Chapter 56

Lillian

I knew I'd fucked up the moment I let go of their hands, but I was sure I'd seen Ida. I was so fucking sure it was her. I just had to get to her and then reunite everyone before the trial started.

The twins were calling my name, following after me, but their voices were soon drowned out by the crowd. Unfortunately, I'd lost sight of Ida, so I turned around to find the twins, only to realize I'd lost them too. I tried working my way through the crowd, back to the safety of the twins, sure we would find Ida again.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Aiden! Nicholas!"

Nothing.

People were pushing through hurriedly, bumping me around until I reached the outer wall. I pressed my back up against the hard stone and continued to look for my men. It was impossible to see around or over anyone, though, being so fucking short.

"Well, well, well," I heard from beside me. "If it isn't the human herself, gallivanting around on her own." I turned to see a member of Satan's guard standing next to me, a wicked smile on his face. "The king has been looking for you." He gestured for me to follow, but I planted my feet and crossed my arms in refusal.

"I'm not going anywhere until I find Aiden and Nicholas."

The guard threw his head back and laughed. "You're not going to find them, filthy pet . They're too far away by now to hear you scream above all this noise, and no one else in these halls gives enough of a shit about you to help."

"Fuck you."

"Kind of you to offer, but I'm on strict orders to bring you downstairs to prepare for the third trial." He cocked an eyebrow. "Are you coming willingly, or do I need to force you to cooperate?" He placed his hand on the sword tucked into the belt around his waist.

My jaw twitched as I contemplated my options. On one hand, I was armed, and there was only one of him. On the other hand, though, I didn't want to expose my hidden weapons, and the hallway was full of innocent people who could quickly become collateral.

I looked around one more time, hoping with every fiber of my soul that I would spot someone, anyone , but I came up empty-handed. I had no other choice.

"Fine," I gritted out.

"Good choice." He grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall in the opposite direction of where I wanted to be going.

Panic settled in my bones as thoughts of where I was going and what I was about to face bounced through my head.

More dragons?

Fight an army?

Get attacked by yet another creature I'd never heard of?

I forced back tears, refusing to let anyone see me cry. Sure, I was being yanked down the hall by a stupid guard, but I would retain as much dignity and confidence as I possibly could. People were starting to stop and stare, and I almost thought about calling out for help, but then we stopped in front of an elevator.

"Bottom level," the guard barked at the elevator operator, who immediately pushed the button with shaky hands. "Don't think about trying anything funny, got it?" He began to crush my upper arm in his hand, making me whimper.

"Got it."

He snarled and let me go, satisfied with my compliance.

The elevator dinged as we reached the floor. I expected to see more of the crowd when the doors opened, but I saw nothing of the sort.

It was a dark hallway, lit only by torches mounted on the wall every several feet. It was so quiet, I could hear my heart pounding wildly.

"Let's go," the guard said as he shoved me out in front of him.

I stumbled, nearly tripping over my feet. "All you had to do was ask, dickhead."

"Watch it, human. My only order was to bring you down here. He never said you had to be in pristine condition."

That made me hesitate. I had no doubt he would take full advantage of the opportunity to beat me down so I couldn't complete the third trial.

"Is that why I'm down here? To hurt me before the trial starts?"

He chuckled, which wasn't the answer I was looking for.

"Do you know what the third trial is?" I tried.

"If I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"It's not like it makes a difference now." I shrugged as we continued down the dimly lit hallway. "I'm already here. No time to prepare."

"You're not getting shit from me, so shut the fuck up."

I blew out a dramatic breath and cut my losses. The last thing I wanted was to get the shit beat out of me before this trial.

After a while, we came to an open circular area with other corridors seeming to connect to it.

And what would you know—guess who stood right in the middle, surrounded by his guards like a fucking coward?

"Lillian." He addressed me by my name, much to my surprise.

"Satan," I spat out, wanting to call him much worse, but self-preservation won that argument.

He smirked. "I do hope you are ready for your trial today; it's a special one, I assure you. I can't wait to watch you fail."

I gestured around the room. "So, are you going to tell me what the trial is? Is something waiting for me in the halls? Is this an ambush? Some sort of maze, maybe?"

I didn't like the laugh that left him. It made my skin crawl and my blood run cold.

"You're funny. It's a shame you have to die. I think I would've rather enjoyed you if you weren't a filthy human." He spoke like I was garbage, worthless, dirty trash on the side of the road.

"I never did anything to you," I snapped at him.

He shrugged, unbothered that his violence and anger were pointed at the wrong fucking person. I meant nothing to him. I was a means to an end.

"Unfortunately, my sons think too highly of you. I've been trying to win them back to my side the nice way for quite some time." He walked to my side, but I refused to turn to see him. "You see, I was waiting for them to come to their senses about this whole thing. They ran off to live their rebellious, bachelor lives, sure, but once they were done having their fun, they were supposed to come home." He was behind me now, walking a circle around me, trying to get under my skin.

"You have erased any chance of me bringing my sons back into the palace. As long as you are here, they'll blindly—stupidly, follow you to the end of the universe. It's beautiful, really, and tragic—so fucking tragic. If this had been any other circumstance… Say you were the daughter of one of the lords. Honestly, I would've even been fine with some lost soul they took pity on, but no , you had to be a human." He'd reached my other side, but I still refused to look at him. He could walk back around and face me if he wanted to see me.

"A human who opened a portal. A human who stole the hearts of not one, not two, but all three of my sons. A human who sealed herself in Hell, closing my portal. A human who will always be in the fucking way unless she is removed." He stopped in front of me, our eyes in a silent staring contest. "I'm sure you can understand my frustration here." I started to open my mouth, but he lifted a hand. "It honestly doesn't matter if you do or you don't. After all, you've got less than an hour of living left anyway."

"I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces when I take your life. It will take them time to recover, sure, especially Keir, but they'll eventually realize I was right. You were nothing but a pathetic little human who got in the way of their glory. I will prevail, pet , and when your soul is trapped here, I'll make sure you're the first they get their hands on when they return to me. You'll suffer an eternity of pain carried out by the men you thought loved you, the men you thought were on your side."

"So that's why you had your guards keeping an eye out for me? To separate me from them? Isolate me so I feel helpless?" I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "Sorry to disappoint you, but you don't scare me anymore."

He seemed taken back by my confession, blinky rapidly as everyone else in the room looked at him, wondering what his next move would be. When he started to open his mouth, I lifted my hand.

"What you have to say doesn't matter. I'll be on the other side of this in less than an hour anyway, and you'll look like a fool in front of all your people."

His upper lip curled and his eyes blazed. I expected him to come at me, possibly turn this mental battle into a physical one, but someone ran from one of the corridors.

"It's time, Your Majesty. Everyone is seated, and they're chanting your name," the timid messenger told him.

The king hadn't even turned to acknowledge the girl, instead looking me up and down as though he was trying to figure out whether to waste time coming back at me or to go to his kingly duties.

"I cannot wait to bathe in your blood," he remarked with a grin before turning and storming down the corridor after the messenger.

What the actual fuck?

I tried to shake off his words, but the image of him, red with my blood, refused to leave my head. The thought of losing the princes, the thought of them having to watch me die, the thought of all the heartbreak…

I couldn't let that happen.

I wouldn't.

"This way," a guard commanded rather rudely, pointing down a different corridor.