Page 50 of Claimed By her Alien Prince

That surprised me.

"But… I thought…" My mind cartwheeled again.

"We came to a… mutual understanding," Seth said. "What happened here?" He indicated the mess in our room.

"You can't do this," I raged as my anger renewed now that I knew he was safe and unharmed. "Never do this again."

"I can't promise you that, Lilith." His eyes were filled with true regret, which I chose to ignore.

"We're a team," I declared. "We need to work together, Seth."

Now one of his brows rose in something akin to amusement, but he was smart enough to appear as if he was working hard to suppress it. "And what do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know." I wrung my hands. "Something. I can't go through this again, Seth. I can't watch you die again."

Dumbfounded, we stared at each other.

"Again?" he asked, his voice merely a whisper.

The words that sprang from my mouth knocked the wind out of me. I felt as if a hard fist had punched me in the stomach, and I sank to my knees, fighting for breath.

"Lilith?"

Alarmed, he was immediately at my side. He picked me up and carried me to the bed, where I rolled into a ball in his embrace. The pain that assaulted me from the inside out was like nothing I had ever experienced before, even when Behlial cut me. I felt as if my insides were being knotted and twisted, as if somebody was squeezing my heart in an ice cold vise. For a frightening moment, I thought I couldn't breathe as my mouth opened to take in air, but it didn't seem to get past my throat. I thrashed.

"Easy Lil, easy," Seth soothed me. "Karamia, open your eyes, look at me."

Atfirstthesightof my trashed room petrified me. I was worried somebody had attacked Lilith. But when I saw her, beautiful and angry like a spitfire, my fear turned into amusement at the discovery of her fiery temper. Even when she attacked me, I was more amused than anything. I liked her temper.

But then something went wrong. Staring into her frightened eyes as she fought for breath terrified me in ways I had never experienced before.

"Easy, karamia, easy." I didn't know what else to do but talk soothingly to her. I doubted there was anything physically wrong with her, this was an attack from her mind. One whose cause I wasn't sure of, but I guessed it had something to do with her words.I can't go through this again, Seth. I can't watch you die again.Words that resonated inside me and multiplied my own fears. And with sudden and certain clarity, I knew I had gone through this before too—had watchedherdie.

With a primal cry, I pulled her deeper into my embrace, pressed her against me and kissed the top of her head, cradling her as if she had just had a brush with death.

And in a way, she had. Even if only in my mind. But there were fragments of memories in my head, fragments I couldn't quite grasp and was unwilling to try because I knew they would bring immeasurable pain. Suddenly I smelled smoke, and with it a pain so immense overcame me that, I too fought for breath. I felt as if somebody was ripping my heart out.

I don't know how long we sat there clinging to one another, but at some point, I noticed her body relax as she drifted into a fitful sleep. From time to time she whimpered quietly, and I brushed my hand against the side of her face, kissed her forehead, and rubbed her back until she finally succumbed to her exhaustion.

Carefully I disentangled myself from her. I wanted nothing more than to keep her in my arms, but I needed some room to think, and I couldn't do that with her so close.

My run in with Azazel still had my head reeling, and now, after what had just happened, my carefully laid plans were beginning to either come together or unravel. I just wasn't sure which way it would go yet.

The one thing I was sure of was when Lilith said:I can't watch you dieagain. Those words resonated with me, and I reciprocated the notion one hundred times over even though I thankfully had no memory of such events. But I was sure they had happened. And that frightened me.

It felt as if another player had entered the field, an invisible player, and I wasn't sure which side he was on. Had I believed in destiny, I might have been inclined to believe that things were finally coming to a head, but I didn't. At least not in the, this is your path and you have to walk it, way.

I knew I had towinthis sick quest, one way or another, because it was the only way to keep my karamia safe. But the paths for doing so were not only vastly different, but for some reason, I knew I had walked some of them before. I also felt certain they resulted in immeasurable heartbreak.

Not this time, I swore, but at the same time I wondered how often I had made the same vow before.

For lack of anything else to do, I began to pace the room, picking up plates and pitchers here and there. I righted furniture and couldn't hide my smirk at the thought of Lilith's temper tantrum. By Tartarus, what I wouldn't have given to have seen this. What a woman!

I felt guilty for her having gone through this emotional turmoil that caused her to take her anger out on the furniture, but on the other hand, I couldn't help but be flattered, because it showed how much she cared, how much I meant to her.

Guilt reared inside me for the things I was doing and couldn't tell her about. As much as I wanted to, this was safer for her. If things blew up in my face, Behlial would be more than furious and order my execution. I couldn't involve her in this, I just couldn't. It would be easier for her to have absolute deniability.

I can't go through this again, Seth. I can't watch you die again.The thought ran through me like a hot iron, and not only because her voice had been so raw with emotion, but because I empathized. How could I expect her to survive my death when I couldn't fathom doing the same if the roles were reversed?

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