“Assholeness?” Eziel repeats my made-up word before chuckling.
I can’t believe I just said that word in front of the Prince of Hell. He must think I’m a total donut.
“How unusual you are.”
We drift into silence, then he says. “I’m going to personally train you. Every day. It’s going to be painful, but you will be the best hunter I’ve seen by the end.”
The blood drains from my face. “Why would you do that?”
“I see your potential. You threw yourself off a building to catch a demon.” He leans against the desk. “Not many hunters would go to that extreme for a level three. In fact, most of them would shit themselves.”
His gaze drifts up and down me. “Be at the courtyard at five a.m. I will be waiting. You are dismissed.”
I climb to my feet and walk to the door. I open it and I turn back. “Thank you.”
“Get out of here before I change my mind,” he warns.
I don’t think about it before opening the door and rushing out into the corridor.
I think being kicked out would have been better than this. The last thing I need is to be close to the alpha’s son because his father might find out. It would take one photo, one mess-up from me, and this is all over.
I’ve messed up. Royally. Fuck.
I rush back to my apartment and walk in, locking the door behind me. I run to knock on Caspian’s bedroom door.
“Something bad happened, Caspian.”
He opens the door, looking like he has seen a ghost himself. I pause when he places his hands on my shoulders. “What happened? Did Alaric not help you? The fucker punched me out of nowhere, and I didn’t see it coming.”
“No, it’s not that. Alaric helped me and likely saved my life from the fall—”
“Yeah, the fall we can talk about later,” he cuts in. “But tell me what has you freaking out.”
I shake my head. “The prince wants to personally train me every day,” I tell him. “He might know who I am if we get close. I’m scared.”
“Eziel doesn’t play games, and he occasionally takes on a new student to train every few years,” he tells me, looking a little relieved. “I was the last one he trained. Don’t worry, he doesn’t know.”
I bite on my lip. “Okay.”
“Songbird, I’ve got to tell you something,” he says. He takes my hand and pulls me over to the sofa, sitting at my side.
I really panic when I see his worried eyes.
“I asked a friend to find Leo and get a coded message to him… but Leo is missing. His place was raided and covered in blood.”
My heart feels like it drops into my stomach. “The alpha must have him. Or he killed him.”
“I don’t know,” Caspian softly replies.
I turn away from him and drop my face into my hands before I sob. “The alpha is going to kill everyone I love and never stop hunting me! My life is over, and I don’t know why I’m still fighting for the scraps I have left.”
Caspian moves in front of me and pulls my hands from my face. He holds them tightly as I look up. “You’re stronger than you look, songbird, and you’re not alone. I’m going to make sure you find a way to escape him, and we are going to start working together. I’ve been trying to save you on my own, and it’s not working, but together, we can do this. We can trick the alpha and every hunter here. We will win our place and your freedom.”
“Why help me?”
“Fuck knows.” His mouth tilts into a crooked smile. “Maybe I’m going crazy.”
“There are pills for that, you know,” I reply, making him laugh.
I lean forward and wrap my arms around his shoulders, holding him tightly. Eventually, he embraces me back, and I seek comfort from him I didn’t know I desperately needed.
“Leo will be okay,” he says after a moment. “That man is a master at surviving. You’ll see.”
Crescent Mother, please save my brother.
I can’t lose anyone else.
Chapter 15
Lilith Thornblood
My time in Japan feels like a quickly fading dream once I return to Hell.
A small part of me wished I could’ve stayed in that onsen with Alaric forever, but life doesn’t work like that, and I have an alpha to teach a lesson.
Alright, kill.
I step out of the portal and descend the stairs with Alaric at my side. He escorts me to the courtyard where the prince waits for our delightful little training session. I glance at the leaderboard, amazed to find my name so close to Alaric’s. Caspian is going to be livid.
“You’re late,” he grumbles, pushing off his throne.
“I humbly beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty,” I say with an innocent smile, bowing at him. I know he hates when people use his title. “I was a little predisposed capturing a level four demon.”
“Where is it?”
I set the bell on the blood-stained stone. “All snug in his new home.”
Eziel tilts his head, his lips hinting at a smile. “Not bad. That puts you, what, three points behind Alaric? You’re in the running now for top spot. Caspian must be delighted.”
His eyes flick to the side, but when I follow his line of sight, I don’t see anything hiding under the archway.
I turn back to him. “He will be. Caspian and I are a team, so we’re both in the running.”
“Do team mates really go about fucking their enemy?”
My heart lurches. “Who in the hell do—“
He lifts a hand in supposed supplication. “I’m just asking, is all.”
“Well, don’t.” I narrow my eyes at him. “What I get up to in my personal life is none of your concern.”
He grabs my arm when I slide past him and pulls me close, our noses almost touching. “It becomes my concern when they put a member of the DHT’s life at risk.”
“Alaric saved my
