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Regardless of the information being shoved into my face from a man that was nothing more than a complete stranger to me, I was struggling to comprehend just what was going on. I could still feel the faint sensation of tile beneath my hands, which didn’t sync at all with the soft touch of Lazarus’ skin when they found their way to his cheeks. It was almost like I was being forced to bear witness to someone else’s reality.
Lazarus’ pale lips curled into a coy smirk. “Sergio timed the bombs to go off as soon as they made it into the air. He will be honored as the martyr that helped start a war that favored us both, love.” His grin faltered slightly when a soft gasp was squeezed from Calianna’s lips. “What is it? Are you having second thoughts about the path you’ve chosen?”
My head shook slowly. “No, not at all… I am thrilled to hear that my father is dead. He was nothing more than a pathetic coward with too much power. It’s just a small headache, that’s all.”
The Nephilim’s light brown eyes narrowed into thin slits. “I have something perfect that will help distract you from such a mild issue.” His thumb danced along my cheek, leaving a trail of goosebumps that seemed to have Calianna’s knees weak while making my stomach churn.
Her breathing hitched. “What is it?”
“Come with me.” Pulling his hand away from her face, he seized one of Calianna’s and started pulling her through the rundown foyer. He didn’t offer anything further to help hint at what Calianna’s surprise was.
While she didn’t seem to find it frustrating and he appeared genuinely excited by it, I was engulfed by nausea so powerful that I had to be vomiting in reality. I wanted nothing more than to break from this and prevent it from ever happening again. My own soul was beginning to feel violated just by bearing witness to this.
Lazarus led her toward the back of the house to a door tucked underneath a stairway. The locks built into the outside of it had already been undone, allowing him to immediately take her down the crumbling steps just beyond it. Calianna’s pace was matched to his, allowing them to descend it with record time. His surprise didn’t become clear until they rounded the corner and a man chained to a metal chair was revealed.
Calianna’s breathing slowed as her confusion shifted into a mixture of disbelief and horror. “I-Is that…? Is that Xaide?”
Her companion released a soft hum. He released her hand as soon as the bleeding man came into sight, allowing her to drift to a halt halfway across the room while he continued his approach. All it took was a small gesture on his part for the bald man slicing into the bound prisoner’s skin for him to pull back with a slight bow of his head. “It’s time for you to prove you really believe in my cause, Calianna. That every single race here at the manor is fighting for.”
The bound man jerked slightly, his body taking far too long to realize the blade was no longer carving into him. His head hung forward slightly, although his light brown eyes swung toward Lazarus and honed on him despite the continuous movement. “You are foolish to believe you can bring down the crown with false promises, Nephilim.”
The nausea swirling in the pit of my stomach only grew. So this was the being that had both the prince and his demon lords concerned. Now I felt even more tainted by that initial embrace. Gods, I just want out of this! I don’t want to see any of it.
So why was I being forced to?
Lazarus’ lips curled into a smirk and he tossed his head back, allowing a chuckle to echo off the filthy walls around them. “Everyone has a weakness, demon. That includes your infamous prince. All it takes is the process of elimination. Is the bastard addicted to a drug that only one race can produce? Does that cock demand a fresh pussy every night to satisfy that pathetic hunger of his? Or perhaps he’s just a fool that was controlled by the king like a puppet. Were his thoughts even his own?”
If I had any control over this body, I knew the snarl clawing its way up my throat would rip from my lips. The Nephilim’s word choice certainly left me ready to draw some blood. The fact that the thought would even cross my mind should leave me absolutely shitless. Old Quinn certainly wouldn’t touch violence in any manner. New Quinn was more than willing to do so. So where did that leave me when it came to the infamous tasks called for by the old ways?
Would it make or break my chances?
Xaide spat on the floor, leaving a thick spot of blood tainting the pavement. The Nephilim had already moved around the back of his body, which meant the action was purely done as an insult. “You’ve chosen to ally yourself with the wrong prince, bastard. Marcillo will fall by the turn of the year.”
“Why’s that?” Lazarus continued pacing until he drifted back into the demon’s peripheral view. His smirk merely grew as the demon honed in on him with a snarl. “Are you betting on Asher’s skilled strategy methods or…that bastard child he seems to think will make a fine queen?”
While disgust started coursing through Calianna’s veins, my own nausea was spiraling out of control. I yearned for the ability to control her hands just so I could dig her nails into her palms. The pain would help me maintain my focus as the panic threatened to completely consume me. He knows about me.
How was that possible? I certainly didn’t make a habit of letting myself be seen by anyone out in the real world, especially because of my tainted blood status. That alone prevented me from getting a legal job. It kept me extremely isolated from everyone but my mother and the organization I’d chosen to get involved with. Considering that everyone else had been killed a week ago, there was no possibility that the Nephilim could have learned about my existence through any of them.
Sergio timed the bombs to go off as soon as they made it into the air…
My world threatened to screech to a halt. Sergio — the same name as one of Salvatore’s bodyguards. He’d been present for the entire dinner, which meant he knew about me all the way to the growing bond between Asher and I. The slimy bastard had given Lazarus all of the juicy details before the explosion took him.
Xaide responded with a scoff. “There is no chosen queen,” he growled. “Your source was wrong.”
Lazarus cackled. “That’s not the impression I got when he informed me of the family dinner Salvatore carried out with Asher and those pesky demon lords of his. No king would put bought pussy to the test if there wasn’t a bond already established. Alas, I don’t give a damn if your kind accepts her as his choice. I’ll remove her from the equation the same way I will with everyone who puts their loyalty behind that spoiled brat.”
A whimper echoed within my mind. With every passing second, I yearned to break free from this and return to the real world. It didn’t matter if I risked throwing up as soon as I snapped back to my own body. I was willing to take it if it meant I could stop bearing witness to how the nephilim viewed the rest of the world — all the way down to little ole mixed-blood me.
Calianna started to approach Xaide, which only made my own nausea even worse. She cocked her head to the side while her approach attracted the demon’s attention. All it took was a swing of his eyes for her to flinch.
“You’ve embarrassed your family,” Xaide snarled softly. “You have no right to call yourself an Aeternus.”
Lazarus had been content to continue pacing until those words left the demon’s mouth. He twisted around and backhanded him, sending the chair back and leaving the bound man to crash against the hard pavement. His nostrils flared as his rage coursed through his veins. “The only people embarrassing themselves are those of you supporting Asher’s rise to the throne,” he growled.
“I had no desire to be an Aeternus heir.” Calianna’s voice was barely above a whisper. The nervous energy woven within those words matched the way she had drawn her hands up against her chest. It was a desperate attempt to make herself appear smaller with the hopes the demon would disregard her. “All I wanted was to be free, to live my own life! Why was that so much to ask for? Who has the right to sell their own flesh and blood to another family to simply bear children? To be seen and not heard?”
I flinched as the rage buried deep within her finally managed to claw free. Even Xaide seemed taken aback by it, flinching.
