Chapter 22 · Wrong Person To Kneel To

"Get up, you coward!" Ella screamed, her voice cracking. She didn't pull away from the wall; she slammed her palm against her father's chest, trying to shove him back into the position of the man who had thrown her into a void.

But her father didn't fight back. He stayed on his knees, forehead pressed against the cold marble floor, shaking like a leaf in a storm. He wasn't looking at Ella. He was looking at the boots of the man standing behind her.

"I... I didn't think you'd return so soon, My Lord," her father stammered, his voice thin and pathetic. "The pact was... I thought the seal held."

Ella froze. She slowly turned her head, looking up at Cain. He looked bored. That was the worst part. He wasn't surprised, he wasn't smug—he was just exhausted, leaning his weight on one leg while the other bled through his trousers.

"The seal held," Cain said, his voice a low, vibrating hum that seemed to rattle the bones in Ella's chest. "Until your daughter decided to use me as a battery. Now, why are you on the floor? I don't remember asking for a footstool."

"I'm sorry!