Free Pretty Faces and Dark Places by Rose B. Mashal Page B

tongue as he spoke them.
    “But – what about my life? Why didn’t you ask me first? Why would you do this to me?” Again, the need for crying was so overwhelming, but my eyes wouldn’t produce any tears, not even one.
    I saw the green in his eyes as it started to darken and fear crept inside of my heart. I didn’t know what he did to control it, but he did so a moment later, and before it got even darker, he was able to get it back to its normal color. “You came back to me, Maya.”
    “What?” I asked, confused. “You mean the woods? I came back for Sophie, not for you!” I think …
    “Not true!” he shouted, and I looked down right away, knowing his black like night eyes would come into view and scare me, making me aware that he didn’t like to hear anything about me not wanting him or not wanting to be with him. “You came back for me. You knew the night I would be on earth and you came to see me again, choosing to be with me again, and with that choice you chose to be with me forever – I am your soulmate!”
    My head was pounding and I felt slightly dizzy as I heard his frightening voice and terrifying tone. His words were only telling me the things he thought to be true – or maybe they really were the truth, I didn’t know – but I couldn’t help but feel as if they were commanding, as if he was ordering me to believe him.
    I couldn’t tell if it was fear or truly understanding that made me nod in approval of his words, but I did. I nodded with my head still hung down and my gaze focused on the floor.
    “Why do you need me?” I whispered my question, afraid of making him mad at me again, or even angering him, but I needed to know. I just couldn’t help it, so I kept my tone quiet low.
    “This is how it works for us,” he said, his voice not loud like before. It was much gentler; to be honest, he only sounded impatient, as if he expected me to know all of this or for it to be very easy to understand or something. “It’s very rare for my kind to produce a female. We go to the upper world to find our soulmates, and they help us conceive, because even female demons were never able to carry a pregnancy with a male demon. Our soulmates only exist in your past world.”
    My head started to spin as I listened to him explaining to me why he needed me, and the thought of me being brought here not only to be the mate for a demon but also to bring more demons into the world was nauseating.
    “This is all?” I wondered with a voice loud enough for him to hear me. “This is all you need me for? To please you and bring you children?”
    In one second, Andrew was kneeling in front of where I was sitting on the elegant armchair. His eyes were bright green and colored with so much passion and care, and his beautiful features were begging me to believe all of the things his eyes wanted me to believe. When he touched my hands, I knew that I would believe anything that would come out of those lips, because his warm touch and firm-yet-gentle grip sent shivers down my spine and warmth to spread all over my heart.
    “Angel, please don’t go there,” he started with a calm, pleading voice. “Why don’t you understand? You were brought here because my heart chose you. My eyes fell on you and I knew you were the love of my life. I knew you were the one I’d been waiting for all this time. You’re my soulmate; of course I’ll need you to be by my side forever. You’ll be my partner; of course I’ll wish with everything in me to have you carrying my child. But it’s because I love you, it’s only because I’m in love with you, Maya. My heart picked you before my mind even started to form a thought about you; you’re not just a random person I chose.”
    “You love me?” I gasped softly, shocked at his words and shocked at how it was so easily believable for me.
    “With everything in me, Angel,” he said sincerely, and before I could comprehend the thought, his lips touched mine as he kissed