Page 68 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
We spun, my arm automatically sweeping Lily behind my back. I had to protect her at all costs.
“My lord Belial,” the speaker said as they recognized me, dropping partially to one knee in respect. “Forgive me. I did not know it was you.”
“Glaver,” I replied, greeting my brother’s majordomo. “It has been a while.”
“It has.” The bald-headed dinosaurian stood on his rear legs, scaly skin a deep maroon. His long arms were folded back against his sides. The snout that protruded from his head flicked this way and that, tiny nose-holes testing the air. “You aren’t alone.”
“No, I’m not,” I said quietly. “I bring a gift for my brother.”
“A gift?” Glaver said, baring his teeth, the razor-sharp incisors perfect for rending meat from bone. “How delicious.”
“I intend it to be a surprise,” I said, still keeping Lily behind me. I was making it up as I went, and any reaction from her might give us away.
“How fortuitous of you that you came while he is away on business,” Glaver said, inadvertently confirming that Astaroth was most likely on Earth trying to track me down. “You may leave thesurprisewith me. I shall see that it is delivered most appropriately.”
“With your name attached to it, I’m sure,” I snarled. “No, I don’t think so, Glaver. I will deliver this one myself, ensuring he is well aware it is from me, not you.”
Glaver gnashed his jaws at the air but didn’t deny my accusation.
“I know the way,” I said before the majordomo could speak more. “That is all.”
“Unfortunately, Lord Belial, your brother left strict word that any visitors who arrived during his absence were to be kept under watch until his return.”
I stiffened as a dozen Furies marched out from the tower to surround us. The fanatical female warriors were the personal guards of the lords of the Underworld. Each of us had several clans who were loyal to our cause. The winged beings were covered in ruby-red armor, each carrying a wicked-looking short pike that I knew from experience they could wield with expert precision.
Not a foe I would prefer to tangle with while also trying to protect someone as fragile as Lily.
“Belial,” Lily whispered nervously from behind my back.
Silencing her with a grunt, I leveled my gaze at Glaver. “Youdarewith me? My brother surely did not anticipate my arrival. Remember your place,majordomo, and who you are insulting.”
“I sincerely wish to convey no insult, my lord Belial,” the saurian said with false obsequiousness. “I am merely following the orders of my lord. Yourelderbrother. He stated, ‘Under no circumstances, Glaver, are any visitors who arrive during my absence to be allowed to leave. They must remain under guard. Treat them as appropriate to their station, but none are allowed to leave.None.Am I understood?’ To which, of course, I said that I understood and would follow his directives.”
“Again, that certainly does not apply tome,” I barked, knowing full well that Glaver was enjoying lording his temporary power over me.
“I’m afraid it does, my lord. I do apologize for the inconvenience. We have an entire floor reserved and ready for you as befitting your station. But,” he sighed dramatically, his eyes darting to the rigid ranks of Furies, “I’m afraid I must insist.”
There was no point trying to fight our way out. Not in the open. Glaver was no fool. He would have others hidden, ready nearby, in case I tried just that.
“Very well,” I said, holding my chin high, playing the part of the offended prince. It wasn’t hard. Iwasoffended. I was Belial, the fifth son of the fallen son himself. I was no minor clanling or outback aristocrat who thought himself all pumped up on hot air!
Keeping Lily close, I allowed the Furies to close around us in formation. We took to the air in that same formation, four to the front, four to the rear, and two on either side. Flying together, Lily held in one arm, we spiraled up and around the tower until the Furies landed on one particular balcony, signaling which floor was to be mine.
I landed and strode forward, ignoring the guards as if they didn’t exist. Several stayed on the balcony while others moved inside, placing themselves at stairwells and other exits.
“What do we do now?” Lily whispered as I led us to an interior room without windows or another means of egress. The Furies stayed at the door, leaving us to our privacy. They likely figured I would use my “gift” to occupy some of the time.
As fun as that would be, I had no intentions of any such thing.
“Now, I demand they treat us properly,” I growled, moving to the door and pulling it back open. “Food! Drink! Entertainment! Now!”
I yelled my orders at the pair of Furies. One of them slammed the metal end of their short pike into the stone floor, summoning another one of the guards. The orders were repeated, and the Fury moved to the window and left.
Grimacing, I stifled my curses. I’d hoped that two of them would go. It wouldn’t noticeably change things, but itwouldhave made it slightly easier. Oh, well.
I turned with a flourish, a full one-eighty, acting as if I were to head right back inside. Instead, my tail flashed out, opening the throat of the Fury on my left. I completed the turn without pausing, stabbing my fingers through the opening of the helmeted visor and yanking it close while ducking my head.
My horns thrust through the T-shaped opening, impaling the Fury’s face on both, killing it instantly. I grabbed both before they could fall to the ground and hauled them back into the room, where I hid them out of sight of the door behind a heavy sofa.
