Chapter 3
Three days later, over at the castle next door, Damien was banging on Lilian's door like crazy in the dead of night.
His eyes were bloodshot, shining with a creepy, red glow.
His fangs jutted out, and his breathing was rough and wild, like an irritated beast.
Damien's rut was in full swing.
"Your Highness, please try to endure it. Lady Lilian is already asleep," the maid said, her voice trembling with fear. "Before she went to bed, she told me she wasn't feeling well."
In fact, Lilian had known all along that tonight was Damien's rut.
She put on airs, claiming she wasn't about to be Damien's outlet for his urges.
She insisted on only being with him when he was in control of himself.
So she told the maids not to let him in.
Hearing the maid's words, Damien slammed his fist into the wall.
But the last shred of sanity left in him told him that Lilian couldn't handle him like this.
The agony was enough to make him lose his mind.
Suddenly, an all-too-familiar face popped into his mind.
In the next instant, he shot up to the rooftop.
Then, moving at lightning speed, he appeared right outside my door.
Damien burst my door wide open with a loud bang.
I shot up in bed, my heart thundering in my chest.
My first instinct was to check on the twins, who were sleeping peacefully by the bed.
Damien stood in the doorway, letting the icy wind of the blizzard sweep into the room.
"Get them out of here," Damien barked, his voice rough and commanding. "Now."
The air felt heavy with danger around him.
Suddenly, it hit me that it was his rut today.
"Damien, snap out of it!" I shouted. "I'm not yours anymore. If you've got urges, deal with them with Lilian.
"If Lilian finds out that you came to me, aren't you afraid that she'll be jealous?"
But Damien wasn't listening at all.
His animal instincts had completely taken over, and he closed in on me, step by step.
"Stay back!" I yelled, grabbing the dagger I'd stashed under my pillow.
I swung the blade at Damien, desperate to keep him away, but he wasn't scared. As he reached for me, the knife sliced a long, bloody gash across his arm.
Damien snarled, a low, guttural sound rumbling from his throat.
The scent of blood only drove him more insane.
He lunged at me, gripping my wrist.
His strength was so intense that he might crush my bones.
The dagger dropped from my hand and hit the floor with a clang.
He slammed me against the wall.
My head smashed into the stone, and everything went dark for a moment.
His fangs pressed right up against the old bite mark on my neck.
Right then, the older twin jolted awake, crying loudly.
The younger twin joined in right after, bawling as well.
Damien paused for a moment.
In that instant, I drove my knee hard into his stomach.
He grunted, his grip loosening for a split second.
I managed to wrench one hand free, but before I could shove him away, a blinding light suddenly flooded the courtyard.
"What are you two doing?" Lilian's shrill voice rang out.
Behind her, servants waved torches, and a crowd of Northlands nobles followed.
Damien had me slammed against the wall, my clothes ripped from the fight, my hair wild and tangled.
"You shameless bitch!" Lilian screamed. "Trying to seduce Damien during his rut."
She stormed into the room, and instead of pulling Damien off me, she came straight for me and landed a brutal slap right across my face.
Blood instantly filled my mouth.
"You've already been handed over to Caleb, but you're still trying to seduce my man in the middle of the night?" Lilian hissed, grabbed my torn collar, and ripped it violently downward.
Now I was standing there, half-naked, with everyone staring at me.
I wrapped my arms around myself, my eyes locked on Damien.
I wanted him to say a few words on my behalf, for the sake of our old bond.
"Figure. She came from an auction house, lowly to the core."
"Your Highness, we can't let a woman like her stay."
"I bet her kids will be as much trouble as she is."
"If you ask me, let's kill her and the kids."
The nobles chattered among themselves, each one raking me over with contemptuous, lewd stares.
Lilian stood front and center, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at Damien. "I don't blame you, Damien. This woman is just too cunning."
By now, Damien had reined himself in a bit, coming to his senses slightly.
He stood off to the side, his face dark and stormy.
Displeasure creased his brow at the sight of me huddled against the wall with scarcely anything to wear. The wails of the twins grew louder and louder beside me.
No wonder Lilian hadn't done anything these past three days.
It turned out that she'd been waiting for tonight all along.
She had set a trap tonight.
She wanted me and the twins dead.
I looked at Lilian, and her lips curled into a smug, triumphant smile.
"Your Highness, we can't let this foreign woman and her kids stay."
"They'll bring disaster to the Northlands for sure."
"Today's the day we pay tribute to the mountain god. Why not toss her and the kids into the Black Forest as an offering to the mountain god?"
I shook my head desperately at Damien.
"No, you can't throw us into the forest," I cried. "Because the twins are—
Before I could finish, Lilian slapped me hard in the face.
Already battered, my head spun even worse.
"Who said you could speak here?" Lilian snapped. Then she turned to Damien, giving him a look full of grievance.
"Honestly, Damien, the only reason I came back is that the elders said she's bad luck," Lilian said. "If she stays in the Northlands, she'll ruin everything for us."
Damien narrowed his eyes, the crimson glow within them deepening. It looked as though his rut was about to take hold again.
Lilian quickly moved to Damien's side, whispered a few words in his ear, then helped him to his feet and prepared to leave with him.
Before turning away, she shot me a vicious glare and then gave the order.
"Throw this ominous woman and her children into the Black Forest as a sacrifice to the mountain god!" she snapped.