Page 67 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
I glared at him. “Stop trying to change the subject.”
“Look,” he said, not acknowledging my point at all.
Following the thrust of his jaw, I glanced toward the horizon.
A range of volcanos actively spewing ash and lava occupied the horizon. Under the black cloud that blotted out the sky was a giant fortress.
“That’swhere we’re going?”
The thing defied comprehension. It straddled the gulf between two volcanos, with its highest spire reaching nearly as tall. Walls hundreds of feet high blocked the land route up from the base of the mountains, stretching almost from the mouth of one volcano across to the next.
Each block that made them up had to be the size of tractor trailers or perhaps larger. The gates set into the defensive walls were big enough to admit an aircraft carrier. Sideways. I had no idea anything so big could ever exist without crumbling under its own weight.
“I’m starting to see why you said I was crazy,” I squeaked as we rose higher into the sky to clear not only the walls but many of the towers that rose dozens or hundreds of stories higher than the fortifications.
Speaking of that, I could see figures moving within the castle.Lotsof figures.
“We can’t take on an entire army,” I said. “You must have some sort of plan?”
“Some sort of plan, yes.”
“I’m so inspired by your confidence. Could you share it with me?”
He shrugged. “A visit from another prince is perhaps not common but far from rare. I’m banking that Astaroth won’t think us dumb enough to come here. None of his men will have been told to stop us or even to watch out. They’ll assume we’ve come to see Astaroth himself. We should be able to fly right into his tower as long as we act like we belong.”
“That’syour plan?” I moaned, shaking my head. “We’re going to die, aren’t we?”
“I can’t die,” he said. “But I won’t let that happen to you. I swear it. I won’t lose you.”
I looked at him, trying to read the foreign, almost alien facial features of his demon form, histrueform, but I couldn’t pick up a thing. But that was the second or third time he’d mentioned “losing me,” voicing his aversion to such a thing.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on just what that might mean about Belial, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to know why he was so concerned. Was it simply that he expected me to die? Or did he have a reason for wanting to keep me? A personal reason?
I shook my head. Demons couldn’t do what I was thinking of. They weren’t capable of it. Were they?
“Here we go,” Belial said, and we began to descend.
Holding tight, I swallowed nervously as the colossal fortress grew swiftly.
I’m coming for you, Mother.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Belial
The motion of flying was so far hiding the thundering of my heart as we descended. The slickness of her skin meant the tightness of my grip seemed only natural, my tension a result of our situation.
I couldn’t let Lily know it was all because of her instead. That I was nervous about bringing her into the heart of my brother’s realm. That I was holding her tight, not so that she didn’t fall but because it might be the last time I could do so. I was tense because I knew any wrong move might bring her death.
Losing her would mean losing myself. A piece of me would be ripped away, and I wasn’t sure how I would fare if she died. I’d told her that she took my powers, and I took her emotions, but I never revealed just how strongly that impacted me.
There were times when I looked into her honeyed eyes or when she smiled up at me unguardedly that I actuallydidn’tfeel demonic any longer. The constant rage that used to be my only companionvanishedaround her. She was changing me, making me into a new thing. A thing I didn’t know I was capable of being.
If I lost that … I didn’t know what I would do.
I set us down on a large open courtyard halfway up the gigantic main tower. Lily slipped from my grasp to stand on her own, but she stayed glued to my side. I almost turned to face her then and there to confess to her that I thought, deep inside, that perhaps I was actually falling—
“Who goes there?” a voice barked.
