With a sudden burst, Ethan's eyes sprang open, and he jolted upright in bed. He instinctively covered the side of his face as he spoke, his voice filled with a mixture of pain and surprise. "I spoke to one of the generals... I didn't anticipate that happening".
Lilith, her expression tinged with sadness, knelt beside him, her eyes filled with concern. "Was it, by any chance, Belzeebulb?" she inquired, her voice filled with a sense of foreboding.
Ethan nodded slowly, his hand still pressed against his throbbing cheek. But as he looked into Lilith's eyes, he detected an even deeper turmoil within her. "Lilith... are you...?" he began, his words trailing off.
Before he could finish his sentence, Lilith engulfed him in a passionate embrace. "What the hell were you thinking, drawing power directly from the book like that?" She exclaimed, her voice laced with a mix of worry and frustration.