Page 56 of Claimed By her Alien Prince

Just when I feared he didn't have any room left to retreat any further, he danced around a pillar, attacked his brother from the other side and forced Abaddon back, blow by blow, strike by strike.

Now Seth was leading Abaddon backward up the steps to the throne, before he jumped down to the side, taking over the offense against his brother again.

I winced as Abaddon's sword sliced into Seth's side, knowing full well the pain these weapons inflicted. It seemed impossible to me that Seth could fight on without slowing.

Then, to my utter terror, he swung the sword around over his head, practically inviting Abaddon to run him through. With a grunt, Abaddon moved forward, sword out, ready to do just that.

My breath hitched, but Seth sidestepped his brother, turned, and ran Abaddon clean through with his blade. Abaddon howled in pain. Seth turned again, and in one swift motion, took Abaddon's head off.

Deadly silence fell over the great hall, the only sound that broke it was a muted thud as Abaddon's head fell to the ground.

"No!" Judith screamed, ripping herself from Azazel's embrace, and rushed toward her headless mate.

With a derisive sneer on his face, Seth threw his sword to the side. "Are you pleased, my king?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Either outcome would have suited me just fine," Behlial stated flatly.

He nodded toward a guard, who collected the two swords and cautiously approached the throne. Behlial took the swords from him and inserted them back into the two rocky sheaths sculpted into his throne. With a click, they moved into place.

Then he turned to me, guessing my earlier question. "Only I can remove these swords. Go ahead, try."

I shook my head and pointed toward the dagger by his hip instead. "May I?"

He chuckled in a way that only made him seem more repulsive. "Go take care of your man," he said, before handing the dagger to me.

I nodded my thanks and forced myself to walk slowly. I didn't want to seem overeager to reach Seth, who stood in the middle of the hall, awaiting further commands from his father. I was aware of everybody's eyes on me and Seth, while trying my hardest to ignore the stares as much as possible.

Just before I reached Seth, I took the dagger and cut the sharp edge across the inside of my wrist, worried Seth might try to stop me if I had been too close.

Instantly, the warm blood flowed over my skin, even before the pain set in. A hiss from where the nobles sat by the left side of the throne made me turn my head, and a shiver went down my spine at the sight of them staring at my blood, sniffing the air. Even the guards seemed mesmerized, and I worried they were about to attack me. But whatever control they had or fear of repercussions from Behlial made them remain in their seats or stay rooted in their spots.

I tried my best to ignore them and focused on Seth, whose eyes were reproachful, but we both knew he needed my blood to heal the wound on his side.

I pressed my hand against it while he stood stoically. Not a muscle twitched as he stared up at his father like a stone statue. My heart went out to him, because I felt the tension in his body. He might have been fooling everybody around us, but I knew he was hurting badly from the cut.

Our blood mingling healed his side and the cut on my hand simultaneously. In awe, I stared at his closing wound and felt my hand repairing itself. Not as fast as Seth's, but from the cuts on my arm earlier, I learned it would only take twenty-four hours for the wound to be completely gone.

Behlial stood and interrupted the quiet of the large hall; the only other sounds were small sobs coming from Judith every so often, and I noticed that Azubah had rushed to her side while I was helping Seth and was trying to soothe her.

"And then there were four," Behlial stated, looking at the four sons left.

"How can you just stand there and watch your sons die?" Judith cried. Lifting her head, she stared at the King of Darkness. Her face, clothes, and hair were drenched in Abaddon's blood.

A quiver moved through me as the thought that this could be me flooded my mind, making me momentarily dizzy and bringing tears to my eyes. I wanted to reach for Seth's hand, but his entire being was so focused on his father, it stopped me.

"My sons?" Behlial's sardonic laughter once again rushed through the hall, echoing off its walls. By the amount of laughing he did, one would think this was the funniest place in the universe.

"Have you still not figured this out?" he asked with wide open eyes, staring at Judith.

"We are not his sons," Seth stated flatly.

I knew that, but apparently, not all the others did.

"If anything, they are my great, great, great, great…. You get the idea… grandsons," Behlial continued his chuckling.

Despite knowing most of it, I swallowed hard, unable to move or do anything but watch and listen to the spectacle that was taking place right in front of me.

Behlial sighed dramatically. "Since before time remembered, I have been making this journey. From Elysian to Adama from Adama to Tartarus and from Tartarus to Elysian. Again and again, ever since the cursed Nayphyllym decided to hide themselves on Adama after wreaking havoc on my planet.

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