Sebastian carried her through the hallways of the estate like she was made of glass.
Lilith was limp in his arms, still whispering those broken words, her eyes staring at nothing. Her body bore the marks of yesterday, bruises covering her skin, welts from where they’d gripped her, bite marks on her neck and shoulders. She looked like a broken doll that soone had discarded after using it too roughly.
The estate was quiet at this hour of the morning. Staff moved out of his way without question, their eyes sliding away from the sight of the oga in his arms. They knew better than to ask questions. They understood that what happened behind closed doors was not their concern.
Sebastian walked to her room, the small quarters that had been assigned to her when she first arrived. He pushed open the door and laid her carefully on the bed. She was still whispering, still trapped in whatever mont had shattered her mind.
"Please it hurts, please stop, please it hurts, please."
His jaw clenched.
He opened a mindlink directly to Agnes, the head housekeeper. The connection blood instantly, she was downstairs, overseeing the kitchen staff, but the link pulled her attention to him imdiately.
Co to Lilith’s room. Now. She needs you.
He didn’t wait for a response. Just closed the link and turned back to look at the girl on the bed, whispering her broken pleas into the empty air.
It took Agnes less than five minutes to arrive.
The elderly housekeeper pushed open the door to Lilith’s room with the kind of purposefulness that ca from decades of service. She’d answered the Alphas’ calls without question for forty-two years. She knew how to move, how to respond, how to exist in their world without judgnt.
But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.
She stopped in the doorway.
Her hand ca up to cover her mouth, and she took a step backward, her entire body going rigid. Her eyes widened as they took in Lilith’s state, the broken whispers, the empty expression, the bruises that covered nearly every inch of visible skin, the way her body was curled protectively around itself.
"Oh Goddess," Agnes breathed. Her voice shook. "Oh, you poor child. What have they done to you?"
She raised her eyes to look at Sebastian, and the expression in them stopped his breath.
It wasn’t anger. Wasn’t fear. It was sothing far worse. It was disappointnt. It was judgnt. It was the look of a woman who thought better of a man and had just been proven wrong.
Sebastian opened his mouth, wanting to explain, wanting to say sothing that would make this better. But Agnes simply looked down at Lilith and then back to him, and her voice, when she spoke, was quiet and firm.
"Please, Alpha. I will need you to leave the room so that I can take care of her."
It wasn’t a request. Despite the courtesy of the words, despite the respect in her tone, it was a command.
Sebastian wanted to protest. Wanted to tell her to carry on with whatever she needed to do. Wanted to stay and watch and make sure....
But the gaze she gave him stopped him cold.
He nodded once and turned toward the door. He left without another word.
Agnes closed the door quietly behind him.
For a mont, she simply stood there, looking at the broken girl on the bed. Then she moved closer. Slowly. Carefully. Like approaching a frightened animal.
She sat on the edge of the bed and reached out, gently taking Lilith’s hand in her own.
"Shh, sweetheart," she whispered. "Shh now. You’re safe. I’m here."
Lilith’s eyes were empty. Completely vacant. There was nothing behind them, no awareness, no consciousness, no recognition. Just emptiness.
Agnes squeezed her hand gently and then stood.
She moved to the bathroom connected to the room and returned with towels and a bowl of warm water. She’d heated it quickly, warm enough to be soothing but not so hot as to burn sensitive skin.
She began to clean Lilith’s body.
Starting with her face, Agnes used a soft cloth dipped in the warm water to gently wipe away the evidence of what had been done to her. She worked slowly, reverently, like she was tending to sothing sacred.
As she cleaned, she whispered.
"You’re safe now, child. You’re safe. No one’s going to hurt you again"
She moved down to Lilith’s neck, gently cleaning away the marks left by teeth and hands. There were so many marks. So many places where the brothers had claid her, used her, marked her as theirs.
"Oh, you poor child," Agnes whispered. "What have they done to you?"
She washed Lilith’s arms, her hands, her sides. Every inch of skin that bore evidence of brutal use. The bruises on her hips where massive hands had gripped her. The marks on her inner thighs where teeth had left impressions. The welts across her back where she’d been pressed against hard surfaces.
As Agnes cleaned, Lilith’s body began to relax.
Not from consciousness, she was completely unconscious, completely unreachable. But her muscles began to ease. Her breathing began to slow. The tension in her face began to fade as the warm water soothed her skin and Agnes’s gentle hands worked their quiet magic.
Agnes cleaned between her legs carefully, reverently. This was where the damage was most visible. This was where she could see exactly what had been done to this small girl.
"It’s okay," Agnes whispered. "It’s okay now. You’re safe. You’re going to recover, poor child. I promise you that."
She worked until Lilith’s body was clean. Until every mark had been gently washed. Until the evidence of brutal use had been removed from her skin, even if it couldn’t be removed from her mind.
Then Agnes dried her carefully and dressed her in clean, soft clothing. Loose clothing that wouldn’t irritate her skin. Comfortable clothing that felt kind against her bruised body.
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