Page 58 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
I grinned, remembering what Dachor had told me. “That’s easy. No mystery there.”
“What? Are you serious? You’ve known what’s going on with me this whole time?”
“Ah, sort of. It’s because of me.” I smiled at her confusion. “More precisely, our bond. We draw on one another, Lily. You’re drawing on some of my strength. It will come more frequently the longer we’re bound. Probably some of my speed, as well, and increased reflexes. You’ll likely heal a bit faster, too. Not like me, unfortunately, but definitely faster than any normal human.”
She blinked in surprise as she processed that information. “Oh.”
I nodded, but she still didn’t reach out to take my hand. “What is it?”
“If I draw on your powers, then what do you draw from me? What are you taking of mine?”
“Emotions,” I said carefully. “You’re giving me emotions.”
“You didn’t feel before me?” she asked, dumbfounded.
“No, no, I did,” I said. “I felt anger. Pride. Hatred. Vengeance. Lust.”
“Oh.”
I nodded. “Now I find myself feeling joy. Happiness. Care. Moments of serenity and others.”
She didn’t ask me to elaborate, and I didn’t. I wasn’t entirely ready to admit to that. Not yet. Dachor had opened my conscious mind to the idea, however, and I was finding it impossible to put away. Like a genie set free, it whirled in the back of my mind.
But I wasn’t going to bring that one up. Not until I was sure about it.
“So, that’s it, then,” Lily said, sticking to the subject. “This is because of you?”
I nodded.
“Damn.”
“What?” I asked, trying to puzzle out her frustration.
“I thought it was me,” she said with a shrug, looking at the ground. “That I was special.”
Stepping closer, I lifted her chin, forcing her to meet my eyes. “Youarespecial, Lilith Rowe.To me.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lily
“Bee, listen,” I said, gripping his forearm as he caressed my jaw.
“Bee?”
I frowned. “What’s wrong with that?”
“My name is Belial.”
“I’m aware of that,” I said. “Has nobody ever called you Bee? Do you have another short form you’d prefer? Lial just sounds weird as a nickname.”
“A nickname.”
“Yeah, like how you call me Lily instead of Lilith most of the time? It’s what people do when they’re … close, I guess. Friends.”
Or more than friends. But I left that part off.
“Is that what we are?” he asked. “Friends?”
