Page 22 of Grabbed By the Guard

The chains do nothing to me except annoy me. I’m a human, and my power revolves around scheduling all of the demands on a pop star’s time without double-booking. The chains are just heavy and slow me down while keeping me connected to my unrepentant kidnapper who you’d think would be a lot happier that we broke out of the dungeon without anyone seeing us.

Then again, maybe not. Glaine glances over his shoulders repeatedly as he guides me outside. Me? I enjoy the slight freshness that comes with the blue-tinged sky, knowing that once we leave the oasis surrounding the duke’s palace, we’re heading right back to the black shadows, reddish ash, and the stink.

It’s no better the second time. My poor feet are filthy in mere steps, and once again I wish I’d had the foresight to throw on some slippers before getting captured.

Still, I’m a trooper. I’m a firm believer of ‘the better the devil you know’. Glaine’s proven to me—so far—that he has an invested interest in keeping me from danger. Even without the chain, I’d stick by him since I need the tour guide.

Not like he’s showing off his realm. As soon as we put enough distance between us and the palace, he relaxes a little, but he pushes me to move faster.

Does he think I want to spend the rest of my life in a dungeon in Hell? Please. I can’t work toward going home behind bars. I’m trying, but the ash is difficult to navigate without shoes and I can hardly match his pace without the expectant way he glowers at me when I stumble.

“Maybe the next time you decide to kidnap a human, pick one who’s dressed for escape,” I snap. “Sorry that I left my leggings and sneakers behind when you, oh, yeah, stole me.”

If there’s one thing I’m going to do, it’s hold a grudge. He decided he could take me because I was his? Well, he’s going to see that side of Billie as I never let him forget for a second.

What’s he going to do? Leave me behind in the shadows? We’re chained together, and though he promises that that’s our next step—that he’s bringing me to someone who knows how to remove those chains, and who should do it if Glaine asks.

Only one problem. Glaine admitted that, in his demon form, the demon city we’re going to is three days’ walk away from the capital. Three days. In this skintight red dress that is constantly riding up. Three days in no shoes. Three days where I’m not sure how I’m going to eat, where I’m going to sleep, and if I’m going to make it without dropping to the ash and telling the big demon to just leave me behind.

He won’t. It doesn’t take long to realize that. Glaine is as stubborn as I am because, after the first time I do stumble and trip, he’s there to swoop me up in his arms.

“It will be faster this way,” he rumbles.

“Put me down.” I slap his arm. “You’re not carrying me for the next three days.”

“Why not?” he asks, and I can somehow sense his confusion. “I am a strong male, and you are a wee mortal. Your hair may be big and as pretty as the rest of my mate, but it doesn’t add weight if that is your concern.”

I sputter. “It’s not my curls that make me heavy, demon.” Hey. If I’m back to being a mortal, he can be a demon. “It’s my boobs and ass. Now let me down.”

Glaine does so without me having to smack him again.

Once I’m on my feet, though, he braves a fleeting touch, using the edge of his claw to trace the curve of my ass. “It is most voluptuous,” he marvels. “I like it.”

If he sounded pervy, I’d slap his hand away from me. But since there’s an innocence to his tone that makes me think that he means the compliment, I just step away from him.

“Flattering won’t work on me,” I warn him. “Neither will your ham-handed flirting.”

Glaine frowns,

“My hands are made of meat, yes,” he says, and I’m thinking that the translation from English to Sombra is a little wonky there. He shows me them. “But my claws are sharp and strong. I don’t have my sword, but I can protect you with these.”

Those suckers are at least an inch-and-a-half long. I’m actually impressed enough to smile a little as we start heading forward again. Or maybe it’s because he’s not overruling my autonomy, insisting that he carry me after all. He’s letting me walk, and though I’ll probably be begging for a piggy-back ride by day two of this ‘journey’, it’s not enough strike against him for doing what he wants without thinking about what I want.

We walk in silence for a little longer before Glaine clears his throat.

I look over at him. “Yes?”

“I think I’ve understood what it was you said to me before.”

“What’s that?”

“Flirting.”

Okay. “What about it?”

“You mean like how I remind you that I am attracted to you because you’re my mate. That is flirting.”

My small smile dies. “Something like that.”

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