Seduce Us Like You Do Him.

Iris and Uri dragged me into the house. The moment we stepped in, they forced me toward the wooden dining table. It was the same rough table we had used for years, with four shaky chairs around it, the surface chipped at the corners and stained from old soup spills. They shoved me hard, my stomach hitting the sharp edge before I slid down to the cold floor.

I didn’t move. I didn’t even try. Fighting three of them was pointless. All I could do was pray that someone—Corven, Tallis, or Papa—would walk through that door before things got worse.

Uri made a small gesture at Ina. Ina understood instantly. She walked to the door, turned the key, and locked it. When she returned, she crouched in front of me, tilting her head so she could look straight into my eyes, the same unsettling way she always did when she wanted to break someone down.

“What right do you have,” Ina asked softly, “to go into our late mother’s wardrobe, search through her things, and pick her favorite dress?”

My mouth fell open. I straightened a little, even though my cheek throbbed and my lip stung.

“So… all of this is because of Mama’s dress? A dress she gave me with her hands before she—”

The slap came so fast I barely saw her arm move. My head snapped to the side, a warm rush of blood filling my mouth.

“You’re nothing but a petty liar,” Ina barked. “Not just a liar—a thief. Mother would never give you something that precious when you are not even her child!”

She raised her hand again, but Iris caught her wrist mid-air.

“Don’t drain her just yet,” Iris said calmly. “Remember the plan.”

Then Iris turned her eyes on me.

“You see, Kaelith… stealing our mother’s dress isn’t the only reason we’re treating you like the trash you are.”

She looked at Uri. “Right, Uri?”

Uri smirked and stepped forward.

“I’ve always known what you are. A little dirty bitch. Stealing from our late mother—may her beautiful soul rest in perfect peace.”

She made the sign of the cross, and all three murmured, “Amen.”

“Like I was saying,” Uri continued, “stealing from the dead wasn’t enough for you. You had to go behind our backs to seduce the man we all want. That’s betrayal, don’t you think?”

I tried to speak, but my voice cracked apart.

“I… don’t… know what you’re talking about. I didn’t seduce anyone.”

“Do you want to die, Kaelith? Because we can make that happen.”

Iris’s voice cracked through the room like a whip. “Lie to us one more time and today will be your very last.”

She moved closer, her anger shaking the air between us.

“To think you act like you can’t stand Veylor. Pretending you’re not attracted to him. Acting like we’re the cheap ones for admitting how we feel. Just the other day, you insulted us outside—in public! As if Ina, our mother’s last child, isn’t older than you!”

I tried to breathe, but the room felt too tight.

“And today,” Iris continued, “you were caught in the woods fucking that same man. How dare you?”

Her words stabbed straight through me, but before I could react, she suddenly fell silent. Her chest rose and fell once. Then—slowly—she let out a small giggle.

It chilled me more than the shouting.

She brushed the hair that had fallen across my sweaty face, pushing it back behind my ear with a strange softness. Then she reached for the band holding the rest of my hair, tugged it free, and let it fall over my shoulders.

I stiffened.

She tucked a few strands behind my ear and smiled down at me.

“This is how Veylor treats you, right?” she whispered. “Don’t worry. We’ll treat you even better.”

Her hands slid down to my face, cupping my cheeks gently—too gently—before trailing two fingers down my legs. The gentleness died instantly. She grabbed both my ankles, yanked me away from the dining table, and dragged me across the floor.

My back scraped against the cold ground. My head bumped as I coughed and begged her to stop, but she only gripped harder and pulled me deeper into the sitting room.

When she finally released me, my body felt emptied of all strength.

She stepped back and looked down at me with a sick smile.

“It’s our turn now,” she said. “We want to see what’s beneath. Seduce us like you do him.”

I just lay there, crying, trying to shape words with my mouth, but nothing came. My lips moved, my throat trembled, but no sound escaped. I tried to lift my hands, to clasp them together and beg, but I was too weak to even raise them off the floor.

Uri snapped at me.

“She said seduce us! If you don’t want to do it the easy way… we’ll make you do it the hard way.”

Ina giggled, stepping closer.

“And you know the hard way is always more fun. Seduce us now, bitch.”

I still couldn’t move. My body refused to respond. I just lay there, breathing hard, the room spinning around me.

Then Iris spoke, her voice calm in a way that made everything worse.

“The hard way it is, then.” She tipped her chin toward Ina. “Ina… she’s all yours.”

Uri and Iris exchanged a look, then began to chuckle as they pulled the closest chairs toward them. They sat, crossed their legs, and waited.