Page 29 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
I tried to get a reading on Belial, but it was murky. Like he was somehow able to not quite block his emotions from me but make them unclear. After the first hint of surprise, which had alerted me to the fact that he’d come back, I’d been unable to pick up much.
His mood had definitely changed there at the end, but to what? And why was he talking about betrayal? Who was he going to betray? The answer to that question was rather obvious. I didn’t want to acknowledge that, but I didn’t have much choice either.
Belial was setting me up for betrayal.
And why?
I tried to focus on baking, keeping my mind off the endless rabbit hole that a question like that could take me down. The dough swirled as I kneaded it, much like my mind. I couldn’t shake it. Couldn’t shake not only the questions, but the fear rising in my stomach, sinking its fingers in deep, taking hold of me. Never letting go.
Without warning, Belial came in through the back door. He opened his mouth to say something, then paused, frowning at me.
He can sense my emotions.
I needed to learn how to shield them as he had.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, wandering in and keeping the table between us.
“Really?” I asked, stalling for time. I wanted to ask him about the betrayal. Why he wanted to hurt me? Was it still because I’d touched his mind? Was he still not over that?
“Really, what?”
I grimaced. As much as that was what I should ask, I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to. So, I took the other option.
“Twice now, you’ve stormed out of the back door without a word and returned as if nothing happened. You know I have a functional brain, don’t you? That I don’t just forget and move on?”
Belial leaned back against one of the ovens, still cold, not yet prepped for the day. He gazed at me for a long time until I wanted to squirm. I didn’t. I held myself firm and stared back at him until I grew tired of his attempt to force me to move on.
“Why are you going to betray me?” I asked, dropping the big question.
His eyes widened, and he stood up straight, no longer lounging casually.
“I heard you say it to whoever was outside, so don’t bother denying it,” I added, lifting a finger as he opened his mouth to reply. “Just tell me the truth. Why are youreallyhere?”
The big man and his yellow-brown eyes were uncharacteristically troubled. He looked around the bakery. Wanting an out, perhaps, but I wasn’t giving him one. Not unless he turned and left … again. That would be his third strike in my books, so I hoped he didn’t do it.
Didn’t I?
Finally, he took a deep breath in and spoke. “Put me to work.”
I stared at him from under sky-high eyebrows. “Pardon me?”
“You’re busy,” he said. “Getting ready. There must be something I can do to make that easier.”
What the hell was he getting at? Trying to help as if that would suddenly make everything better?
“You can clean,” I told him, pointing at some of the tools I had been using and the sink off to my right.
There was a moment’s hesitation, and I wondered if he would tell me that cleaning was beneath him or something. But he didn’t. He just grunted, picked up the dirty tools, and brought them to the sink. Meanwhile, I went back to work. I’d already lost a lot of time.
While the silence between us could have indicated he was done speaking, the swirl of emotions I was picking up was complicated. He was thinking, and I let him.
“To explain,” he said at last, speaking up over the steamy water pouring from the tap, “I’m going to have to back up. Tell me what you know about the world of magic.”
“Not much,” I said, wanting to keep him talking to me. “I don’t have any magical powers myself. I just learned it existed a few weeks ago.”
“How?”
“My … father … was killed,” I said, trying to close my eyes against the surge of emotions that came with reliving that morning. It had been right around the same time of day. Bright and early. The ovens were on and blasting heat into the bakery while flour coated everything, the dough was kneaded, twisted, and tossed, eggs were cracked, and pans clattered. The smells of cinnamon, chocolate, and spices filled the air.
