Page 113 of The Demon Court

“I don’t want to be here.” She held onto Ursula’s hand, and then gently pushed it away. “I don’t want to stay where I am not wanted. Can’t you see that? He wants me to be with him and I want to be with him as well. This is a good thing, Ursula. I’m sorry we have to say goodbye, though. We might be able to figure out another way to see each other.”

Maybe she would get all her sisters out from under her mother’s thumb. Maybe that was how she fixed this. By taking over the Tower herself, or building another one entirely. Lust would support her. He’d probably build it right next to this one just to spite Minerva.

“No, Selene, you don’t understand.”

Minerva stalked into the room and shoved Ursula away from her. “She is no longer your sister, Ursula. Get back with the others.”

That was when she noticed all the rest of her sisters standing at the railings. One on every level. They stared down at her with cold, vacant eyes.

And Selene realized she would never convince any of them to come with her. She’d lost them the moment she defied Minerva’s wishes.

“Selene,” Lust snarled. “Come here.”

But her eyes stayed on Minerva’s, and her voice rang. “This was my home. The only one that I was ever given. I trusted you to not take it away like everyone else. I see I misplaced my trust in a woman who has no idea what that means.”

She hoped her words would sink through whatever haze her sisters were stuck in. Perhaps they could see the light for a brief moment and understand that if Minerva could do this to Selene, then she could do it to any of them.

Until Minerva spoke again. “Then you should have earned that trust.” Her mother’s face twisted into an ugly snarl. “You should have deserved this family’s love.”

Oh, and if that didn’t make her heart ache.

She thought she had deserved their love. She’d always thought that she had given enough to this family for them to at least love her back. Was it so much to ask for someone to love her? For someone to care that she existed?

Hands shaking, she clutched her heavy skirts so no one would see. Instead, she squared her shoulders and walked toward her demon king.

He eyed her with those glowing purple eyes, and they lingered on every part of her. As though he could see right through her fear, right through her skin, and he needed to make sure not a single part of her was harmed. When he met her gaze, she knew the moment he saw her heart breaking. He bared his teeth in a terrible snarl, and she swore she saw his skin ripple.

With those sharp teeth bared, he turned that icy gaze to her mother. “You will pay for this, Minerva.”

“I will pay for nothing.” Minerva’s eyes glazed over Selene, and she couldn’t help but wonder what the two of them knew that neither of them had shared. “You, Demon, will be the one to pay. I cannot say I am shocked that this happened. But I will admit, I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.”

The snarl that ripped out of him was nothing short of beast-like. “She is mine, Sorceress. And I will tear this world apart if you touch so much as a hair on her head.”

Why would her mother ever hurt her?

But then Selene looked back and saw the determination in Minerva’s gaze. Her entire body went ice cold, and Selene gently touched a finger to the mark on her neck.

She wouldn’t. Would she?

Lust slipped a clawed hand behind her back and turned her toward the doors. Selene let him guide her from the Tower without ever looking back.

She was afraid of what she’d see if she did.

ChapterThirty-Eight

She’d thought she would be prepared for this. Selene had known that there was a good chance her family wouldn’t want her there. Denying her mother of the one thing she wanted, control, was another good reason for them all to leave her behind.

But she’d still thought that at least someone would stand up for her. Someone would care enough to at least say goodbye, even if Minerva didn’t want them to.

None of them had.

She’d walked out of the Tower with Lust’s hand on her back. He practically vibrated with anger, a hulking monster who stood behind her while he fought to control his own rage. It was terrifying and fearsome, and she had no idea what to do with him.

He had cared about her enough to come back. But he’d also been the one who caused this issue. If it weren’t for him, she could have stayed. She’d never have become this person who wanted to see more of the world. She’d never have wanted to become someone else.

And that... hurt.

Everything hurt. Her heart. Her mind. Her soul.

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