Page 124 of Their Demon

He shrugged. “Why wait until the council meeting to find out how she’s going to die?” He dug his hand into the bag, pulling out a piece of paper, staining it with red fingerprints as he unfolded it. He could’ve set the record for the most evil-looking grin while he read the trial. It was unsettling, and I knew something was wrong before he opened his mouth. “Never mind.” He put the paper in his back pocket. “Seems you have to wait a week to find out the trial.”

Lillian slumped in my arms in defeat. The twins murmured to one another.

“No,” I said, disbelief filling me. “You can’t do this.”

I handed Lillian off to the twins, storming to the end of the stage to face my father.

“I can, and I did,” he answered with his hands up and open, like we were shit out of luck.

“That’s not fair. You have to give her time to prepare. You have—”

“I don’thaveto do anything. This is my game, son. There are no rules except what I deem necessary.” He pointed at Lillian, who was looking paler by the second as the twins held her upright. “She will die by the end of this, simple as that.” He looked over the crowd, waving like an arrogant businessman. “Thank you for coming today. I look forward to seeing you all ina week for the third trial. It’s going to befun.” He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

I opened my mouth to say more, but Aiden’s worried voice tore me away. “Keir! We’ve got to get out of here.”

I turned to see our girl in Nicholas’s arms, looking like she was on the verge of passing out. We needed to get her home.

“Let’s go,” I barked, leading my brothers to the car.

Ida met us at the car, but when she saw Lillian’s condition, she said she would find us later and to let her know if we needed her for anything.

I took Lillian as we got in, holding her in my lap. “I’ve got you, princess.” I brushed the hair from her face, and she opened her eyes. “There’s my girl.”

“Here.” Nicholas handed me a bottle of water.

“Let’s sit you up a little.” I helped her sit up, laying her against my chest. “Drink some water.”

She took the bottle and chugged half of it. “I need to tell you guys what happened,” she said half-heartedly, probably feeling strained from both the physical and mental toll the last couple of hours had taken.

“And you will, but you need to rest first. You can tell us when we get home, okay?” She nodded, her eyes already closing with drowsiness. “Sleep, princess.”

And she did. The whole way home.

Chapter 50

Lillian

The pain that radiated through my chest was excruciating, and the force with which it hit me made me drop the egg. The breath was knocked out of me for a solid thirty seconds.

I turned around, looking for the egg, but the hippocampus was charging for me again. I waved my hands to try and scare it off, but it didn’t stop. I reached behind me to pull out the dagger and got it in front of me just in time to make contact with its neck.

It made a strange screeching noise before hustling away, my dagger still embedded in its neck. I felt terrible, but it was a necessary evil to get this trial done. I would bring its egg back when we were done, and I would keep the baby safe until then. I wished I could tell it that. Maybe it would understand.

I took a deep breath, wincing when the soreness in my chest finally registered. I rolled my shoulders around, trying to feel things out, then dove for the egg. I was so afraid something had happened to it, but I found it sitting in perfect condition on a rock below. I cradled it and started swimming again.

The egg weighed me down a bit, but I was sure I was getting close to the surface. That was good, because I could feel it getting harder to breathe. My time was quickly running out.

Just before I reached the surface, something grabbed my leg and dragged me back so hard, the egg was wrenched from my grasp and I was flung backward. When my body stopped, I got a good look at my attacker, the hippocampus that had attacked me before, the dagger still sticking out of its neck.

Scratch that.

There were three of them now, two swimming up on either side, sights set on me, looking angry.

Fuck me.

I had no weapons, no way to protect myself, and my lungs were starting to ache. I was running out of options, and time, fast.

Suddenly, they charged at me, all three at once. I put my arms out in front of me out of instinct, not that it was going to do anything, and closed my eyes tightly, bracing for impact, knowing three at once could kill me.

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