Chapter 6

Keir

Once Aiden left, I instructed Lillian to take the stance I'd shown her the day before. She was a little off on her footing, and her arms were not high enough.

Instead of getting behind her and positioning her myself as I had before, knowing that was part of my mistake yesterday, I stood next to her and mimicked how I wanted her to stand. I talked her through it until her stance was what I was looking for.

Without touching her.

"Good," I praised her as I moved to stand in front of her. "Now, punch me."

She smirked, and I knew she wouldn't question me this time.

Her punch landed square in the middle of my left pec. I nearly grunted at the impact, her hit surprisingly harder than yesterday—even though she'd just spent almost an hour lifting weights.

"How was that?" she asked me, pride filling her smile.

"It was alright, better than yesterday. I'm impressed," I admitted honestly.

Her shoulders rose a little at my compliment.

"Stay here." I walked over to the cabinet in the corner of the room and grabbed what I needed.

"What're those for?" Lillian asked me as I put the glove pads on my hands.

"For punching."

"You can't handle my punches now? Told you I'd hurt you," she teased.

"Uh-huh, sure." A chuckle shook my chest as I held my hands up, the pads resting on my palms now facing her. "Alternate your hands and punch the pads."

She practiced her punches for a while, and thankfully, no conversations occurred—verbally or otherwise.

"Alright, let's move on." I removed the pads from my hands and tossed them to the side. "You won't be the only one throwing punches."

"You're going to punch me?" Her voice squeaked with shock, a disturbed look on her face.

I fought to keep my jaw from dropping, honestly stunned that she would think I would hit her. Was she serious? Had I been so cruel to her that she would jump to the conclusion I'd actually harm her physically?

I mean, I wanted to hurt her. Hail Satan, I wanted to make her scream, but not like that. I wanted to bring her the pain she'd come to crave from me alongside her pleasure. I wanted to spank her ass until it bled for me. I wanted to, but I couldn't.

"I'm not going to hit you," I said, my face twisting to show I'd taken offense to her question.

"Oh," she said quietly, rubbing her arm with her opposite hand.

"I don't want you to get punched by anyone, princess."

I wanted her to be able to protect and defend herself. I fought a cringe as I thought of her smooth, flawless face being bruised by someone's hand. The idea made my fists clench uncontrollably at my sides. I was angry, and the event hadn't even happened, though I knew her getting hurt was inevitable, given my father's distaste for her.

My father had intentionally made sure my mother's trials were easy for her to complete, even if it meant cheating. She had to walk through the Lake of Fire, but his essence protected her. She had to tame a wild Hell Dragon, but he gave her special brewed treats that basically rendered the dragon drunk. She also had to defend herself against a member of the king's council, but he'd been beaten half to death by someone the day before.

There was no way for my mother not to win, and no one would contest the help he gave her. We would get no such luxury. He'd make the trials impossible and do everything he could to ensure Lillian received no help.

The whole thing felt hopeless; however, we had no choice but to prepare her the best we could. I wasn't entirely sure what would happen to me if she… I didn't even want to think about that right now.

"We'll work on dodging for now, okay?" My voice was smooth and assuring.

She nodded and swallowed before pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and looking down at the mats.

"Stop that," I said, the sight of her chewing on her lip making me want to do the same. "Look up. You need to see where the punches are coming from."

She looked up at me, and had my self-control failed me, I would've grabbed her face and claimed her mouth with mine, biting, sucking, and kissing her sweet, delicious-looking lips until they were swollen and sore. She looked so innocent as she stood before me, her breathing quick and cheeks tinged pink, though I knew the truth.

Lillian cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows, giving me a ‘what're you thinking about' look. I held my arms in front of me, gesturing for her to do the same.

Once her arms were up, I swung my fist.

A squeal left her lips as she brought her arms together to block her face. She closed her eyes, her body cowering to make itself as tiny as possible, remaining that way for several seconds before realizing she'd felt no impact and opened her eyes.

She flung her hands to her sides and stood tall, loads of fury filling her little body. "You were going to hit me. You liar!" she yelled.

I laughed, which only made her angrier, and put my fists down. "If I wanted to hit you, I would have, princess, but I didn't. I just wanted to see what reaction comes naturally to you."

She huffed and shook her head in disbelief. "I think most would scream and duck if a fist flew at their face, you dick."

I shook my head at her, a cocky smirk taking over my lips.

"Then what would you do?" she said with so much attitude, it made the palm of my hand itch to spank the brat out of her.

"Hit me and find out."

She let out a short, choked laugh. "I think I'd rather not. You're different. That's hardly fair."

"Hit me, Lillian. I'll show you what reaction you should have. That is… if you're not some weak, pathetic human afraid of a little hard work."

My insult did the trick. She reared her arm back, the action taking her too much time, and attempted a punch aimed at my face.

I grabbed her hand in my palm, stopping her movement, and was pleasantly surprised to find her other fist coming at me too, though I caught that one just as easily in my other hand. I hooked her leg with mine and swept it out from under her, catching her off guard and sending her to her back on the mat.

Her eyes closed tightly when I crouched down over her.

An amused chuckle escaped my lips, and she glared at me.

"You okay?" I asked as I offered my hand to her.

Her upper lip twitched, but she remained silent as she stood up from the mat without my assistance.

Yeah, she was fine.

She continued to look at me, or maybe past me. I couldn't be sure, and her face turned from angry to uneasy before she turned from me and headed toward the door leading out of the gym.

"Lillian." I followed close behind her, afraid I'd hurt her or pushed her too far. "Where are you going? We aren't done."

She paused with her hand on the door and let out a quiet breath.

That's when I felt it. Her . Suddenly, I was crowded with feelings of dread, fear, inadequacy, and the desire to surrender.

No.

I wouldn't let her give up. Not now. Not ever. We were going to fight. We were going to win. She'd accomplish the impossible and be here with us forever.

For-fucking-ever.

"You're not giving up, Lillian. I won't let you."

Her gasp was barely audible as she turned to look at me, confusion scrunching her face and filling her eyes.

"How did you—" she started. "I didn't even think anything."

"I said I won't let you." She looked down. "Look. At. Me," I said slowly through gritted teeth.

I was angry—at everyone. The twins for dragging us through the portal that day. Me for insisting we bring her to the city with us. My mother for ratting us out and exposing Lillian. My father for threatening her and putting her in an impossible situation. I was even angry at Lillian for being so willing to accept defeat.

Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at me again. "I'm going to fail, Keir," she whispered. "You even said it yourself. ‘Death would actually be more merciful'."

I looked away from her and closed my eyes, hearing my own condemning words leave her lips. My chest felt tight, making it impossible to breathe. I'd said that. I'd doomed her from the start. I was the one filling her head with doubt.

"You can do it," I spoke softly, lifting my eyes to hers. "You will do it."

"Your mom's the only one ever to do it, and I am most certainly not the fucking queen of Hell." She threw her arms to her sides. "I know my odds."

"She didn't do it herself. She had help."

Lillian froze, and I could see the wheels turning in her mind.

"My father cheated for her. That's why she made it. With his help."

Her hands flew to cover her mouth. "You know what that means, right?" she asked, her voice muffled by her fingers.

"What?"

"The success rate is literally zero. It's even worse than I thought." Tears spilled down her cheeks, her lips quivering as she began to cry.

Panic filled me as I contemplated what to do.

I'm sure she was as shocked as I was when I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her shaking body to mine and squeezing her tightly.

"Shhh," I said as I rubbed her back with one of my hands. I could already feel the dampness of her tears through my t-shirt. "I said you were going to do this, and I meant it." I let out a breath, preparing my following words carefully. "I'd never met such a headstrong, determined woman until you, princess. I know very few people who would sit on a couch right next to my father and look him in the eyes."

"I was terrified," she admitted into my chest.

"So is everyone else. The point is… he underestimated you, and he will see that once you complete those trials and become a demon, but by then, it will be too late, and he will look like a fool. Make him eat his words, Lillian." I swallowed, a feeling flooding my chest that I did not want to feel right now. Not with her around. Not where she could potentially sense it.

Before I could pull away, she backed away from me, my body now aching with loss. "Do you really think those things?" she asked, a sliver of doubt still there despite the pep talk.

I wet my lips and took a deep breath.

I do. I believe every word of it .

How do I know that? She looked skeptical.

Can't you feel it? Focus on my words when I say it. Feel what I am saying. I. Believe. In. You.

Her body shivered as she took in my words. I knew she'd felt it—the truth. My gir—this girl, had been able to hone in on my words and feel what I was saying. Pride welled in my chest, though within seconds, I wondered if I'd done something dumb by teaching her this.

"I feel it."

Her smile was infectious, and soon, we were both grinning as we left the gym and headed to the kitchen for lunch.

The training hadn't been as physically beneficial as I'd hoped, but she'd needed this, and I was more than okay with that.