Chapter 21

Lillian

No one talked much throughout the morning. It was like the energy had been sucked out of the flat. The twins didn't miss the chance to joke about having them inside me and said once the trials were over, we could focus on finding out just how far their essences had taken hold.

Keir was silent, at least on the outside, but his thoughts were constant. I couldn't keep up with them.

I shouldn't have gone in there today. I fucking knew better.

They were late for breakfast, though. Always fucking late to everything. I'm sick of listening to her when I'm trying to eat.

She has powers now? What's next? We find out she's half-demon?

Now that was crazy. I fought a snicker.

Shit has officially hit the fan here. This is not how I expected things to go when we brought her here.

The council meeting is tomorrow. Is she ready?

A lump formed in my throat at the reminder of tomorrow, when the first trial would be revealed. Was I ready? My heart raced along with my thoughts.

She's ready. She's definitely ready. She killed a fucking demon on her own. She's got this.

Wait. He really thought I was ready? I pressed my lips together to avoid cracking a smile and giving away my position, but I felt myself relax. He believed in me— really believed in me.

Keir was a dickhead sometimes—well, most of the time—but hearing those words from him quieted every fear. If Keir, of all people, thought I could do this, then I could do this.

Damn, my back really hurts. I need to put something on it before our training.

My curiosity was piqued, but I remained focused on my breakfast, hoping my upcoming response wouldn't bring attention to us.

Your back hurts?

I saw him look up at me from the corner of my eye, then back to his own plate.

It does… he drew out.

Did you hurt it?

There was a pause before his response. Why does it matter?

I just thought it was weird.

Weird how?

My back hurts too.

"What?" Keir's loud, out loud reply made me jump.

The twins peered at him as he studied me carefully, like I was a book he was focused on trying to read.

They're staring… I thought to him.

His eyes narrowed, and he put his fork down. "I'll see you for training first this morning."

That was all he said before standing and walking out of the room.

"Damn. What was that about?" Aiden asked me after letting out a whistle.

The twins looked at me expectantly, awaiting my answer, but I didn't have one. I was honestly just as confused as they clearly were. Why did Keir seem so bothered by that?

"I—I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders and shoveled another bite of eggs into my mouth. I wanted to finish breakfast and get to the gym as quickly as possible to figure out what that was about.

"Hmmm," Nicholas responded, his brows raised with suspicion.

Keir was waiting in our regular spot when I entered the gym.

"Care to explain?" I spoke before the door closed behind me.

His eyes left the floor and trailed ever so slowly up until they met mine, pinning me in place with a fury I'd not seen him with since the day their father visited. His eyes were nearly black, his body rigid.

"Explain what?" The level of control was so obvious in his tone that even if I hadn't noticed his eyes, I would've known something was wrong.

I took slow, diligent steps in his direction, noting how the veins in his neck bulged as he tightened his jaw repeatedly and how his arms looked like hardened stone at his sides, muscles strained. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly.

He was a perfectly sculpted statue, beautiful in every way imaginable. I wanted to reach out and touch him, comfort him, but we both knew that was the last thing I should do.

I stopped once I was standing barely out of arm's reach, focusing on controlling my steady breathing.

"Why did you get so upset when I told you my back hurt?" I licked my dry lips, his eyes catching the movement. "I just thought it was a strange coincidence."

"Coincidence. Right." He looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but he didn't. "I just don't like the thought of you hurt before the first trial, Lillian. That's it." He reached behind him and grabbed two wooden daggers that must've been hidden in his shadows. "Ready?"

Part of me wanted to push and demand a better answer that wouldn't leave me feeling confused. Another part of me wanted to train and put all this energy into something since I hadn't been finished off by the twins earlier. My body was wound tighter than a nun's vagina.

The latter part won out. Training it was.

I walked over to the stand holding the wooden practice weapons and chose mine carefully. Keir wore a smug, satisfied expression as I took my stance with the other pair of daggers, determination flowing through me.

"Ready."

He snorted, sounding doubtful. I'd show the asshole what I was made of. I was tired of his shit. Tired of him underestimating me all the time. Tired of him evading me. Tired of him .

I swung my left arm, the fake blade perpendicular between us, slashing toward his chest. My eyes never left his face. Unfortunately for me, that meant I didn't see him step back and bring his arm up to deflect, causing my arm to clash with his.

The impact of our collision threw me off balance immediately, my arms waving to my sides to keep myself from falling backward.

Keir took another step back, watching me flail, a dastardly smirk forming on his lips, evidently enjoying the view of my struggle.

You okay there, princess?

I gathered myself, planting my feet once again. "Shut the fuck up."

My anger only made him snicker.

Asshole .

"Watch your mouth, princess," he snapped. "You're getting too comfortable around here if you think you can run your mouth like that and do whatever you please here in my home."

"It's my home now too, dickhead," I returned.

I shuffled forward and swung my arm again, not letting his cold, dead eyes distract me this time. He swiped opposite of me, avoiding my attack with ease. We continued like this for what seemed like forever: me lashing out at him while he deflected each and every strike.

My arms were aching. Tendrils of hair stuck to my face thanks to the sweat coating it. Even my back hurt, like a dull ache, as if I was upsetting an old injury.

"You're pathetic, Lillian. Just look at you. Struggling to keep up with me? Getting tired of holding toy daggers? You look like you're ready to give up already. Tsk. I thought you had more in you than this; now, I'm not so sure." His eyes bore holes into me, digging into my soul and pulling out every discouraging thought I'd already had about myself.

How could he say that to me? At breakfast, he'd been thinking the exact opposite. Did he change his mind? Did he see something I wasn't? Was he right? Did I even have what it took to do this?

I cast my searching eyes to the floor, trying to rein in the voices telling me everything he said was true.

"Speechless, princess?" he mocked me.

Fury burned through me as shock turned to disbelief, then pure hatred. Red filled my vision as I swung the daggers at him harder and faster than before.

He made a surprised noise as he tried to deflect my angry assault. "What the fuck , Lillian?" He backed up to avoid my swings.

Our heavy breathing rivaled the thuds of the daggers colliding. I continued to advance on him as he took step after step backward.

I was winning.

Keir chucked. "Finally getting the hang of it. Took you long enough, princess ."

"Gah!" I'd finally had enough of his shit. I threw the daggers to the floor and launched myself at him, spearing him to the ground.

I heard his weapons clatter to the floor, his hands grabbing my hips and meeting the skin that peeked up under my shirt.

An oomph left his lips as we fell to the floor, his back taking the brunt of the hit. I sat up quickly, straddling his body, and struck his chest again and again, losing myself to the violence he'd unleashed in me.

"I hate you!"

"I know," he spoke softly, as if I wasn't sitting here punching his chest. He didn't even try to stop me. He just took hit after hit, like he knew he deserved it.

"I didn't even want this!"

Everything I'd kept bottled up was coming to the surface. He'd pushed me too far this time.

"I know."

I could feel my arms tiring out, but I wasn't done.

"This is your fault! You ruined my life!" I could feel my heart cracking as I shouted at him.

"I did."

I screamed, tears streaming down my face. My arms were still swinging, but the power behind them flickered.

"If you would've trained me when you promised, I would've been ready! Everything would have been different! I would have a better chan—"

His hands grabbed my wrists, stilling me, silencing me. I swallowed, giving in to him, and as I looked at his face, I found something that resembled regret. I nearly laughed. He wasn't capable of such a feeling.

We sat like that for several beats, staring at each other, my skin burning where he touched me. No thoughts. No words. No movement.

His eyebrows gathered in, and he scowled. "You're right," he whispered, sighing with his words.

My mouth fell open as stray tears continued to fall. I tried to speak, but words wouldn't come. I shook my head at him and tried to pull away, but his grip tightened around my wrist, refusing to release me.

"Don't," he said.

That was it? Don't?

"You can't tell me what to do, Keir. Fuck you. You fucked everything up, and I'm supposed to just take it?" I bit my lip as I started to cry again. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his stupid face.

"I'm sorry." He let my wrists go.

I almost got up, but then I felt his hands glide across the outsides of my exposed thighs. I shivered, the touch so light, it tickled. It was intimate—too intimate for us.

"Open your eyes," Keir commanded in a hushed tone. "Please."