Page 98 of The Library

I pull on my clothes, sliding a gun into the back of my jeans, and glance back at Lilith. She doesn’t know the full extent of what’s happening. I’ve kept her insulated from it. But I can feel the pressure building. Sooner or later, she’s going to have to understand what it means to be Mrs. Sebastian Ashford. The blood, the violence, the inevitable destruction that comes withbeing tied to me. I just don’t know how much of it I can protect her from before it all crashes down around us.

When I meet Ty, his face is grim, his jaw set in that way I know means something’s gone sideways.

“They’re moving faster than we thought,” he says, not bothering with pleasantries. “The hit we took? It wasn’t the last. There’s more coming, and they’re not waiting for us to make the next move.”

I nod, my mind already calculating the fallout. The Society is built on power, on dominance. The moment someone thinks we’re slipping, they’ll pounce. And we’re slipping. There’s no denying that. “How bad?”

“Bad,” Ty says, his voice low. “There’s a new player in town. We don’t know who, but they’re targeting our men. Three of them were found dead last night.”

My blood runs cold. Whoever this new player is, they’re not fucking around. And the fact that they’re moving this quickly means they’ve been planning this for a long time.

“And our fathers?” I ask, knowing my father’s silence lately is more telling than any words.

“They know. But they’re waiting. Testing us, seeing how we handle it.”

Of course, they are. This is their way. Always has been. Pushing us to the brink, seeing if we can pull ourselves back.

I clench my jaw, feeling the familiar burn of anger in my gut. “We need to hit back. Hard. No more waiting.”

Ty nods. “I agree. But we can’t do it without their approval.”

I hate the fucking politics of the Society. The hierarchy. The waiting for someone else to give the green light when we should be out there, taking control. But that’s the world we live in. The world we’ve always lived in.

“Fine,” I say, my voice low and dangerous. “But when we do, we end this. No more loose ends.”

Ty smirks, his eyes gleaming with the same dark intensity I feel. “Agreed. It’s time to remind them who runs this shit.”

As we head out, my mind drifts back to Lilith. She’s still at home, probably sleeping, unaware of the storm brewing around us. But for how much longer? How much longer can I keep her out of this? She’s strong, but the world we live in—it devours the strong. I can’t let that happen to her. I won’t.

But as the threats close in, I can feel the inevitability of it all. She’s mine, and because of that, she’s in danger. It’s only a matter of time before someone tries to use her against me. And when that happens… not even god can help them. Because I’ll burn this entire fucking city to the ground before I let anyone touch her.

As Ty and I pull up to the meeting spot, I feel the weight of the bloodstone on my finger, a constant reminder of the bond Lilith and I share. The blood in that ring ties us together, but it also ties her to the darkness that surrounds me. And I’ll protect her from it at all costs.

But the storm is coming. And I don’t know if even I can stop it.

Lilith

The days blur together in a haze of pain and terror. I can’t remember when they first took me, or how long I’ve been trapped in this dark, freezing room. My mind feels foggy, heavy from exhaustion and the relentless ache that’s settled into every muscle, every bone. They keep the lights off most of the time, only letting me have light whenever one of them comes in to taunt or torment me. It makes it harder to keep track of time. Has it been one day? Seven? I can’t tell anymore. My body is bruised, weakened from the lack of food and water, and the beatings have taken their toll.

I feel the raw sting of the cuts on my skin, the bruises that have darkened my ribs, my arms, my face. They didn’t hold back. They wanted me broken.

My throat is so dry I can barely swallow, the air thick with dust, choking me every time I try to breathe. My voice is hoarse from screaming for help, from screaming for Sebastian, hoping somehow he would hear me. But no one comes. It’s just me. Alone.

The silence in this place is maddening. Except for him. That man. The one who comes in every day. I don’t know his name. I never asked, and he never offered. He doesn’t need to. He’s the one who relishes in my pain, the one who enjoys watching me suffer. He’s always there, lurking in the shadows, waiting forsomething. Maybe waiting for me to break, maybe waiting for Sebastian to make a move. I don’t know.

But he taunts me endlessly, threatening me, hurting me in ways that make me wish for death just to escape. Every day is a new form of cruelty. A new way to remind me of how trapped I am, how powerless.

I press my hand to my stomach, feeling the faintest flutter of life. The nausea had started a few days before they took me, and I knew. I was pregnant. But I hadn’t told Sebastian. I hadn’t even fully processed it myself before the chaos of this nightmare began. It feels like some cruel twist of fate now. I had been on birth control for years, even when I was a virgin, but after everything with Sebastian, the world spun out of control, and I forgot about the pills.

Now, as I sit here in the darkness, that tiny fluttering life is the only thing keeping me tethered to reality. The only thing that’s keeping me from giving up completely. I have to survive. Not just for me, but for him. For us.

The door creaks open again, and I can’t even flinch. My body is beyond exhaustion, beyond fear. My muscles won’t obey me anymore, too tired, too broken. He steps inside, his footsteps heavy against the cold cement floor. I hate that sound. The echo of his boots scraping against the ground sends shivers through me every time.

“You look worse today, Lilith,” he sneers, his voice slicing through the silence. I fucking hate that he calls me that. Only Sebastian calls me Lilith. It feels wrong coming from his mouth, like he’s desecrating something sacred between me and Sebastian.

I don’t respond. I don’t have the energy to fight him with words anymore.

“How long do you think your husband will take to find you, huh?” His voice drips with cruelty, every syllable like poison. “Or maybe he’s forgotten all about you.”

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