Page 60 of Mated to the Kings

Lilith

LastnightIfellasleep almost right after they got me dressed for bed. One minute I was trying to keep myself awake to wait for them to come to bed, and the next Daemon was waking me up for breakfast. I take a long, hot shower before going downstairs to find out what my mom wrote.

When I get done in the shower, I dry off and get dressed. It is hotter here than at home, so I wear jean shorts and a simple tank top. Instead of putting Mom’s necklace back on, I take it with me downstairs. I don’t want to take what might be the last thing of her left from him.

“Good morning,” Dad says with a smile when I walk into the kitchen and find everyone is here.

“Morning,” I say happily. “That smells good. What is that?”

“Omelets,” he says. “Want one?”

“Uhm… Sure,” I say.

“Do you like eggs?” he asks when he sees my hesitance.

“She’s probably never had them,” Kael says.

“Let’s not,” I say.

“Let’s not, what?” Dad asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Nothing,” I say as I sit at the kitchen island between Daemon and Callum.

“It’s because Zypher would feed us this flavorless slop bullshit,” Leli says. “Before that, I think the fox shifters always ended up with shit for food because everyone else wouldn’t let them in most stores.”

“Leli,” I sigh.

“Is that true?” Dad asks, looking at the guys and not me.

“Don’t,” I say. “Don’t start pointing fingers.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Dad says simply.

“In their defense, not all the maidens were treated like that. Zypher was just one of the worst ones. He is a sadistic narcissist who got off on humiliating Lilith. He couldn’t cause her pain, so he broke her down instead,” Leli says with venom in her tone.

“I’m assuming he was still a loudmouth with you too?” I ask.

“Yeah. He never shut the fuck up about you,” she says. “It took everything in me to not set him on fire with how he was talking about you.”

“I don’t even want to know,” I say, shaking my head.

“He’s going to be a problem,” Dad says.

“He’s already a problem,” I say. “I didn’t see it before, but when he showed up to that party and cornered me, I realized that he is obsessed with the idea of breaking me.” Something in the back of my head is slowly connecting the dots between threats Zypher has made over the years to the vision of myself naked and beaten. “Can we talk about something that isn’t Zypher, please?”

“Your grandmother translated the letters,” Dad says.

“Really?” I ask, looking at Grandma. She is sitting quietly at the table watching us interact.

“Eat first,” she says simply.

“Try it with ketchup,” Volis says.

“Don’t listen to him,” Dad laughs and sets a plate in front of me. I pick up my fork and take a small bite. When the flavors mingle on my tongue, I smile. “Good?”

“Mhmm,” I say happily before taking another bite.

We eat while listening to Sylvie tell us a story about a girl in her class she is friends with. I thought teenagers had a lot of drama going on, but apparently, it’s preschoolers that have all the juicy gossip.

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