Page 123 of Their Demon

Pull it back a little, princess. He won’t hesitate if you push him too far.

Don’t tell me to ‘pull back’, or I’ll give you the same treatment.

She was amped up, and while I didn’t want to get in her way or hinder her, I also didn’t want her getting herself into a situation we’d have to fight out of.

I’m not your enemy. I’m just trying to look out for you. He won’t blink twice before killing you. I don’t want you to get hurt.

She was silent.

Hello?

“There was no one down there,” she said more plainly this time. “I did it on my own.”

Thank you.

Whatever,she grumbled back.

I didn’t like having to ‘rein her in’, but her safety mattered more to me than getting further under my father’s skin.

“You’re lying about something, and I know it. You won’t have the chance to cheat on the third trial. I will make sure of it.” He took the egg from the guard and held it up for everyone to see. “Let this be a message to whoever aids this human in the third trial. You will suffer the same fate.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lillian whispered to me.

I went to respond, but my father raised his hand, a knife in it, and brought it down on the egg, piercing its thin, protective layer. Clear liquid gushed out, which soon turned red with blood.

“No!” Lillian shrieked, lunging at the stage with her arms out.

I grabbed her and pulled her to me so she didn’t have to see him smile at her as he stabbed the egg again and again. Lillian clung to me, sobbing and screaming. The twins stood on eitherside of us, putting their arms around Lillian as well, forming a protective group hug.

“It’s okay, baby,” Nicholas murmured. “We’ve got you.”

“He killed it,” she cried. “He killed it because of me.”

“He killed it because he’s an evil bastard, not because of you.” Aiden leaned in and kissed her head. “You are not to blame.”

She clung to me harder.

This isn’t your fault. Don’t let him get in your head. That’s all this is. Don’t let him win.

Her body relaxed a fraction.I wanted to take it back to its nest, to its family.

I know, princess. I know.I continued to hold her to me, eyeing my father with fury.He will pay for everything he has ever done.

She stopped crying, and her body stilled.

Take me home. Now. Please just take me home.

“Let’s get you home,” I said aloud so the twins could help me get her to the car.

“Not so fast,” my father called out to us. “There’s one more matter to deal with.”

He threw the remnants of the egg and the creature it had once contained onto the ground just as Lillian turned around. She flinched, and I instinctively put my arm around her waist, pulling her back to me. The twins stood at either side of her. It was crazy how natural protecting her came to us.

My father’s hands were still covered in the blood of the creature he killed when he grabbed a familiar object from a guard.

The bag of potential trials.

“What is this?” I demanded of him.

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