Chapter 53

Lillian

I felt my cheeks burn like they'd been set on fire. I was thankful my clothes were on by the time she walked in, and I turned an even brighter shade of red when Mavis walked in behind her, a cheeky smile forming on her face.

"No…" Ida looked at us like she was horrified. "You didn't…"

I looked away from her. It was clear she knew what we'd just done, probably from the level of disheveled we appeared and the fact that I couldn't stop blushing like I'd just been caught doing something naughty.

" You're embarrassed?" Ida looked like she'd just witnessed a murder. "I've cooked… I've eaten on these counters!" She swatted Keir in the back of his head, which was a reach for her. It was quite comical to witness.

"Hey," he huffed at her.

"Don't ‘hey' me," Ida snapped, though there was a somewhat playful tone to her voice. "Get the cleaner. I want these counters scrubbed. You two can clean your mess."

Keir readily obeyed her and even handed me a rag of my own. We started cleaning the area where we'd been having our ‘fun', and Ida started on another.

"Ida, we didn't—"

She waved her hand at me. "I don't need to know where all you've participated in such activities. In fact, I'd prefer to never know, thank you very much. I doubt this is the first time you've used my kitchen as your bedroom."

The twins looked at me with smirks on their faces.

"It's technically our kitchen," Keir poked at her as Mavis sat down at the table with the twins, still smiling at me, as if she couldn't wait to hear all the details about what had just transpired.

Ida shot him a look that said, ‘don't start with me,' and he raised his hands in surrender.

Once the counters were clean and Keir and I found our place at the table between Mavis and Nicholas, the timer went off for Keir's cake. Ida smiled and put her hand over her heart when she opened the oven, which made Keir sit up a little taller.

When she brought it to the table with some yogurt and fruit, she eyed Keir with a pointed finger. "This doesn't excuse you from dirtying up my counters." Then she looked at me the same way, and I was startled. "And I did not expect this out of you." She paused, looking around at all of us, slowly losing her will to keep a straight face. She shook her head and chuckled. "What am I to do with you lot? In fact, just the other day, I walked in the front door and caught Mavis tangled up on the couch with so—"

" Mom! " Mavis shrieked next to me.

I shot my friend a look of my own with my eyebrows raised and my mouth open. "I expect to hear about this later." She nodded, but her expression told me it was not a breakfast topic, so I dropped it with a laugh.

"Let's just eat before we have to hear any more… confessions." Keir passed plates out, and we all took what we wanted of the food.

Mavis told me about her mom discovering Spade when he decided to tear her bedroom door open and head straight for Ida's bedroom. Apparently, Ida was furious, but she got over it rather quickly.

"He wagged his way into my heart, what can I say?" Ida responded to the situation. "It's not like I was going to let the poor thing go back to living life on a chain. I'm not a monster." She waved her hands like keeping the neighbor's dog as their own was no big deal.

When everyone finished breakfast, Keir and Ida got ready to leave the flat, but not before he gave me a knee-weakening kiss in front of everyone . Mavis was wagging her eyebrows at me when I came up for air.

"We're going to follow up on some leads about tomorrow's trial, see if we can get an idea of what you might be up against," he said after the kiss, giving me one more on my forehead for good measure. "Be a good girl for me, okay? The twins will be around while you and Mavis catch up. Don't leave their side, princess. We are so close to the finish line."

After telling him I'd be safe and stay with the twins a million times, he finally left with Ida, leaving Mavis and me with the twins.

"So what are we gonna do?" Aiden asked as he gave one loud clap and rubbed his hands together.

Mavis and I both shot him looks. His eyes widened.

"Girl time. We understand, baby. We will be right here if you need us." Nicholas patted his brother's shoulder, and they started walking to the couches.

"What if we go for a walk?" Mavis suggested.

The twins turned on their heels immediately, both shaking their heads.

"Yeah, no." Aiden wore a serious expression.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Nicholas said immediately after.

Mavis gave them an incredulous look. "Just around the building. She'll be fine!"

I tried my best to give them a compelling pout, the idea of stretching my legs and breathing in fresh air while hanging out with Mavis sounding like heaven.

The twins exchanged glances, a silent conversation happening between them, before looking back at us with identical sighs.

"You can go on a walk," Aiden stated.

"But we go with you," Nicholas followed up.

Mavis rolled her eyes. "Fine, but you stay ten feet back."

I snorted, finding the show hilarious as the twins looked like they were trying to figure out what to do with my negotiator.

"Ten feet," I reiterated, crossing my arms and giving them the best ‘I'm not backing down' look I could muster.

They tried to keep straight faces, probably hoping we'd crack first, but Nicholas started to smile, which quickly turned into a chuckle.

Aiden backhanded his brother's arm, and Nicholas shrugged. "I can't say no to that." He gestured at me, still giving him my serious face. "She's too adorable to refuse." He left his brother to stand with us.

"You're outnumbered," Mavis pointed out to Aiden.

"Let's go," I chimed in, turning to the elevator.

" Ten feet. That's it," Aiden reminded everyone as he joined us, pushing the button to take us to the bottom floor. "If anyone so much as looks at you wrong, I'm treating them to a painful death."

"I'll help with that," Nicholas said with too much excitement.

"Satan's sake, no wonder you never get out," Mavis whispered to me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. "This is going to be fun."

I nodded. I'd only ever gone a few select places with one of the princes or to the council meetings and trials, minus the ‘sneak out' with Ida, but even then, I was in the car until we hit the suburbs. Anxiety crept its way up my spine.

Before we even reached the door to go outside, I could already see just how busy it was here in the city. It was like everyone walked, the sidewalk filled with hustle and bustle.

"So, what's this I hear about your mom walking in on you and someone?" I immediately asked Mavis as our feet hit the pavement.

She turned and made sure the twins were staying the agreed ten feet away before turning back to me with such excitement, I swear she started bouncing down the sidewalk.

"It's nothing serious, seriously, but it has gotten…" She looked ahead, searching for the right word. "Passionate?"

"How so?" I shouldered her with a laugh. "You've got to tell me everything. I didn't even know there was a guy! I can't believe you kept that from me."

"There wasn't a guy." She shrugged her shoulders. "Not until a few days ago, anyway."

"A few days ago?" My jaw dropped. "And Ida already caught you?" I looked up, noticing the people ahead of us moving off the sidewalk rather quickly. "I'd say that's passionate."

"Hey now, watch it Miss ‘I fuck all three princes of Hell at once'," she teased back.

"I do not!" I swatted her, turning red and hoping the twins did not hear where this conversation was going. "Not all at once, anyway," I added quickly with a twinge of disappointment.

I'd never push Keir to do something he was uncomfortable with, though. It was clear he was okay sharing me with the twins, just not at the same time. I hoped he didn't see them as competition. Falling in love with all three brothers had never been the plan, but there was no going back, and that wasn't even an option, anyway.

I couldn't deny that I'd thought many, many times about what it would be like to have all three princes' attention on me. The twins together were magical, and Keir knew my body better than I did. I could only imagine how fucking high they'd take me as a team. Keir playing with me in front of them twice now made me think he was opening up to the idea, but I refused to force anything.

If it was meant to happen, it would happen organically, and it would be orgasmic.

We'd barely made it past the corner of the building, but it was very noticeable how fast the people on the sidewalk were scrambling out of our way. I also took note of the hardcore stares we were getting.

We kept walking forward, the twins not far behind us but enough to not make a scene. I was actually kind of hoping they would come closer now, an uncomfortable feeling creeping across my skin.

"Why is everyone looking at us?"

Mavis laughed. "They aren't looking at us, Lil. They're looking at you ." I shot her a confused glance. "The human who has been completing Satan's trials and pissing him off to no end? You really think no one has heard of you?"

"I guess I never really thought about it…" I trailed off, realizing that literally everyone around us was staring at me, like time had stopped.

They weren't just frozen and staring, though. Some looked hopeful, like they saw something extraordinary in me. Others looked skeptical, probably thinking a human had no business here anyway. A couple looked angry, like they were hoping I would succumb to the third trial like Satan planned.

What struck me the hardest were the ones with fear-filled eyes, watching me carefully, as though I was the enemy. A few children even turned to their parents, wanting to hide against them or be picked up.

Whispers were filling the air around us, and even though each individual was hard to hear, the way the sounds teamed up together was deafening. My chest felt like someone had shoved their hand through and grabbed onto my heart with a painful grip. My ears began to ring.

"Lil?"

"Lil? Are you okay?"

"Aiden! Nicholas!"

I could hear Mavis, but she sounded like she was too far away to help me. Did she leave me? Blackness started to cloud my peripheral.

"Let's go back, baby." Nicholas's arms closed around me, shielding me from the public.

Fuck me. He was winning. Satan had gotten in my head, and I was losing. I was weak. I was pathetic.

Aiden's hand landed on my back. "Breathe, little one. You're safe."

"Lil. Tell me what you need."

All three voices seemed a bit closer.

I tried to focus on my breathing, determined to push past this. Satan might not have been watching me right this instant, but I'd still prove to him I was not the woman to trifle with and that he would lose this war between us.

"Take a deep breath, Lilly," Nicholas instructed.

I took a big breath through my nose, blowing it out my mouth.

"Just like that, baby. Do it again."

I took another deep breath, the light starting to break through the dark that had tried to surround me.

"Good girl," Aiden's voice came from right behind me. "Keep going."

"Keep fucking walking, bozo," Mavis yelled at someone. "This isn't a fucking show."

I breathed again, though it came out more like a laugh this time.

"Let's go back to the flat," Nicholas suggested gently, pulling away to look at my face.

I shook my head, grabbing his hands now cradling my face. "I don't want to."

Mavis was nodding. "What do you want to do, Lil?"

"I want to finish my damn walk," I said with a smile, confidence filling my chest as my body found its groove again, the ringing in my ears and the tightness in my chest nearly gone.

Nicholas and Aiden exchanged looks, and I thought they would argue with me, but they both nodded.

"Five feet until we get back to the flat," Nicholas told us.

"That's fine," I said before Mavis could jump in with her disagreements. I knew I didn't need them closer, but I wanted them closer. It made me feel better to have my support system with me. I was strong without them, but I was unstoppable with them.

"You alright?" Mavis asked as we resumed our previous pace.

"I'm fine, just embarrassed."

She grabbed my hand. "Don't be." I started to say something, but she shook her head. "Lil, you're not the only one who gets panic attacks." She squeezed my hand. "I can assure you of that without a shadow of a doubt."

I nodded, thankful my friend didn't see me as weak or broken because she'd witnessed my mini-breakdown, grateful she'd stood with me.

"Holy shit, I almost forgot," Mavis squealed. "There's a food truck on the other side of the building selling the best fucking fish tacos, I swear to Satan. We have to stop for some before we go back inside, okay?"

I agreed, my stomach answering right behind me. Keir's breakfast cake had been delicious, but it hadn't kept me full. I could practically taste the tacos already.

The twins ate with us, getting six tacos each, while Mavis and I got four.

They were the best fish tacos I'd ever eaten.