Chapter 49

Keir

She was nothing more than a silhouette once she got to the middle of the lake, and I felt our bond start to strain when she dove. It was like the water, the evil the lake held, was able to dampen our connection.

I managed to keep myself from calling out to her, not wanting to distract her. I also couldn't hear her, no matter how hard I listened.

I felt helpless. I hated feeling helpless.

It had been seventeen minutes since she'd dived in; I was counting carefully, more than ready to tear through anyone I had to if anything went wrong. The twins watched with me, their bodies tense with similar anxiety, waiting for our girl to surface.

The nests were deep, but she should have just enough time to get down there and back with that pill. Ida was our own damn angel from Hell, the good kind. She'd really come through for us. I'd forever be in her debt for everything she'd already done for us, for Lillian.

My chest grew tighter by the second as Lillian's time to breathe underwater ticked away. Not only that, but there were dangerous creatures under there, not just the hippocampi she was stealing from.

The only thing that comforted me was our bond, which was still firmly in place. As long as I felt her, no matter how far away she was, I knew she was okay.

Our father had been sitting on the stupid chair he'd brought, looking out over the multitude of people he'd brought along with him as he gloated about the most recent soul numbers—the highest daily rate for hundreds of thousands of years. He was proud; I was disgusted. Leave it to him to worry about the damned souls coming to Hell waiting for punishment and not his people who needed him.

"She's been down there too long," Nicholas muttered. He was flexing his fist and shifting his legs back and forth, making me even more anxious.

"So what's the plan?" Aiden said even quieter. "Because someone has to get out there to save her, but they'll ambush us the moment they get a whiff of our intentions."

My mind was racing, thinking of all our options. Who would swim out to Lillian? Who would take care of the guards? Could we get past them and save her in time?

Suddenly, I felt her again, close, and soon after, someone in the crowd yelled, everyone pointing and shouting.

"There she is!"

"I see her!"

"By Satan, she did it!"

"I can't believe she's alive."

The murmuring continued as we watched her boat get closer and closer to the shore.

"She's hurt," I said to my brothers, feeling an ache in my chest like I'd been hit with a sledgehammer, growing stronger as she got closer. "I can feel it."

Nicholas began walking toward the shore, and one of the guards watching us stepped in front of him. "Let us through." He shoved the guard's shoulder, forcing him to the side.

Three more guards took his place, and a few more ran over, trying to form a barrier to keep us from our girl. I needed to get to her, now. She needed me. Her boat was so close to the shore, her arms moving the oars so slowly. She was exhausted, and I tried to push my own energy and drive through our bond, hoping to help her however I could.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" I heard my own voice boom so loud, everyone turned to watch us instead of Lillian. I felt my shadows creep out, ready to play, and sent them after a random guard to my left, wrapping around his throat so tightly, he immediately started scratching at his neck. His feet kicked into the air helplessly as he was lifted off the ground. "Get out of our fucking way, or you'll be next. I won't say it again." The guard's face was turning purple, but I didn't stop squeezing the life from him, not until he went completely still.

One of many I'd killed in the name of my destined love, and he wouldn't be the last.

The guards looked to the stage, where our father observed the entire thing with a snarl. He was displeased she was back, displeased to see our loyalty to her run so deep. "Let them pass." The guards moved out of our way. "If I find out any of you helped her cheat, I'll kill you alongside her."

I ignored his comment as we stalked to the lake. Lillian had made it to the shore and was walking away from the boat, the large egg cradled in her arms. She looked up and smiled the most exhausted, pitiful, happy smile I'd ever seen.

The pace of her hobbling picked up, and I got ahead of my brothers and ran to her, catching her just before she collapsed. I lowered us to the ground so I could hold her better. She was still cradling the colorful egg in her arms.

"I did it," she said between her heavy breaths. "I really did it."

"You did, princess." I moved stray hairs from her face, kissing her forehead. "I'm so proud of you."

"Something happened down there. There w—"

"Shhh," I said as I brushed hair from her face. "Don't tell me here. We can talk about your underwater adventure later, okay? For now, let's just focus on getting out of here." She nodded, and I wrapped my arms around her to hug her, happy to feel her against me once again.

"The egg." She flexed her shoulders, pushing my arms away and gesturing to what she was holding. "It's fragile. We need to get it back to the water soon."

I nodded. "Let's show my father, and then we'll get it back to the water." My heart warmed at her concern. She was so worried for that egg, more so than herself. Her kindness would never cease to amaze me.

Nicholas and Aiden showed up on either side of me.

"Little one…" Aiden greeted her with a smile. "You did it."

"Of course she did it," Nicholas said to him. "What do you need from us, baby?"

She looked down at the egg, and I swear, I saw movement. "Can you carry it for me?"

Nicholas nodded and took the egg from her, cradling it with the same gentleness she had.

I started to pick her up, arms under her shoulders and knees, but she put a hand on my chest, stopping me.

"I want to walk to him." She was dead serious, her gaze now set on her destination: the stage.

"Take her other side," I instructed Aiden as I helped Lillian to her feet.

He stood at her other side, helping her to her feet. We tried to hook our arms behind her, to give her something to lean on, but she swatted us away, insisting on doing it herself.

I was so proud of the woman she'd become, not that she was any more captivating than the day we'd met her. It was amazing to see her so strong, so capable of handling herself. She'd been handed one of the worst lives I could have imagined for a human, and to top it off, Satan himself had set his sights on her. Her body had been pushed to the brink multiple times now, yet she stood her ground and was marching her way to face the King of Hell himself.

"What does he want with the egg?" she asked under her breath as we walked through the parted crowd, Nicholas leading the way.

I shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. It wasn't even his trial; one of the lords came up with it. I doubt he even wants the egg. He just knew the trial was basically impossible. He was banking on it."

"You sure showed him, little one," Aided added. "He's fucking pissed."

He sure was. When we reached the stage, he looked like he was about to spew fire from his mouth. He kept his composure for the crowd, but I knew him well enough to know he was angrier than I'd ever seen him.

He sat on his stupid chair, hand tucked under his chin as he glowered at us. I saw Lillian stand taller out of the corner of my eye and did the same. He was as good as fucked. She only had one more trial to go, and then, there would be nothing he could do to her.

Nicholas handed the egg to a guard, who took it to our father.

"How did you do it?" he snapped, eyes on Lillian.

She took a second to answer, making him wait. His face twitched.

"I swam down, saw the egg, grabbed it, and swam back up," she replied like she was describing any old Tuesday morning.

"Who helped you?" he bit back rather quickly. His heavy, angry breathing was audible.

I tried not to react, knowing something must've happened down there, given what she'd started to tell me on the shore. Her expression didn't falter, not even a little. The woman had turned into a fucking pro.

"I rowed out there myself, Your Majesty . Who could have possibly helped me?"

My father's face began to twist, turning purple as he looked out over the crowd, like he was trying to remind himself to not lose his shit right here. He looked like he was ready to kill her right where she stood.

Pull it back a little, princess. He won't hesitate if you push him too far.

Don't tell me to ‘pull back', or I'll give you the same treatment.

She was amped up, and while I didn't want to get in her way or hinder her, I also didn't want her getting herself into a situation we'd have to fight out of.

I'm not your enemy. I'm just trying to look out for you. He won't blink twice before killing you. I don't want you to get hurt.

She was silent.

Hello?

"There was no one down there," she said more plainly this time. "I did it on my own."

Thank you.

Whatever, she grumbled back.

I didn't like having to ‘rein her in', but her safety mattered more to me than getting further under my father's skin.

"You're lying about something, and I know it. You won't have the chance to cheat on the third trial. I will make sure of it." He took the egg from the guard and held it up for everyone to see. "Let this be a message to whoever aids this human in the third trial. You will suffer the same fate."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lillian whispered to me.

I went to respond, but my father raised his hand, a knife in it, and brought it down on the egg, piercing its thin, protective layer. Clear liquid gushed out, which soon turned red with blood.

"No!" Lillian shrieked, lunging at the stage with her arms out.

I grabbed her and pulled her to me so she didn't have to see him smile at her as he stabbed the egg again and again. Lillian clung to me, sobbing and screaming. The twins stood on either side of us, putting their arms around Lillian as well, forming a protective group hug.

"It's okay, baby," Nicholas murmured. "We've got you."

"He killed it," she cried. "He killed it because of me."

"He killed it because he's an evil bastard, not because of you." Aiden leaned in and kissed her head. "You are not to blame."

She clung to me harder.

This isn't your fault. Don't let him get in your head. That's all this is. Don't let him win.

Her body relaxed a fraction. I wanted to take it back to its nest, to its family.

I know, princess. I know. I continued to hold her to me, eyeing my father with fury. He will pay for everything he has ever done.

She stopped crying, and her body stilled.

Take me home. Now. Please just take me home.

"Let's get you home," I said aloud so the twins could help me get her to the car.

"Not so fast," my father called out to us. "There's one more matter to deal with."

He threw the remnants of the egg and the creature it had once contained onto the ground just as Lillian turned around. She flinched, and I instinctively put my arm around her waist, pulling her back to me. The twins stood at either side of her. It was crazy how natural protecting her came to us.

My father's hands were still covered in the blood of the creature he killed when he grabbed a familiar object from a guard.

The bag of potential trials.

"What is this?" I demanded of him.

He shrugged. "Why wait until the council meeting to find out how she's going to die?" He dug his hand into the bag, pulling out a piece of paper, staining it with red fingerprints as he unfolded it. He could've set the record for the most evil-looking grin while he read the trial. It was unsettling, and I knew something was wrong before he opened his mouth. "Never mind." He put the paper in his back pocket. "Seems you have to wait a week to find out the trial."

Lillian slumped in my arms in defeat. The twins murmured to one another.

"No," I said, disbelief filling me. "You can't do this."

I handed Lillian off to the twins, storming to the end of the stage to face my father.

"I can, and I did," he answered with his hands up and open, like we were shit out of luck.

"That's not fair. You have to give her time to prepare. You have—"

"I don't have to do anything. This is my game, son. There are no rules except what I deem necessary." He pointed at Lillian, who was looking paler by the second as the twins held her upright. "She will die by the end of this, simple as that." He looked over the crowd, waving like an arrogant businessman. "Thank you for coming today. I look forward to seeing you all in a week for the third trial. It's going to be fun ." He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

I opened my mouth to say more, but Aiden's worried voice tore me away. "Keir! We've got to get out of here."

I turned to see our girl in Nicholas's arms, looking like she was on the verge of passing out. We needed to get her home.

"Let's go," I barked, leading my brothers to the car.

Ida met us at the car, but when she saw Lillian's condition, she said she would find us later and to let her know if we needed her for anything.

I took Lillian as we got in, holding her in my lap. "I've got you, princess." I brushed the hair from her face, and she opened her eyes. "There's my girl."

"Here." Nicholas handed me a bottle of water.

"Let's sit you up a little." I helped her sit up, laying her against my chest. "Drink some water."

She took the bottle and chugged half of it. "I need to tell you guys what happened," she said half-heartedly, probably feeling strained from both the physical and mental toll the last couple of hours had taken.

"And you will, but you need to rest first. You can tell us when we get home, okay?" She nodded, her eyes already closing with drowsiness. "Sleep, princess."

And she did. The whole way home.