Page 4 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
My mouth opened to protest, to tell her that I most definitelywasn’tready, that I wanted tostop, but she wasn’t listening. The room was already filling with an invisible weight as Andie spoke words I couldn’t understand, invoking magic.
The candle’s flame fluttered and lengthened.
Close your eyes.
I heard the words in Andie’s voice in my head. Licking my lips and glancing around one last time, I did as she said.
The flickering length of flame was still visible to my eye. Surprised, I sucked in a breath before remembering Andie’s orders to remain calm. Slowly, I let the air out, watching the flame questing out into the dark of my mind’s eye. The blackness resolved into twinkling stars, and as I watched, the flame latched on one.
Figuring that to be the mind of the creature she intended, I let myself go along for the ride. We reached out into the darkness, the flame and I, with it guiding me. I saw the star it was aimed for, and Ireachedwith my mind. It would have sounded impossible to me before, but at that moment, I simply knew what I was supposed to do. I reached it and touched a mind.
Then I tried to pull it with me. It resisted, and for a moment, I grasped a fleeting sense ofalivethat left me reeling. I lost my grip, mentally tumbling backward at the shock of touching another being's mind.
Mom!
Focusing on my desperate need for answers, I reached out with my mind, finding the nearest presence and latching onto it.
Nearby, Andie hissed in alarm.
“Gotcha,” I muttered, sinking my mental fingers in deep andpulling.
“Let go,” Andie cried, alarmed instead of approving. “Let go now!”
“I can do this,” I told her, hunkering against the expected feedback. “I was just surprised the first time.”
“No. Let go now. It’s not—”
In my head, the star, the mind of the other being, noticed my touch. Only it wasn’t weak at all. It turned, aware of my intrusion, and the immensity of it sank into me like the oppressive weight of gravity doubling itself.
With a cry, I sank to the floor, trying to untangle my mind from it and release its control.
“You must break the connection!” Andie cried. “Do it. Do it now!”
But the other mind had me firmly in its grasp. It reached out for me, following the tendrils of my mind back from it to me. I fought against its touch, but the sheerpowerof the being brushed aside my meager defenses as if they weren’t there. It pried into my mind, looking into my deepest, darkest secrets.
It learned who I was.
I slapped it across the mental “face” with all I could muster, every ounce of mental strength.
The thing recoiled, more in surprise, I thought, than anger, but it didn’t matter. I snatched my mind away.
“I’m free!” I shouted, trying to run into the darkness as the other being worked to ensnare me again.
There was awhooshof breath, and suddenly, everything faded. My eyes popped open to see Andie in front of me, the candle having been blown out.
I stared at her.
“What the hell was that?”
Chapter Three
Belial
“Iwill see you burn in the depths of the Underworld for your insolence!” I roared as the connection was abruptly broken, the fleeting touches of the human escaping from my mind.
The speed with which she’d recovered to fight back had caught me by surprise, and I was angry for letting her get away as easily as she did. I’d already entered her mind. A few more seconds of concerted effort and I would have broken her completely. Now, instead, she was free to live another day without the consequences of her actions.
Or so she thought.
