Page 57 of Claimed By her Alien Prince

"Every styx, or journey as you may call it, costs the lives of six of my great, great…" he made a waving motion with his hand, "grandsons. After a while, you get somewhat detached from the whole process and start to enjoy it," he cackled.

My eyes moved to Queen Ishtar, who stood unwaveringly by his side. The historian in me wanted to know how long this had been happening, but I remembered the Bible and other sources mentioning Nephilim and wondered if they were the same as the Nayphyllym.

What I didn't understand was when and how Ishtar came into the picture. If I had to guess her origins, I would have said she belonged to the old Egyptian line of pharaohs, but assuming Nayphyllym and Nephilim were the same, the Nayphyllym legend was much older than Egyptian history.

"What happens to the seventh's son?" Marduk asked, turning my attention from my musings.

"Only he'll find out," Behlial snorted, and slapped his knee as if this was the most hilarious part.

Even though we weren't touching, I felt Seth stiffen. Saw the way his jaw worked and noticed the vein on the side of his neck ticking. Again I felt the need to touch him, wanted—no needed—to soothe him, but an inner voice told me this would be the wrong move right now.

The tension inside the great hall was palpable. And not just between Seth and Behlial. The other three brothers, Azazel, Marduk, and Grigori, appeared coiled as well, coiled as if to strike. I held my breath. Something was about to happen. Sweat broke out all over my body, and I didn't even dare to ask myself if they were going to attack Behlial.

"Are you ready to take me on, pup? Go ahead, you wouldn't be the first," Behlial snarled at Seth, picking up on the growing tension as well.

It took all my willpower not to look at Seth and his brothers. My intuition told me there was a lot more at play here. Mygiftwas setting off my internal alarm bells. Something that even all-knowing Behlial wasn't anticipating.

Fast as a lightning bolt, Seth shot forward, toward Behlial's throne. Behlial was still standing, watching Seth's approach with glee in his eyes. "Aren't you forgetting something,son?"

"I don't think so," Seth said, putting his hands on the hilt of one of the swords, which Behlial just secured back into his throne.

Behlial's laughter sent the hairs on the back of my neck up. I remembered his earlier words, that only he could pull the swords out. What was Seth doing?

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed movement. The other three brothers moved closer toward three of the guards, punching the unsuspecting men to the ground before relieving them of their blades.

Other guards stepped forward, a growling sound emanated from the leashed gargoyles, but the guards weren't moving against the princes. With their hands on the hilts of their swords, they gave Behlial questioning glances, unsure if they should strike out against the princes or not.

Behlial's attention was still riveted on Seth, who slowly pulled out the sword from the throne, reminding me of the legend of King Arthur. Behlial's eyes widened as he realized that Seth possessed a power he hadn't known about. He recovered quickly though and pulled out the remaining sword. His eyes narrowed at his other three sons, who now held blades in their hands as well.

"You realize that there can only be one son left standing?" Behlial snarled.

"We'll see, old man," Grigori yelled at him, turning his sword toward a guard and slicing his throat in one swift motion.

"Decide now which side you are on!" Grigori screamed at the guards.

While Behlial barked, "What are you waiting for, seize them!"

Instantly pandemonium broke out throughout the throne room. The nobles retreated toward the furthest wall of their little corner, putting the chairs in between them and the fight.

The other girls and I looked at each other questioningly, unsure of what to do.

The brothers didn't hesitate, and neither did the guards. Swords flying, they went for each other.

Seth yelled at me, "Lilith, hide!" before he and Behlial's battle began. Their blades crashed against each other with so much hate-fueled force that sparks flew into the air.

Queen Ishtar was the only one not moving. Her hand still on the back of the throne, she stood like a statue, her eyes wide, the only thing betraying her astonishment.

The other girls fled to where a blood-soaked Judith and Azubah cowered in the middle of the floor. Andrea pulled on Azubah, who reached for the others, and together, they pulled a still sobbing Judith to perceived safety behind one of the large archways.

There were at least twenty guards and just as many gargoyles in the hall. I wasn't sure what side all the guards would pick, or if there was even a choice for them, but either way, the three brothers were greatly outnumbered.

Fear for Seth threatened to close my throat. My entire body screamed at me to run for cover and hide, and I began to move toward the other girls, who waved me on encouragingly.

A subdued grunt made me turn, and I saw Seth getting cut in the same place where Abaddon injured him earlier. Rage against Behlial grew inside me, the same rage that made me nearly destroy Seth's room, and it intensified when I noticed a guard making his way up the steps to the throne, attempting to sneak up on Seth from behind.

Channeling all my hate for Behlial, I ran toward the guard before I changed my mind. The guard saw me coming, but didn't pay me any attention, after all, I was just a maiden, right?

Wrong.

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