Page 77 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
So close. I had comesoclose. Now, she was gone.
“Let me go,” I said suddenly, punching Astaroth in the side of the head as he carried me in his arm.
The demon casually bashed me against the wall, rattling my brain around in my skull until I lolled in his grasp, too weak to hold myself up, too dazed to protest.
“Much better,” he said, marching down the stairs. “Just wait until Belial finds out what I’ve done with you. He’s going to lose his lid.”
“Whatever. He had me first,” I said, starting to recover.
“But he didn’t do any of the fun things I’m going to do to you,” the demon rumbled, his voice promising nothing but trauma.
“Of course not. Because he’s not a douchebag like you are,” I spat.
“He may be young, but he’s still a demon prince. You would do well to remember that.”
“I do,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t capable of change. You shouldn’t have killed him.”
Astaroth snorted. “Kill him? I wouldn’t dare. Father would … not look upon that too kindly.”
Father. Lucifer.
“Then what did you do to him?”
“I severed him from you. No demon should be bound to a human like that. It’s not befitting of even him. He’s above you.”
Movement caught my eye. “Yes, you’re so very right, you know that.”
My admission brought Astaroth to a halt halfway down the stairs. “I didn’t expect you to be so understanding.”
“Oh, I am,” I said, leaning as far away from Astaroth as I could. “Because you’re right. Heisabove me.”
And with that, Belial dropped from one of the windows high up at the top of the spire, beyond where the staircase ended. His axe glowed brightly as it sliced through Astaroth’s arm, severing it cleanly.
I cried out as I fell to the ground, rolling free of his fingers before they clenched me tight in death. Belial struck like a wolverine, landing two more blows that knocked Astaroth back and down through the doorway, scattering the women of his harem.
He turned and raced for me, snatching me up and heading for the stairs.
“Up!” I shouted as he started to go down. “She’s up there. I found her.”
Behind us, Astaroth bellowed in rage.
We went up the stairs. Belial casually flipped the bar aside with one hand and, following my guidance, ran to the cell. The bars parted under his immense strength, and I grabbed my mother in a hug.
“What now?” I asked.
“Reattaching the arm will buy us a few seconds,” Belial said. “I suggest we make the most of it.”
“How?”
He walked to the wall, swung his axe, and started chopping through it. Stone fell out, revealing the sky behind. Wind howled, making a mockery of Astaroth’s rage.
“Hurry,” I urged, watching the hallway for any sign of Belial’s older brother. When he came for us, there would be no mercy. “Come on, come on.”
“I’m going,” Belial growled, swinging fast and hard, more stone tumbling out by the second.
Shadows moved.
“He’s coming!” I hissed.
