Page 78 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
Belial snatched us up, one in each arm, and flung himself through the opening. We fell, both humans screaming as the ground raced up for us.
Giant bat-like wings spread wide well before we hit the ground, and Belial pumped them as hard as he could, driving us up into the air and away from the castle.
“How far until we can go back to Earth?” I asked over the wind as it rushed past. Behind us, Astaroth burst from the side of his castle, the wall exploding outward as he grew in size, his wings blotting out much of the sky as he came after us.
“Edge of his territory,” Belial shouted, pointing at a break in the landscape ahead of us, a huge gouge in the land.
I looked at that, then behind us. Astaroth was closing rapidly.
“It’s gonna be close,” Belial confirmed. “Very close.”
Ahead, just past the break in the land, the air was shimmering gold, swirling slowly in a circle. Our way out.
Astaroth howled in rage as he came on like a maddened beast, his severed arm reattached but hanging limply against his side. His eyes promised murder.
“He’s going to get us!” my mother shouted, the gateway so close.
But Astaroth was closer. We were going to go through it together.
At the last moment, as Astaroth’s working arm lunged out for Belial’s trailing foot, Belial pulled his wings in. We dropped like a stone, headingunderthe opening.
Astaroth, so focused on his brother, never even noticed, and he shot through the portal, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
“How the …”
Belial’s wings snapped open again, and we came down to Earth, where he opened another portal.
“Where did that one send him?” I asked as we prepared to step through.
“To Dannorax’s private chambers,” he said with a smile.
My mother looked at us both in confusion.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We have a lot to catch up on.”
“That we do,” she agreed. “That we do.”
So, with my demon prince on one side, and my mother on the other, I stepped through the portal. Somehow I had done it. Gone into the Underworld, and come out alive.
I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to go back to just being a baker, though.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Lily
“Where are we?” I asked as we stepped through into an unknown location.
The warm sun shone down, properly yellow-orange and not red, or dull yellow, or any other colors that might signal a different realm. My skin immediately warmed, but in a pleasant way, without the ungodly humidity of the Underworld. Trees swayed under the light, their fronds green and bright. Grasses swirled as the breeze washed over us.
“A little place I set up a long time ago,” Belial said. “For emergencies. Come, come, let’s go inside.”
“Inside?” I echoed, glancing at my mother.
She hadn’t said much during our wild escape, but her eyes were alert, and she was present. It was all probably a big shock to her. Freedom after so many years of imprisonment, the change would be a lot to take in.
She met my gaze, and together, we turned to see where Belial was pointing.
“This is your definition oflittle?” I gaped, staring at the huge casa sitting on the edge of a cliff. Below, the surf crashed against the rock in giant sprays of white.
