The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-396

Madeline didn't understand what happened, but when she pulled her hands away from her face, she caught sight of Lilith who barged in through the broken space of the window to stand in front of her. The woman had bat-like wings behind her, which were boney and bare, unlike Calhoun's wings that had feathers.

"I thought you went to Carnivals village," said Madeline, her eyes moved to the place where the racks and the parchments had fallen on the floor. She looked for the priest, to find him buried under one of the racks with just one of his hands visible. There was blood on his hand, and it worried her immensely.

She wanted to go to where Reginald was, but Lilith stood not too far away from him, watching her every movement.

"I heard you were out and in the town," replied Lilith with a smile on her face, showing her fangs to Madeline, "I thought I would come and greet you." The demon vampiress stared at Madeline, noticing how she appeared untouched by the shattered glass.

"You didn't have to do that. We saw each other a while ago," said Madeline, trying to reach for the exit of the room as she doubted she would survive if she jumped out of one of the windows.

Lilith quickly went to block the exit of the library, "You don't look surprised by my wings."

"I have seen better things than those," and on hearing Madeline's words, Lilith raised her hand to break the next window that was near Madeline. But Madeline used her hands to stop it and turn most of the glass pieces to dust before they could harm her.

"It's good to know that you are a dark angel. Come, Madeline, let me take you with me without a fight," Lilith said to Madeline as if she was a child. Noticing how Madeline's eyes moved towards Reginald who was dead, the demoness said, "He's not going to wake up. A mere mortal of this world. I sometimes wonder if it is only because of his looks that got him this far in the High House," she chuckled to herself.

Madeline couldn't believe that the man she had been just talking to was dead and underneath one of the racks, "Where are you planning to take me?" she asked Lilith, trying to find where the den of demons was.

"It is a surprise. A lot of us have been waiting for you to appear," said Lilith. Madeline had an eye on Lilith, but she would have never guessed that Lilith was in this with her aunt Mary.

"You know Walter," Madeline confronted, and Lilith pulled out one of the knives from her dress.

"The question should be, how do you know Walter. He is an unknown face, and you made it look like he is a resident in your sweet grandparent's village," Lilith's eyes narrowed as she said this, "I was quite surprised when you mentioned his name because according to your grandparents, they had erased all the possible memories of yours that would create any suspicion."

"You knew my grandparents too…"

"Oh, darling, most of us know each other. They sure were old geezers who couldn't differentiate on what to use and what to throw away. But it is good that they have been 'preserving' you. Where are they? I haven't heard from them for a long time."

Madeline shrugged her shoulders, "I wonder that myself." Her eyes were looking at all the possible exits, and now she started to consider even the windows which she had excluded earlier. When it was time to save herself, she realized it didn't matter from where she would be getting out. But Lilith had wings, thought Madeline to herself.

Hearing more screams coming from the village that appeared to be chaotic, Madeline questioned, "What is going on outside in the village?" Her hands had started to turn warm.

"There?" Lilith raised her eyebrows in questions, "It isn't me, but others who are enjoying some good blood." A loud thump was heard in the room, and Madeline caught sight of a man who had blood on his hands. His straight hair was brushed upwards.

"What's taking you so long to bring her, Lilith?" the man asked, turning to Madeline. He had jagged teeth unlike the humans or vampires.

"Greyson said we should be careful with her-"

"Oh, for fucks sake, you are worried about it? Did you even get it right, or are we picking a random again?" asked the man while he made his way towards Madeline in a quick motion. In a blink of Madeline's eyes, the man stood right in front of her, holding her slender neck in his hand, "Look at her," and Madeline struggled to push the demon away from her.

"Walter and Mary said she's the one. And I saw her turn the glasses to dust," replied Lilith.

The demon stared at Madeline, looking at her face and then at her body. "This is a pretty one, isn't she?" asked the demon, "Do you think Greyson would mind if I have some fun before we head out from here?"

"You can do that later, Declan. We need to leave quickly," said Lilith. She went to stand near one of the broken windows, to see people running away from the werewolves, who had been unleashed into the village.

The man named Declan ran his tongue over his jagged teeth while enjoying the girl's struggle as he had pushed her against the wall. Her struggles were futile, and he placed his hand on her shoulder before it went to trace the side of her body.

Madeline felt powerless and repulsed by the demon's touch. She didn't know why her hands were not reacting like they usually did. She had used both her hands to place it on the man's face, in an attempt to push him away. While the demon continued to slide his hand down further, one of the racks moved, and it was as if someone broke it to create heavy dust in the room.

Lilith waved her hand in front of her to clear the dust away from her face when suddenly someone caught hold of her head. Her eyes widened to see Reginald, who was up and awake.

"Y-you were dead!" stuttered Lilith in shock as she had heard the man's breathing stop along with his heartbeat.

"You have been a bad child, Lilith," came the calm voice of Reginald, and the demoness didn't get a chance to utter a single word as she fell flat on the ground, dead without a hint of violence.

The demon named Declan had not cared to turn around to see what was happening as the room was still covered in dust that was yet to settle down. Looking at the girl he laughed as he moved his hand to touch her bottom, her hands that were pushing his face, turned cold.

Before the demon moved his hand further, he felt a slight tingling sensation from the girl's hands, and when his eyes moved to look at Madeline, his head blew backwards as if someone had placed a large gun and pulled the trigger.