Page 102 of The Library

Her voice is so soft, barely audible, but enough to keep me from drowning in my own fear. “I’m okay,” she manages, though I can see the tremble in her lips. “I’m okay, Sebastian.”

But she’s not. I know that. She’s covered in blood—my blood and her own—and the truth of what I’ve done.

“Who did you kill?” she asks, glancing down at the mess I’ve made, realization washing over her.

I feel a twisted calm in the aftermath, an acceptance of what I am. “Everyone,” I reply, like it was the only logical answer. Because it was. No one else could be left standing after what they tried to do. And there’s not a single trace of remorse in me—just cold certainty, a truth I’ve always carried.

Her eyes search mine, and I can tell she knows. She feels it too. She understands me. The blood, the violence… it’s what keeps her safe. What keeps her alive. And in that cold truth, there’s love, my love, wrapped in darkness.

I pull her closer, feeling her finally give in, her small body collapsing into me. Her warmth against my chest, her heartbeat, steadies me, and for just a moment, I let myself breathe. But I can still hear her voice from earlier—those words she screamed as I fought for her.

And I know this is far from over.

Everything froze. Time itself seemed to stop as her words echoed in my mind.Pregnant. My Lilith was pregnant. Carrying my child.

I couldn’t speak. The emotions—fear, relief, love, rage—swirled inside me, choking me. I couldn’t breathe. All I could do was hold her tighter, burying my face in her hair as I tried to hold myself together.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered again, my voice cracking. “No one will ever fucking hurt you again.”

I carried her nearly lifeless body out of that hellhole, her small body pressed tight to mine as I made a silent vow to protect her—them—with everything I had. But this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

We tracked Viktor down. Ty and I dragged him to the basement of the Library, the place where all our darkest secrets were kept. The place where he would die.

He was bloodied and bruised, hanging from chains, barely conscious as Ty and I stood over him.

“You took my wife,” I said, my voice low, deadly calm. “You really thought you could get away with that?”

Viktor coughed, blood splattering from his lips as he grinned. “You think this is over?”

I didn’t respond. My gun was already in my hand. I pulled the trigger without hesitation, the shot ringing out through the basement as Viktor’s body slumped in the chains. Blood poured from the hole in his head, along with all of the other places from my time with him. He was dead. And so was every last man who had anything to do with Lilith’s abduction.

But the weight of it—the knowledge that she was pregnant—settled heavy in my chest.

Five days.She’d been gone for five days, and she was carrying my child.

* * *

I entered the bedroom quietly, my heart still racing from the past week, my mind spinning with the weight of what had just happened. After Ty and I finished with that piece of shit Viktor, we had our guys clean up for us so I could get back here before Lilith woke up. She had been out since I brought her out of that fucking building. Part of me is glad for that. Ty had Anna meet us here, so she can be here for Lilith. Lilith may not want me when she wakes up. She may realize that she was taken and tortured because of me…this is my fault.

She’s stable now and resting in our bedroom. Valen, the Society’s doctor, had to give her IV fluids and stitch up a couple of spots where the bastards had cut her. But he had finished his exam, telling me everything I needed to hear but couldn’t quite process.

“She’s eleven weeks pregnant,” Valen had said, his expression professional but with an edge of concern. “And it’s twins, Sebastian. You’re going to be a father of two.”

Twins.Twins.The word echoed in my head like a gong, reverberating over and over. I had expected news about the baby, buttwins?It wasn’t that I didn’t want them—I wanted everything with Lilith—but hearing those words, knowing she had been carrying our children while she was held captive, filled me with equal parts elation and fury. I’d nearly lost her.I could have lost them all.

Valen had reassured me that she and the babies were healthy. “She’s strong, Sebastian. Her body’s healing remarkably well considering the trauma, but she needs rest, time to recover.”

Time to recover. My heart clenched. She had been through so much, and yet… she had survived. I had come for her, and I hadn’t been too late. But the thought that this man, Viktor’s fucking man, had touched her, had tormented her while she carried our children—it made my blood boil. He was already dead, but I wanted to kill him a thousand times over for every second of pain he’d caused her. I definitely killed him way too quickly, letting my anger get the best of me. I should have let that mother fucker rot down there in the basement, coming back each day to give him a little more until the day he finally died. He doesn’t deserve death, he deserves worse. Death was too quick and kind for that piece of shit.

I stepped into the bedroom where Lilith lay in the bed, her face pale against the soft pillows, her dark hair spread around her like an unholy halo. She looked so fragile, and it tore me apart to see her like this. My Lilith—always so fierce, so strong, now reduced to this shell of exhaustion and pain.

I had never felt more powerless in my life.

As I approached, her eyes fluttered open, her lashes wet with unshed tears. She turned her head toward me, her gaze locking onto mine, and my heart broke at the sight of the fear, the uncertainty, the doubt swirling in those eyes.

“Sebastian,” she whispered, her voice so soft it was almost lost in the quiet of the room. “I’m so sorry…”

“Shh,” I interrupted, sitting on the edge of the bed, reaching out to gently stroke her hair. “I have something to tell you.”

---