Prisoner

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

"No fucking way," River managed.

"Fucking way," I corrected, making him stare at me with an open mouth before he turned back to where Lilith and Apollyon were illuminated by the roaring hearth. Lilith beamed from ear to ear, throwing her arms wide open and coming right to me so she could wrap me up in a hug. I grunted as she lifted me off my feet with little issue, then plopped me back down before she turned to River, whose eyes widened in fear that quickly turned to confusion as Lilith wrapped her arms around him and gave him a monstrous bear hug that cracked his back.

"Oh, my precious babies," Lilith sighed, releasing River, who grimaced as he reached back to rub his back before he quickly started to drop to one knee, like his other family members, but Lilith immediately caught his arm and stopped him, "Oh, no, baby, not you. You bow to no one." River blinked and looked up at her, confused.

"B-But-I-Madame--"

"Please, call me Lily," she said with a beaming smile, clasping her hands together under her chin before she paused and her smile faltered. She paused for a moment, then narrowed her eyes as she spotted Abbadon's corpse on the ground.

"Arrogant little worm, wasn't he," she muttered, using her hand to gently move me aside so she could approach his corpse, "He reminds me too much of Astaroth. Even his fucking eyes. I was always a sucker for his baby blues. Ugh." I raised an eyebrow, looking past Lilith at River, who was just staring at her in awe. Reminded me of the way someone would react to meeting their super hero.

Or, you know, the creator of their entire clan.

"So, uh, Lil, wanna do the world a favor and tell the fam River's the new head, or should I just start killing people?" I asked, glancing over at the clan, who all stiffened and jerked their heads up, gaping at Lilith, then over at Apollyon, who didn't move a muscle as he stood there, sweeping those glowing orange eyes across them.

"Hmm," Lilith murmured thoughtfully, touching her cheek and turning to look at the clan members before she looked at River with a warm smile, "I suppose that would be up to the head of the clan." The clan members looked at each other nervously and even Fox seemed a bit uncomfortable as he turned to look at River, who blinked in shock.

"P-Pardon?" He asked.

"Want me to kill them?" I asked, gesturing to them. River blinked a few more times, then took a step forward to touch my arm, then he quickly looked at Lilith.

"No, no, Madame Lilith," he said, then turned to look at Apollyon anxiously, "My Lord, the Windstorm clan has been lost for centuries. Killing them will change nothing, except set us back in the war against the Mother. And... And in the end, they're still my family." I frowned at that. Even after all the fucking shit they'd done to him? I couldn't wrap my head around that. They spat at him, made him turn into someone he wasn't, they fucking laughed at him, mocked him, and questioned the validity of his lineage, his heritage. For fuck's sake, he couldn't even say he loved his mother without someone taking it out of his hide.

"They hurt you," I said, making River look at me. Lilith nodded.

"He's right," she added, coming over to place a hand on River's shoulders, dragging her fingers along his shoulder blades as she went around him to lean on his other shoulder, "Look at their faces, my sweet River. Do those look like the faces of warriors? The faces of people who would stand at your side in battle?" River glanced at the clans members who all nervously avoided eye contact with him, finding their feet to be more interesting, or whimpering like some of the females were. The stench of their fear was rancid. It stung my nostrils and made my wings shift uncomfortably in my back, making me grimace.