Page 53 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
“The sweetest punishment of all,” Belial replied. “Betrayal.”
I stared at Dannorax. He saw the futility of it sink in. That was when he spoke.
“Enjoy your stay,” he said as the stone platform rose into the ceiling, taking me back to my cell.
A cell that Belial had wanted me in all along.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Belial
“Don’t do it.”
The heavy hand landed on my shoulder, turning me around with a gentle pull.
I was greeted by the sight of a pair of eyes that glowed green under a hooded cloak. The bearer stood as tall as I, his shoulders slightly less broad but radiating no less power.
“What do you want, Dachor?” I grunted, unhappy at the interruption to my inner thoughts.
“Glorious battle,” the single-minded immortal said, his standard answer to any question. “As any sane being should desire.”
“You and I have very different definitions of sane, my friend,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “And you know how much I like a good fight.”
“That’s just it,” Dachor pointed out.
“What is?” It wasn’t like my friend and fellow jury member to be mysterious.
“Agoodfight, Belial. This is not a good fight.”
My eyebrows lifted. Could he read minds now? Did he know what I had been contemplating doing just moments before he showed up?
“I know you,” the immortal said with a shake of his head. “It’s obvious to anyone with a brain what you would do.”
“Is it?”
I’d been on the rooftop for hours, trying to figure out what to do. Or more accurately, making sure I had planned out all the consequences of what camenext. At some point, without conscious thought, my decision had already been made. Hadn’t it?
“Bel, Bel, Bel,” Dachor muttered, shaking his head, the hood falling back to reveal his completely bald head, the skin tanned dark like the rest of him. “You’re not known for your subtlety. You know this, right?”
I shrugged. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Everything.”
I thought about that. “So, you’re saying they’re going to be ready for me.”
“Unless Dannorax is an idiot, which we know he’s not, yes, they’re going to be ready for you. After your display in the courtroom, he would be a fool to have her under light guard. He knows you’ll come for her and try to break her out.”
“It’s a trap.”
Dachor nodded. “I believe so, yes. He’ll use it to get rid of you as well.”
“He wouldn’t dare,” I grunted, looking back out across The Place Behind at the Black Tower, where Dannorax resided. And the western portion, where the prison that housed Lily was located. “Taking me on would leave him too weak.”
“If you break in and attack the tower, he won’t have to attack you alone,” Dachor warned.
I stiffened, turning to him. “Did he send you here, then, as a warning that you’ll take his side?”
Dachor snorted. “I forgive you for thinking me his messenger boy because I know you’re under a lot of stress. But only once. Don’t insinuate such things again, or you may very well find me in your way.”
