Page 22 of Claimed By her Alien Prince

"That no-good boy sitting up there to the left," Behlial's hand waved in the general direction where the seven men sat, stood, or reclined, "is the firstborn from the last quest, Azazel."

The man rose to his full height and slowly moved toward us. When he reached us, he walked up and down our line, as if he hadn't already had ample time to study us from where he had sat.

His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air around us, dipping closer to me and Dina, and goosebumps rose over my skin. My eyes moved to the other six brothers, looking for one in particular, but he stared straight ahead, refusing to even look at me.

Why had I dreamed about him if he regarded me with such aloofness now? Not that I wanted him—not at all—but he was still the lesser evil. Or so I thought.

"This one, with the golden hair," Azazel finally proclaimed, walking straight for Phoebe.

"Wait!" I cried, stepping out of line when I saw Phoebe's terrified expression. "Don't we get a say in this?"

At that, Behlial cackled so loud and hard, the walls seemed to shake. The group of men and women on the other side of the throne fell in with his laughter. As suddenly as Behlial had started laughing, he stopped, straightened and his red eyes landed on me. His expression made me take a step back.

"Is the lamb allowed to choose who eats its meat?" he demanded.

I swallowed. Effectively intimidated, I stepped back in line and lowered my eyes to the ground, unable to look at Phoebe as Azazel took her elbow and led her from the temple.

"Next up, the second born, Nergal."

The man who sat reclined in front ofmyDaemon, who still refused to look at me, rose, but I noticed his jaw clenching as if he anticipated a fight.

No, I thought. Please, no. The same cruel streak that ran over Behlial's features ran over Nergal's, as he surefootedly made his way straight for me. His hand reached forward, and he clasped the black necklace I wore.

Holding on to it, he pulled me forward and said, "This one. The one who seems to have captivated the King of Darkness. Lilith."

"No!"

The word rang loud throughout the temple, echoed off the walls and domed ceiling, and all eyes flew to my Daemon—including mine.

"You object, Seth?" Behlial asked in a sweet tone. "Ah, how interesting."

"She is mine, brother. You'll have to fight me for her," Nergal said, almost lazily. He pulled me to his side, put his arm around my waist, and painfully squeezed my ass.

Seth didn't say anything. He flew forward, and when he reached us, his fists pushed into Nergal's side, who had thankfully let go of me, before he stumbled a couple of feet back. His features darkened and hate spewed from every pore of his body.

"A fight." Behlial rubbed his hands in glee. "It's a little early, but by all means."

He turned and walked up the steps to his throne. Seth's eyes never left Nergal as he hissed toward me. "Are you alright?"

I numbly nodded, falling back in line between Azubah and Andrea, each of whom grabbed one of my hands.

Behlial reached his throne and turned the sculpted gargoyle heads on both sides of his armrests, and pulled out two swords. The blades gleamed in the artificial torchlight as if they were alive.

The hilts were intricately carved from what appeared to be gold, which I now noticed was stitched into the clothing of Behlial, his queen, and the princes. Golden belts, golden arm circles, bracelets, anklets, you name it. My mind compared it to the green and silver I noticed on others before and concluded the colors must be indicative of ranks.

However, that thought was fleeting, as my attention turned to Behlial who had been followed up the stairs by Seth and Nergal.

The moment he handed the first sword to Nergal, the alien swiped it at Seth, who concaved his stomach to avoid being eviscerated.

Behlial laughed and threw the second sword up in the air. Seth caught it right before he jumped back, dodging another stab from Nergal, before he hit his sword against his brother's.

It was hard for me to maintain a cool façade and not scream out in horror.The strike was so vicious and fast that for a second I thought Seth had been struck, before I realized he had parried the blow.

Behlial retreated behind the safety of his throne. Even he seemed surprised by the viciousness of Nergal's attack. I was willing to bet that there was supposed to have been some kind of ritual before the actual fighting began.

But now that the fight was obviously on, Seth wasn't shy. After he parried the first blow, he raised his sword and forced Nergal up the stairs at the same time. When their swords crossed, Seth stepped back ever so slightly, spinning around simultaneously and in doing so not only freed his sword but he also caught Nergal off balance. Using this moment Seth swept his sword sideways, cutting his brother's side.

With a yelp, Nergal jumped back, and blood spurted out of his side where a deep cut appeared. Black blood.

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