Page 44 of Dance with the Dragon Duke

“I’m so so so sorry,” she chanted, hanging her head. “I swear I never meant to . . . to . . .”

“Make me fall in love with you,” he finished for her. An invisible band tightened around his ribs.

“My dear sweet Dark, but I love you so.” Her breath hiccupped. Her nose ran. She reached for him, brushing shaking fingers along his jaw. “Please don’t look so devasted. I beg you.”

“It can’t be helped. Iamdevastated.”

She dropped her brow against his chest. Her hot tears soaked into the linen of his shirt. His limbs felt leaden. Dark palmed the back of her head, knotting his fingers in the short ashen hair there, what little remained from the poison that was killing her.

“Tell me how long you have,” he pleaded. “I . . . I don’twantto know, but Ihaveto know. Don’t spare me or yourself this time. Tell me quickly, like you’re ripping off a bandage.”

She flattened her cheek against the space above his heart, and the organ stammered. Slowly, she sucked air in through her nose, then released it out her mouth. “Any day now, Dark. At this point, every breath I take is a borrowed one.”

Her confession was an iron dagger in his heart. Pain seared through him from that gaping wound. Hugging her close, he rocked her in his arms, trying to will the ghost of mortality far, far away from her.

A woman who radiated sweetness, who was honey incarnate, sunshine in all the darkest places, should never be stalked by death.

He buried his face in her hair and sobbed.

Chapter 11

Dark

The duke knew he was being humored when Tomorrow finally agreed to let a mortal physician examine her. Back inside the Gilded Boot, Dark relayed the devastating news to Susan and Margot, and the doctor was summoned posthaste.

Tomorrow sat patiently on the edge of his bed, flanked by the courtesans who seemed as desperate as he was to stay close to her now, as if together they could keep death away with constant vigil.

Dr. Bandile arrived quickly despite the poor weather. He had a booming laugh that carried down the hall, deep umber skin, and thick black hair. Dark might have been tempted to like the mortal if the circumstances had been vastly different, if his heart hadn’t been jammed so hard into his throat.

The duke introduced himself to the physician, pulling him aside. He fished two ancient wyvern coins out of the purse in his pocket and handed them over. “For your trouble, sir.”

Dr. Bandile studied the coins with one raised brow. He handed them back to the duke. “That’s far too much, Your Grace. Miss Susan and I have a regular arrangement already. I see those in her house who need it for a seasonal fee.”

“All the same,” Dark said, trying to give the coins back.

The doctor stopped him with a gentle touch on his arm. His brown eyes were kind. “You realize I hope, Your Grace,that overpaying me now will not change the findings of my examination.”

Dark’s lungs hitched. “I . . .” He rubbed at a spot on his chest that wouldn’t stop aching. It seemed completely unfair to own such a vast fortune but not be able to use it to purchase the one thing he wanted most of all. “I do understand that, of course. Justplease.”

That desperate word hung there pregnant.

“I will take very good care of my patient,” Dr. Bandile vowed. He turned his kind eyes on Tomorrow.

Her lips quirked weakly. She was getting tired. Dark saw it in the deepening smudges beneath her eyes, in the way she blinked heavily and her slender shoulders drooped.

“My dear,” the doctor said to her, “would you be more comfortable if Miss Margot and Miss Susan assisted me today?”

Her chin dipped in assent. “Thank you, yes.”

Glancing at the duke, Dr. Bandile made a sweeping gesture toward the door. “Your Grace, if you would please grant us some privacy.”

Tomorrow sent Dark a sunshine smile. “Actually, I prefer him right where he is, if it’s all right with you, Doctor.”

Humans usually followed strict moral codes and had strange ideas about the vulnerability of unmarried women. It pleased Dark that this one didn’t make a fuss about any of that. His face remained placid and free of judgement.

“If it pleases you,” the physician said softly. “Miss Margot, Miss Susan, if you could help our friend undress down to her shift . . . Thank you kindly.”

The doctor’s examination was methodical and thorough. He produced a stethoscope from a brown leather bag. He placed the rubber pieces in his small mortal ears and held the tubed end high on Tomorrow’s breast. After listening to her heart andlungs for a time, he placed his ear directly against her chest. He did the same to her back, listening in the silence.

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