Chapter 23

Aiden

We were met with a deafening silence as we entered the conference room.

All eyes were on us—on Lillian. She went noticeably stiff between me and my twin, a reaction that instantly put me on alert. I wanted to rip out the throats of all the old idiots daring to make her uncomfortable with their stares.

I hated being here. There was a reason Nicholas and I avoided this place, with its constricting walls, tall windows, and unbelievably shiny floors. It was a stifling place, just as the palace had always been. The stupendously long table housed three well-spaced chairs on each side. At the head of the table sat our father's chair, which dwarfed the other seats in the room. A statement.

All the lords were in attendance, not that any of them would dare miss a meeting of our father's—he'd killed people for less—but our father's chair sat empty.

We followed Keir to the other end of the table, where a single, small plastic chair sat.

My brothers and I shot each other knowing looks. Our father did this on purpose. Intimidation was his greatest tool, especially in front of the council. It was clear he wanted to make Lillian feel insignificant and alone.

That wouldn't happen with us around.

Keir snapped his fingers at one of the guards that stood along the wall. "Get us four cushioned chairs."

The guard hesitated for a split second, almost as though he was considering telling Keir no. Luckily for him, he chose to listen, bowing his head and leaving the room to follow his orders. Our father was terrifying, but Keir had his own reputation here too. He'd shed his fair share of blood, and everyone knew that.

Nicholas looked at our girl and leaned into her ear. "We've got your back, baby. Do you need anything else? Something to eat? Drink?"

She shook her head.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to my side, planting a kiss on the top of her head before resting my chin on the top of her head as I scoured the room with an intense glare, baring my teeth at any of the cowards who dared meet my stare.

"I swear you're safe, little one. You have my word. You are untouchable here." I felt her relax against my body.

The guard returned with our chairs, and my brothers set them up in a line at the end of the table. Keir practically kicked the tiny chair meant for our girl clear across the room before taking his seat at the end. Nicholas and I sat on either side of Lilly.

Right on cue, the doors swung open, and the lords stood. We remained seated, a united front.

Our father followed three of his bodyguards into the room. His nose wrinkled slightly as he saw us in our four comfortable chairs, right where he'd expected to see her sitting all alone.

"Interesting…" was all he said before taking his seat at the head of the table, the lords following soon after. "Welcome, gentlemen," he greeted his council with a gesture of his hand. "And a warm welcome to our guests," he added with a patronizing smirk.

When he didn't get a reaction out of us, though I could feel the mix of hatred, bitterness, and fear emanating from the three sitting next to me, he raised an eyebrow.

Was he expecting us to make a spectacle? Throw chairs, yell, and demand justice for Lillian? Probably. In fact, he was most likely hoping for it. That would be all he'd need to make things worse than they already were. We weren't idiots.

"As you know, my spawns …" he deliberately avoided the word ‘sons' and shot us a look as he feigned a disappointed expression, "found an open portal, and instead of coming to me with the joyous news," he paused for emphasis, "they not only hid it but went through it and brought back the human responsible for opening it. Now, do not worry. Their heinous crimes have been handled within the family—between father and son ."

I could see Lilly glance at us, questions burning behind her eyes, trying to figure out what our father may have meant by that. Keir took the blame—she knew that much—but she didn't know that he single-handedly shouldered the punishment.

When Keir returned from the office after dealing with our father, he demanded we keep our mouths shut. He claimed her knowing would just be a distraction, and as tired as I was of keeping things from her, he was right. It's not like she could have done anything about it anyway. She needed to focus.

"However, since this human's presence jeopardizes the safety of my people, I wanted to handle this in the public's eye. I want them to see that their king will protect them and has their best interests in mind." He continued with a long, dramatic speech about how dangerous a human in Hell was, how he wanted to provide an image of strength for the crown, and, ultimately, his plan.

I wasn't listening, though. I was more focused on the woman sitting next to me rather than his ranting, wondering what was going through her mind because her face was unreadable.

"I have put a lot of thought into these trials." We all leaned forward, waiting to hear what he had come up with. "I have decided that you ," he gestured to the council with both hands, "will help assign the trials." He snapped at one of the guards, who presented him with a stack of notes and pens. "You will each come up with two potential trials for this," he looked at Lilly with a curled lip, " human , and I will draw one for each trial." He handed the stack of paper to the lord to his left, Lord Fredrick of the realm of death, instructing him to take what he needed and pass it along, doing the same with the pens.

He stared each of us down, one at a time. While we—his sons—were used to his antics, Lilly was not. She squirmed, but something in her eyes changed after a few seconds as she returned his glare with one of her own. My gaze shifted to Keir at the other end of the chairs, who was looking at her with a sense of pride.

He must've used their telepathic connection to help her. He didn't like talking about their connection, and part of me was jealous he got to be in her head, but it sure as hell came in handy in times like these.

Our father stole my attention as he walked to us, holding a rolled piece of paper and looking right at our girl.

"I am a man of my word, and I love keeping records of that." He paused, puffing his chest out with pride. "I require your signature for the terms of our agreement."

"The terms you forced her to accept?" Keir bit at him, earning himself a snarl.

"I could just kill her right here."

She gasped quietly, much to our father's delight, and Nicholas and I grabbed her hands at the same time—twin thing—giving her a reassuring squeeze.

He put the paper on the end of the table in front of us, and we stood with Lilly as she walked forward to sign the paper. She scanned the document before adding her signature at the bottom of the page. Her writing glowed with a gold shimmer once it was done.

"True to my word, if you finish the third trial, you will become a demon right there," he stated. "But if you fail, I will kill you where you stand."

Once our father's attention shifted from her to his lords, she let out a quiet breath and sat down again. "Fuck, this is terrifying," she whispered.

"I know, little one," I offered her at the same time as my twin said, "It was."

Our girl offered us an unconvincing smile.

"Wonderful!" Our father's loud voice filled the room. "We have all the notes." He shot us a menacing smirk. "Now for the fun part."

His eyes gleamed sadistically as he put all the folded notes into a bag and gave it a good shake. The room went dead silent, and the hairs on my arms rose with goosebumps as we all waited to see what came next. His hand disappeared into the bag, and he withdrew a note. He read it to himself first.

"Interesting," he snickered. He held out the note in front of him and took a big breath before saying, "The first trial is…" I shifted in my seat, my knees bouncing. "To go to Hell's Cave of Treasures and retrieve 666 ounces of gold and jewels… without a scale."

My brothers and I shot out of our seats, ready to protest, but Keir's voice was faster and louder.

He bore holes into everyone in the room as he screamed, " That's fucking impossible! You fucking know what's in there. It'll kill her before she even has a chance."

Our father's eyes fucking sparkled as he shrugged with his stupid smug grin on his face. "Actions have consequences, son." His attention floated to the speechless woman still seated behind us. "I look forward to seeing this play out, girl. I would suggest doing a little research on Hell Dragons. It's not that it would help, but at least you'd get a look at the thing that's going to end your puny little life." Before we could utter another word, he extended his hand toward the door. "It's time for you four to leave. You're no longer needed here."

Keir turned to look at each of us, contemplating his next move, looking like he might do something reckless. I shook my head at him. If he did or said anything too far right now, our father would surely make things even harder on Lilly—or worse, just outright kill her.

He snarled but nodded his head. "Let's get out of here." He helped Lilly from her seat and half carried her from the room, Nicholas and I in tow.

Lilly was silent on the car ride home as Keir vented about what a dick our father was, how the trial was literally impossible, and how we needed to adjust training.

"There's no way you'll be taking on a dragon," he addressed her, though she remained quiet with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't even look up at him. "That means we need to focus on stealth and endurance in case you do need to run, and we will work on measuring the weight. It's near impossible, but we have no other choice…" he trailed off, staring out the window, the words having left his body, seemingly with all his hope.