Page 37 of Demon Loved (The Witches of Mingus Mountain #5)

He wanted to tell her she was far from “nobody,” but he guessed those were not the words she needed to hear. “Why does anyone feel an attraction to one person and not another? That is one of the mysteries of the universe that I doubt even the greatest minds have been able to solve.”

For just a second, her lips quirked. It wasn’t much of a shift in expression, but it was still enough to give him some hope.

Surely if she hated him and wanted nothing to do with him, he wouldn’t have been able to arouse even the beginnings of a smile.

“Do you think it has something to do with my father?” she asked next, and Belshegar blinked at her, not sure what she meant by the question.

He must have looked utterly blank, because she added, “Because of who he is. I mean, my brother and I look completely human — of course we do, because my father’s body is just as mortal as anyone else’s — but even with that, there’s something very different about his essence. His soul, I suppose.”

Belshegar hadn’t thought of the situation in those terms, and yet he thought she might have something of a point there.

After all, he had met quite a few beautiful Castillo witches at Elena and Alessandro’s reception, but none of them had stirred this spark inside him.

Could it be that he’d recognized the other in Brianna and his soul had realized there might be a chance at some kind of connection?

“I don’t know,” he said frankly. “There is so much about all of this I can’t begin to explain. There is only one thing I know, Brianna McAllister, and that is that I love you. Out of nowhere, against all odds…but there it is.”

Her jaw tightened, but he noticed how she didn’t look away. No, she sat there with those forthright blue eyes fixed on his face as she appeared to consider what he’d just said.

Then something about her expression seemed to relax, and once again, the faintest hint of a smile touched the corners of her mouth. “Well, I suppose that’s a good thing,” she said. “Because I fell in love with you a few days ago and had no idea what to do about it.”

She’d said those words, perhaps the most important in any language, whether on this plane or the uncounted others that occupied all of existence.

But….

“Even….” He made himself take in a breath, then another. The question needed to be asked, even though he hated to bring it up. “Even knowing that I am not human?”

“Well, some part of me isn’t, either,” Brianna replied frankly.

She pushed herself up from the couch, and he found himself rising from his chair at the same time.

For the first time, she smiled outright.

“Although I have to admit that it would be easier if you were able to maintain this form.” Her expression turned curious as she added, “Can you?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “The voice bestowed this form upon me, but he was only borrowing what the demon lord Loc had done for me so I might attend Elena’s wedding. I suppose we could always go to Loc for assistance if the voice decides to return me to my original form as a sort of punishment.”

“That’s good,” she said.

The coffee table still separated them, but Belshegar didn’t see its presence as too much of an impediment. He simply walked around it so he could stand next to her, although he made no other movement.

This must be her decision.

A slight tremor went through her slender body, but then she reached out and laced her fingers through his, pulling him closer. Another step, and she was lifting her beautiful face toward him so he might lean down and kiss her, taste the sweetness of the wine she’d had with dinner.

Or perhaps that was simply herself and nothing more.

Need surged through him, even though he knew this was not yet the time.

Brianna was the one who needed to make that decision, and he knew he would wait for as long as necessary.

She had suffered multiple shocks tonight — the attack by the Collector’s minion, the emergence of her true powers, the realization that the man she’d come to care for wasn’t even human at all — and he guessed she would need some time to get used to the situation.

Those same thoughts appeared to have passed through her mind as well, because although the kiss lasted far longer than any of the others they’d shared, after a few moments, she gently pulled her fingers from his even as she broke off the embrace and took a step backward.

“This is…a lot,” she said. “But even putting aside what’s going on between us, we really need to talk to my father — and the other elders and Connor and Angela — to let them know what happened tonight. I doubt they’ll be too thrilled to learn the Collector went on another rampage.”

Or one of his minions, more likely. Based on what he’d been able to glean from the things Levi and the other elders had said, it didn’t sound as if that master of magical artifacts had much of a desire to get his hands dirty and tended to send others to do his bidding.

For all Belshegar knew, the “voice” wasn’t the Collector, either, but yet another of his lackeys.

Were any of them human?

Impossible to say. If he had been collecting magical items for years, then the properties of those talismans and amulets and what-have-you would probably be enough to make it seem as if those who held them were far more than mere mortals.

“Yes, that would be a good idea,” Belshegar replied.

“They need to know that there’s been an attack here in Jerome.

Perhaps they even sensed a tremor in the wards protecting this place.

” He paused there, then made himself go on, even though he knew Brianna would probably not be too happy to hear his next words.

“And they also need to know how your powers presented themselves tonight.”

As expected, she appeared less than thrilled by that comment. Her mouth pursed, and she glanced down at the patterned rug beneath their feet before she looked up once again, her expression now resigned.

“I suppose there’s no real way to get around it,” she said. “Much as I might like to. I just don’t want people making a fuss because my powers decided to take a left turn at Albuquerque.”

He had absolutely no idea what she meant by that remark. Yes, he knew that Albuquerque was a city in New Mexico, but he failed to see how it could have any bearing on the current situation.

Well, he could leave that aside for now.

“Your father doesn’t seem like the sort of person to make a fuss,” he replied gently. “And I don’t get that feeling from Angela and Connor, either.”

Nor Tricia McAllister, who appeared to be a no-nonsense sort of person. Belshegar was less sure of Allegra Moss, but he had to believe the presence of the others would prevent her from making any uncomfortable outbursts.

Brianna’s shoulders lifted. “You’re probably right. I just hate this kind of thing.”

She reached up to rub the back of her neck, then released a breath and went over to her purse, which she’d dropped on the dining room table as they came in.

After she got out her phone, she touched a finger to the screen and brought it up to her ear.

A pause, and she said, “Hi, Dad? Bill and I have something we need to talk to you about — well, you and the other elders and Connor and Angela.”

Another pause, and Belshegar guessed that was Levi responding to his daughter’s unusual request.

“Sure,” she replied. “We’ll be there in five.”

Then she pulled the phone away from her ear and returned it to her purse. A bit of scrabbling around, and she got out a set of keys.

“We’re driving,” she said. “No way am I walking back up that hill in the dark.”

And that, Belshegar thought, was an excellent idea.