made me nervous as hell. Who was I going to meet? Could they know who I really was? Was it someone the boys knew?

I felt a pang in my chest as I thought about Katie, the best friend I’d left behind. I hadn’t realized how much I missed that connection with someone. I’d wanted to be friends with Ida, but I feared she’d report back to the boys. With her sneaking me out, though, I questioned that thought.

I had the twins, but we definitely werenotfriends. I wasn’t sure what we were, but it was more than a friendship. They were also helping to keep me captive in that flat, the opposite of what a friend would do.

As Ida drove us to her house, I tried to focus on our surroundings instead of all the thoughts swirling in my head. The skyscraper-like buildings grew smaller as we got further away from the flat, and houses started to pop up, then houses were all I saw.

She pulled into a gated neighborhood, punched a code into the keypad at the gate, and drove down the small street. The houses were beautiful, and unlike the cookie-cutter communities we had back on Earth, every house was different.

Her house was massive. There had to be at least three stories. The windows were all uniquely-shaped, with six sides as opposed to the typical four-sided ones I was accustomed to. Each window was colorful, too; they were clearly––stained glass.

The exterior of the house was a forest green color, and the giant etched door was a bright blue. Her house was so…odd. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen.

“Come on,” Ida said, drawing my attention away from her extraordinary house.

I followed Ida through the front door, which swung open easily, despite seeming massive. “Wow,” I whispered, unable to muster any volume.

The interior was even more unique than the outside. I’d never seen so many colors in one space. Standing in the foyer, I could see into the sitting room, the kitchen, and the dining room. No wall was the same color, and the furniture and carpets followed the same pattern. Everything was so colorful, I felt like I was on an acid trip or something.

“You okay?” Ida asked as she squeezed my arm.

I nodded. “Yeah. Totally. Just…” I paused, looking around one more time before continuing. “This is not at all what I was expecting.”

Ida laughed and walked into the kitchen, motioning for me to follow. “Whatdidyou expect? Gloom and doom like the boys’ flat?” She chuckled and shook her head, amused with herself.

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