Page 13 of Grabbed By the Guard

Huh? “No.”

“So it’s true. It wasn’t the Verus Amor spell that led him to you.”

He’s talking English, but I have no clue what he’s talking about. “Um. I don’t think so. I mean, he was just in my kitchen and, poof, now I’m here.”

“You didn’t open the Grimoire du Sombra?”

I shake my head.

“You didn’t manifest Glaine to the human world?”

I give him a side-long look. “I had the weekend from hell, no offense meant. I was just heading to bed. I didn’t manifest anything.”

“Hmm.”

“And, since I haven’t, I’m sure you can see that this is one big mistake.”

The duke nods, the magic light flashing off of his crystalline crown. “Yes, mortal. I agree with that.”

As much as it rankles for this big demon ruler to call me ‘mortal’ like that, almost like he’s dismissing me instead of being amazed to see a human woman, I keep my mouth shut. I just nod.

“And you’re sure. You are not Glaine’s mate.”

Next to me, my demon kidnapper—Glaine—jerks in place. “Your grace?—”

“No,” I say firmly. “I’m not.”

Duke Haures waves off to the side.

I don’t know what that means, but the purple-eyed demon lurking in the shadows there nods.

As he drifts out toward me, I see that he wasn’t just in the shadows. He is the shadows.

“Put your hands in front of you,” commands the duke. “Now, mortal.”

I have half a mind to refuse. What is he going to do to me if I do?

Second thought? I don’t even want to imagine what these monsters will do if I piss them off. They have claws. Fangs. Holes on the outside that are filled with fire. And, yet, nothing seems more dangerous than this falsely regal demon with the crystalline crown.

Biting my tongue, I hold my hands out in front just like he ordered. The purple-eyed demon says something in that harsh demon language. The duke nods. The purple-eyed demon rubs his inky black hands together, and when he’s done, he’s conjured a length of golden chain between them, complete with thick manacles on each end.

He throws them at me. I flinch, bracing myself for the impact. It doesn’t come, though when I move and hear metal clinking on metal, I glance down.

More magic, I guess. Because those chains? They’re on me.

“Oh.” The links span about two feet. I shake my hands, the rustling of the chains even louder in the stuffy throne room. “Oh, wow.”

Oh, no.

Glaine frowns when he sees what’s hanging off my wrists. “Duke Haures. Your grace. Chains? I don’t think?—”

“I have to,” the duke responds, speaking in English again as he cuts Glaine off. So I can understand him? Or because I don’t—but he wants to make sure I at least know that he has his reasons for putting me in these heavy, clunky things. “Remember what makes us shadow demons. If you can’t follow?—”

A muscle ticks in Glaine’s solid cheek. Apart from the duke, he’s the only other demon who isn’t hovering in that strange shadowy version. “I’ll burn,” he supplies.

Wait. He’ll what?

Duke Haures nods. “Yes. And where the mortal is going… you will stay behind in the throne room with me, Glaine. Do you understand?”

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