Page 27 of Dante's Circle Reborn

Dante wasn’t around when he headed out towards the parking lot, so he didn’t say goodbye to the dragon. He hadn’t seen Poppy behind the bar either. Instead, there was another person there. He figured Poppy must be on break. Or maybe she had run from him like he was doing with her.

Well, apparently, they were a perfect match, after all. Fate be damned and all that.

He slid his hands into his pockets and made his way to the car, but then a familiar scent hit his nostrils, and he heard the sound of a scream.

He growled, his claws ripping through his fingertips as he slid his hands out of his pockets, his jaguar prowling.

Poppy. That was Poppy’s voice, Poppy’s scent. And he’d be damned if anyone hurt her.

He ran to the other side of the parking lot where the lights were dimmer, and the shadows crept.

Three large men surrounded Poppy, the tight coils of their hair sliding in and out of their glamour as their snakes came at her. One had Poppy by the arm, the other by the waist, the third with a dagger in his hand.

“Let go of her,” Jonah growled, and the three gorgons froze, looking over their shoulders at him.

“Be gone, animal.”

“Wrong answer.” He jumped then, fighting like a warrior of old.

And he was a warrior of old.

He sliced at the biggest gorgon, getting him in the side and kicking him in the knee at the same time. The gorgon fell, clutching his ribs as blood pooled. But Jonah didn’t pay attention. Instead, he went to the other gorgon, wrapping his arm around the man’s neck and twisting. He didn’t break his neck, didn’t know if he deserved death yet, but he did incapacitate him enough that he passed out.

Jonah looked towards Poppy, her eyes narrow, silver slits even as she tried to fight off the other man. She punched at him, kicked, but he was bigger. And he was the one with the knife. She didn’t have the skills, and she was young. Too young to learn centuries’ worth of fighting techniques. One day, he would teach her. His mate would fight by his side as a warrior. He pushed that thought from his mind because she wasn’t going to be his mate. He had to remind himself of that.

And so, he went to the other man and clawed at the gorgon’s back. Before the assailant could slice, Jonah reached out and gripped the gorgon’s wrist, tightly enough that the other man dropped the knife right into Jonah’s hand. And then he stabbed, right into the underbelly of the gorgon. He screamed, and Jonah slid the dagger back out as he looked over at Poppy.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his jaguar in his voice and his eyes if the glow surrounding them was any indication, blood dripping from his claws.

Poppy looked at him, her eyes wide.

In answer, she ran.

ChapterTwo

Poppy did what she did best.

She ran.

Her heart raced, pulsating within the cavity of her chest, and she knew her glamour was fraying at the edges. She couldn’t focus on both at the same time, at least not perfectly, but she did her best. She turned the corner, her feet pounding the pavement as she closed her eyes for a moment so she could focus on the glamour.

The disguise was what kept her safe. No, that wasn’t right. It was what keptotherssafe. Because if the glamour fell, her snakes would show. Her little vipers that were death incarnate, but alsoher. They weren’t her children per se, but they were part of her. It would break her if they were ever hurt, but she also couldn’t let them harm anyone else. That meant she had to be careful. She refused to kill again because of lack of control. She didn’t want to see the life drain out of someone’s eyes as they turned to stone because of who she was.

She couldn’t let that happen, and that meant she wasn’t going to. She ran her hand over her hair, thankful that the tendrils slid against her palm, not the coolness of her snakes. The glamour made it so she could feel the coarse texture of her hair rather than the snakes themselves.

And anyone else who touched them would feel the same—not that she wanted anyone to touch her hair without permission. However, she knew they wouldn’t feel the snakes even though they were there…waiting.

Because they could turn the viewer to stone. Her snakesandher silver eyes.

There were no contacts invented in all the realms that could protect people from the silver of her stare. Her glamour, however, protected her snakes….and the outside world from their existence.

Her glamour back in place, she turned the corner, only to freeze as a man jumped from the roof of the building next to her and landed right in her path. She knew him. Had talked to him in the bar. He’d saved her life. But…why? Why would he be here?

“Poppy? Are you okay?”

He knew her name. It made sense in a way that he would. He knew Dante and the others. Only the word coming off his tongue worried her.Didsomething to her.

She swallowed hard and took a step back. She hadn’t meant to, hadn’t meant to show that weakness. She was justsotired. She’d thought she had found some semblance of peace, but apparently, she’d been wrong. Because how could she be at peace when they would always be searching? She hadn’t even been safe in the lair of a dragon. Where else could she hide? Where else could she run?

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