Page 24 of Claimed By her Alien Prince

Behlial's increasingly demonic laughter turned louder, and I managed to focus on it, instead of the horrible scenes in my head, which slowlyfaded. I managed to stare up at the King of Darkness, whose attention was split between watching my agony and the intensifying fight below.

He stopped swiveling his head between the fight and me to look at me and his eyes narrowed. "You can see?"

My teeth were pressed so tightly together to keep the pain at bay, that I worried they would shatter under their own force. The agony in my arm was making me sick to my stomach, but somehow, I managed to give Behlial the most contemptuous smile I could muster.

His laughter turned even louder. "You amaze me. You will be a worthy opponent, little girl. Let's see how much more you can take."

Quick like a snake, he lunged forward and made another cut, just below the first, this one much deeper. My scream of pain was so loud, I worried I might have shattered my vocal cords.

Before I completely descended to the floor, I saw Seth look up with a snarl on his handsome face. His expression was torn between anger and hate toward his father and… concern? For me?

Nergal moved forward, counting on the distraction that seemed to have captivated his brother. He went in for the kill, leaving his defense open. Seth didn't even seem to realize that Nergal was coming for him; his entire being was focused on me and his father.

With the last of my strength, and against my better judgement, I uttered a warning so low that I feared he might not hear me. "Seth! Behind you!"

My head lowered to the ground, my cheeks caressed the cool onyx below it, welcoming the soothing coldness. But before I closed my eyes and allowed myself to succumb to the pain, I watched Seth turn just in time, and, almost lazily, lift his sword, to parry his brother's death blow, quickly burying his weapon deep into Nergal's heart.

That's when I curled into a fetal position and started to whimper like a child. The pain in my arm was sending pulsing waves throughout my body and I was too weak to fight the onslaught of hellish pictures against my eyelids any longer.

From far away, I heard the concerned voices of the other girls. I felt a gentle hand on my back, but even that slight touch burned my skin, skin that felt as if it was slowly being peeled raw. As if somebody was removing my skin, leaving my nerves bare.

"You sadistic old tyrant." I heard Seth's words, beforestrong arms pulled me up.

I wanted to scream in agony, I wanted to thrash against his touch, which felt like hot coals pressing against me. Unrelentingly, he put me into a seated position, leaning me against his kneeling body.

The horrifying picture show in front of me was still there, but now I was able to see through it, as if I waslooking through a window reflecting things behind me. The pain was uncontrollable, and whimpers escaped my lips since I didn't have the energy to scream any longer.

"Please help her," Azubah pleaded.

Through another onslaught of scenes of torture, I watched Seth cut the palm of his hand with the same kind of knife the king used on me. He gently pulled my arm out, and with growing horror, I watched as his blood dripped into my wounds.

Before I had a chance to give in to revulsion, relief took over—relief from the burning pain, delivered by his blood. The acidy burn slowly subsided. The pictures in my head of people burning alive retreated. My skin was beginning to feel normal again. My body, which was coiled in pain, slowly relaxed against Seth's warm frame, and a sigh escaped my lips instead of another whimper of pain.

Another sensation took over, as his hand brushed against the naked flesh of my arm. Suddenly my whole body became alive with a different sensation. My blood seemed to bubble inside me as if it was an electric current that I could feel move through my body. A low, droning sound put pressure against my ears, my stomach fluttered and my eyes widened in astonishment as they met his. Which reflected the same surprise as I felt, and he almost dropped me, seemingly unable to make any sense of what was happening between us either.

If I'd had the energy to lift my hand I would have, and I would have used it to caress his cheek. Being here, being held by him felt like… coming home. It felt like seeing a loved one after you believed them dead for a long time.

My body yearned to press itself against his, but I was too weak to do so. Instead, strong arms lifted me effortlessly off the floor and carried me away through the same archway Azazel had taken Phoebe earlier.

I was exhausted from the pain I endured. Slight aftershocks still moved through melike an electrical pulse. Nothing like before, but enough to cause discomfort and make parts of my body jerk.

I triedto stay awake. I wanted to know where he was taking me. I needed to stay awake in case he wanted to hurt me, but my body wouldn't cooperate. My eyelids fluttered, and my eyes rolled back in their sockets. At last, sweet oblivion claimed me.

Carefulnottowakeher, I arranged Lilith on my bed. She was out cold and I clenched my teeth at what Behlial had done to her. The pain she had been through.

I knew that pain all too well. Mortferrym, the only metal that could kill a Daemon, inflicted debilitating pain to a body. It was the reason we only had a handful of these swords and daggers aboard theAsphodel. We didn't want a mutiny, now did we?

This should never have happened to her. Her tender body should never have experienced this kind of pain. Nayphyllym were to be venerated, not hurt.

Behlial was a monster. A monster who needed to be stopped.

This was my fault. I should have ended Nergal quickly, instead of making a show of our fight. My brothers, hell the entire nobility, had watched us fight, assessed our strength and weaknesses. Soon, if they hadn't done so already, the nobility and ship's crew would begin placing bets on the outcome of this season's winner, and I hadn't wanted to show my cards too early. Especially since my brothers had been watching too, giving each of them additional time to study my fighting style before it was our turn to fight.

What good would any of this do me though, if she was harmed?

Her pain, which I felt as well thanks to Nergal getting some licks in before I ended him, was more than mine. I had been trained, prepared for it. Not her though, not with her fragile little body.

I had felt just how delicate she was when I carried her in my arms to my quarters. I could snap her wrist, her arm, her neck without breaking a sweat or worrying over much resistance from her.

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