Page 37 of Claimed By her Alien Prince

And so I snuck away. I knew theAsphodel'slayout by heart and had been warned off certain areas long enough to know where I might find my father. Donning servant's clothing, nobody paid any mind to me as I snuck through corridors and skulked in corners.

Two males arguing pulled my attention to an open room, and there he was. I knew him the second I laid eyes on him. I didn't know his name, but I knew he was my father without a shadow of a doubt.

A long scar ran down the right side of his face, his hair was shoulder length and black. He was arguing with another male and the two of them pushed each other back and forward, with anger written over their faces.

A hand pulling me by my ear made me turn and face Ishtar, who put a finger to her lips and pulled me down a corridor. And that was the one and only glance I had ever gotten of my father.

"You know you are not supposed to be here," Ishtar scolded me.

"I'm sorry, Mother. I had to see. Tutor told us about… what we are supposed to do and our quest and I was curious. Forgive me Mother?" I tilted my head and smiled at her, knowing full well how to wrap her around my finger.

Ishtar was not like Behlial, she was warm and caring, and I was happy to call her mother.

"If anybody but me had found you…" She shook her head. "And look at you, in servant's clothing," she tsked.

"Will you help me back?"

"I should take the whip to you Seth," she threatened, but there was a smile on her lips that belied her words. I didn't know much back then, but there was no doubt that Ishtar loved me, loved all of us. Maybe to a fault, because she was setting herself up for heartache. A heartache she had repeated I don't know how many times.

I wondered if she had been as attached to any of the other sets of sons, like my father's group or the one before them, or if we were special. She always made me feel special.

Coming back to the present, I wondered at Behlial's words, I knew next to nothing of my sire, but the quick glimpse I stole of him would have proven Behlial's assessment true. Then again, I killed Nergal, and I didn't consider myself having a mean temper. I did what I was supposed to do and would do again and again if somebody tried to take Lilith from me.

So maybe, I allowed, the quick snapshot I stole of my father had been just that and maybe we were more alike than just having quick tempers.

"Well, since you are here now, we can all have a happy family breakfast together and get to know one another," Behlial rose, "I hope—"

We never found out what he hoped, because a sudden cry from a female turned all our heads toward the source. Instead I saw Balaam holding his hand to his throat—from which red blood spurted—he too must have found his karamia, and I briefly wondered if it was Dina or Sara, but had no time to contemplate it, because things happened quickly.

Judith sprang back, holding a dagger in her hand, while Abaddon moved forward. Quick as a snake, he pulled his sword and severed our brother's head from his body.

Dina and Sara both screamed, but while Dina bolted, Sara fell on her knees next to Balaam's headless body, keening uncontrollably.

I pushed Lilith behind me, pulling my sword, while Azazel, who was the closest, grabbed Abaddon's sword from him.

"What have you done?" Behlial thundered.

"What we are supposed to do," Abaddon stated simply, while Judith rushed to his side.

"You fool!" Behlial marched to Abaddon and struck him across the face. To his credit, Abaddon didn't flinch or move.

"I only did what you wanted us to do," Abaddon said, wiping red blood from his cheek with a derisive glare at Behlial.

"You, whatyouare supposed to do, not yourbride. And look at you. Already bonded, hah," Behlial spat, swiveling his head to the wailing Sara holding our dead brother in her arms, drenched in his red blood.

Suddenly Behlial broke out into manic laughter, "Who else has bonded? Speak up, or do you need me to cut you to find the proof?"

I was the only one who stepped forward. "Lilith and I are bonded," I said in voice that dared anybody to speak up or try to take her from me.

"Who else?" Behlial stared Marduk, Azazel and Grigori down; all three shook their heads.

"Three bonded?" Behlial checked. "That is a new record, is it not, Ishtar?"

I didn't like the way he looked and talked to our mother as if he suspected something. "It's always amusing to watch the bonds develop, but we never had more than two before."

Sara, still crying, reached for the dagger Judith discarded after doing the initial deed. It wasn't a Daemon killer; neither was Abaddon's sword, but a severed head did the trick just as well. Judith's slash across Balaam's throat would have been a debilitating wound, but it would have healed with proper treatment. Though it had been enough to distract Balaam for Abaddon to do the deed and finish our brother off.

Lilith clung to my waist with tear filled eyes, and I wished with all my heart I could take the terror she had just experienced from her, but the sad truth was, this was only the beginning. The remaining five of us were supposed to kill each other over the course of the next few years.

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