Free Prince of Demons 2: The Order of the Black Swan by Victoria Danann Page B

about me. Beautiful gray eyes that change color whenever you move,” he mused almost to himself.
    “We got the relic, as you know, and brought it back safely, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I returned to the shelter where you were staying and listened to your conversation. That’s where I learned where you live.
    “I couldn’t stay away from you. I started getting injections every day so that I could visit the place where you live. I came often at night while you slept.”
    Lana was trying to sort through the idea of invisible demons, or humans, coming and going from Order Headquarters with no one the wiser. Her mind told her that the idea of Brave visiting her while she slept was creepy, the ultimate in parastalker. But she couldn’t seem to work up much of an emotional disturbance about it.
    “I went to you almost every night and watched while you read stories on your device until you fell asleep. You kept old style paper books in your room like sacred texts. I wanted to know what interested you. So I borrowed one at a time, knowing it wasn’t likely that you’d miss it.
    “I couldn’t read the words, but the Callii, like most demons, are fluent in hundreds of languages. They can even absorb new languages by psychic osmosis when they come across one they don’t know.
    “So I brought a book back and asked them to teach me to read the strange little symbols. I wanted to read your book, but I knew that I would also want to talk to you someday. So I asked for volunteers to acquire the dialect you speak and then insisted that no other language be spoken in my presence until I was fluent enough to sound like a native.”
    He shook his head and smiled a little. “The initial lack of understanding presented difficulties, but I was sure that was the fastest way to learn. Total immersion.
    “The only exception I made to that rule was for reading tutorials. I would sit and read the book out loud while one of my tutors corrected pronunciation and helped me with interpretation.
    “When I finished one book, I would put it back on your shelf, in its exact place, and take another. At the end of three weeks, I could read out loud without stumbling. My tutors’ corrections of mispronunciations were becoming fewer day by day.
    “Misunderstandings about conversational usage were also becoming rare. I continued to come see you at night and continued to borrow books until I’d read them all. I wanted to know everything about you and what you like.
    “I’d instructed the Callii to tell me when there was no more room for improvement in my command of your language.
    “The most important thing about this part of the story is this. At the same time I’d been learning your language, I’d been learning, through your choice of reading material, that you fantasized about adventure and romance.”
    For the first time, he saw emotion flicker over Lana’s face and perhaps her cheeks were a little pinker than they’d been. He waited to see if she had something to say. When she remained silent, he pressed on.
    “It occurred to me then that, if I could create an adventure that would thrill you and, if I could accompany you on that adventure, you might fall in love with me.
    “It took almost a month to create and set up the ‘obstacle course’. We had to start over again and again because I would try it and decide it might be dangerous for you. When we thought we had a final version, I did it myself three times to be sure it could be done without putting you at risk.”
    “So it was all fake,” she said as a matter of fact. “An elaborate but fake escape?”
    “Yes. Entirely designed to give you a fantasy like in your books.”
    She thought about that for a minute.
    “What about the sulfur pools? You couldn’t have designed that.”
    “No. We worked with the natural landscape. My friends and I had played there when we were boys. We held races, the object of the game being to get to the other side first without