Lavender (2) : Sons of the Deveaux

Chapter 8

LILLITH

"Lilly?" A gentle knock hit the door of the spare room she was changing inside. "Can I come in? The Queen said you were trying on your dress and I just couldn't wait to see it!"

Her sister's excited voice was muffled through the door as Lilly wriggled herself into the buttery soft material. It was beautiful. Nothing too puffy, nothing too over the top. The dress was backless giving her space to flutter her wing all she wished.

The ruined skin of her other side didn't bother her as much to be exposed anymore. All the attention the boys paid it, pressing kisses to the scarred surface, had built her confidence so well. They loved her for her flaws and she loved them in return. Her heart was full of it rather than the turmoil she had suffered for so long.

Closing the small zips at the sides, she watched herself in the mirror, taking a deep breath. Not exactly white, the fabric was almost iridescent, catching shades of everything it could where the light touched, tiny details sewn intricately.

Flowers and stars edged the silk and lace that she ran her hands over lightly, worried it might be destroyed so easily. She had never owned something so beautiful.

Stood behind the screen partition, excitement brewing to show her sister how lovely it all looked. "Now just puh-picture me sweating bucket-ts." She already had a window open above to cool overheated skin having hot flushes from her Bloom still threading through her body. An awkward laugh escaped her. The idea of a wedding was nerve-wracking regardless of it being to her own mates.

While the fairy might not have had the family experience she wished for, it was a family nonetheless. A mother who adored them. A father who actually paid attention and made her laugh with his antics. Brothers to protect her and enjoy their company. They had been adopted into the Serpentines dynamic and melted in easily despite all concerns. Despite the inner struggles.

Taking a second to admire herself in the mirror, Lilly smiled. Her hair was still a touch fluffy from Lennox running his hands through it too many times, a smudge of a love bite left at her throat and shoulder. She was well loved, wonderfully relaxed and lighter than she had felt in weeks. The only thing missing was Genevieve to share it with the pair of them. "Reh-ready?"

"Absolutely. I've been ready since your wedding was announced."

It wasn't until Lilly stepped away from the fresh air that had been filtering in that the smell hit her.

Rotten cabbage and decay. Her heart leapt into her throat, bile churned instantly in her stomach and she could do nothing but stare at the partition between herself and her sister. "Mira... ?"

"You know, it's funny. I always thought this place would be more grand. More lavish and dangerous. It's surprisingly easy to slip through the cracks of Hell. To do as I please and everybody pays no mind to it. They just believe I'm just a silly little fairy flitting around discovering a place she's never been to."

The trembling started in Lilly's fingertips, a cold rush over her body as her knees weakened. That wasn't her sister. The voice she knew, always so full of joy, was gone. The tone had entirely changed that sent a shiver down Lilly's spine.

Her hand reached behind to the wall to steady herself. She needed to do something, she needed to react but... That was her sister. She couldn't hurt her sister.

Fingers curled around the edge of the partition, mottled and green skin, a fingerbone clear and still working. Slowly, it was pulled away to reveal her worst nightmare. Fear crippled the fairy down to her core, chill seeping in as she froze on the spot, everything in her shrivelling up in panic. "F...Fa-fath-" She physically couldn't get the word out of her mouth.

"Feh-feh-feh." Mirabell mocked. "What's wrong, Lilly? Say hello to daddy dearest."

His face was warped, somewhere between dead and alive, between still conscious by the cruel glint in the one eye that remained. The other was hanging by a thread from its socket, moss having half grown from it. He was still dressed in the king's suit, the material covered in old and new blood. Black ooze ran from his nose and the corners of his mouth.

He had been a monster dressed as a fae before but now the outside reflected his insides. Horrendous. Disgusting. Yet he just stood there glaring at her venomously. Like a dog waiting to be ordered to strike. Tears stung her eyes from the smell alone, a dead corpse with gods only knew what for insides. She needed to calm down. Her breath hammered in her chest, a painful batter against her ribs.

"It's surprising what a little bug in the ear can do to anybody. Father here? It was easy to pick apart his brain and have him do anything I say. Like a little controller in his frontal lobe." Around her father's body, Mira was sitting in the armchair watching them as if bored. "Do this, do that, and off he went. A good little bee working for the Queen." The lilac stare wasn't the same anymore. They were deeper, darker. Full of malice and evil. "I say to take a wing off and he actually does it. That was a wonderful show too. Stopped your curiosity in its tracks."

Lillith felt as though the floor had dropped out from beneath her at the very thought of it. Panic was a wave rushing through her, freezing out every reasonable thought of protecting herself. Every minor move she made had her father twitching like a feral animal on edge. One way or another, she needed to get out of here. She needed to get far away from the monsters in front of her and find the boys.

While Mira stood up from her chair, Lilly twisted around, grappling for the latch to the window. Even if she had to jump, she would. She could do it. Her training had gone out of her mind. The only logical thing to do right now was run away. Just get away and then she could think.

But there were no chances for such things when her father launched for her at the back, gripping and tearing at the precious dress she wore, his bony fingers shredding to grip at gossamer thin skin of her wing and tearing it effortlessly as she cried out, another twisting messily into her hair and wrenching her away. Fingertips ripped from the grip she held onto the window ledge, pain shooting through her body.

"Don't! Pl-please, please, d-du-don't, please," The fairy wasn't above begging if it meant anything to her sister.

All Mira did in return was laugh as she wandered over to where their monstrosity of a father held her in his grip. Sharp claws dug into her scalp, bits she didn't want to think about of rotted bone and flesh smearing over her. Brushing her fingertips down Lilly's tear-tracked cheeks, her sister smiled though it didn't reach her eyes. "You should never have come back. The favour of the Life Tree is mine. Nobody else's. But you had to get involved again, didn't you? You had to go stirring everything up." She heaved a practised sigh as if disappointed. "Now look what you've made me do."

The blow took the fairy entirely off guard. White hot pain sliced through her stomach and she could do nothing but stare into the face of her younger sister. One whom she had protected for years.

One whom she had taken beatings for. Had held her hand when their mother passed. Had comforted, had loved. Mira's arm jerked one more time and so did Lilly's body. A rush of hot liquid spilling from her stomach. The fairy didn't have to look down to know what happened. She could feel the cold metal slide from her stomach and out in a quiet and sickening pull.

"Take her to the tree and dump her. She can rot with the rest of them."