Page 6 of Dance with the Dragon Duke

“You all right, Dark?” Margot asked, eyeing the dagger jutting from his leg.

“I’m all right,” he said through gritted teeth.

A sharp screech sounded in the distance, a patrolman’s whistle.

Susan lowered the fire poker. “Constable’s coming, Darko. These fools are Lunar. You’re not. If you kill a local, they’ll throw you in their iron prison while they sort it out. You too, Tomorrow. Ease off him now. He ain’t worth it.”

Dark grumbled at her, annoyed that she was right.

Tomorrow climbed slowly to her feet, chest heaving, eyes burning with that legendary Seelie fierceness. The human attacker shielded his face and cowered from her. It amused him, watching one of the brutes who had discussed so cavalierly stabbing her, now cowering from the tiny woman.

“Teach them a lesson,” Susan suggested, “but don’t murder them right here at our place of business, please. The constabulary could shut us down for weeks.”

Margot rested the broom handle on her shoulder. “Let me get a good look at this lot,” she said, squinting at the faces of the scoundrels. “I’m going to give the Bloody Queen of Nighta detailed description of each of you ratbags. Every line, mole, and pimple. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave the province before the queen gets her hands on you, rips you apart, and nails bits of you to our front door.”

The human beneath Tomorrow scrambled to his feet and ran. The fae with a fox tail tried to make a break for it, but Dark tightened his hold, the heavy plated scales of his tail pressing the man against the wall so hard he groaned. The horned one showed his teeth defiantly.

Margot poked the unconscious mortal in the cheek with the end of her broom handle. He didn’t move.

“I could eat that one,” the duke said, the words rumbling from deep in his throat. “I could devour him whole while his friends here watched. That’d teach them all a lesson, and then there’d be nothing left for the constable to find.”

The horned fae whimpered, and Dark felt him swallow under his palm.

Susan shrugged her shoulders. “Works for me. Come on, Margot. We’d better slow down the constable. He’ll be here soon. Eat fast, Darko.”

The two of them sauntered down the alleyway, hoisting their skirts above their ankles to keep their hems from dirtying.

Dark leaned on his good leg. His injured thigh screamed at him. “If I ever see you again,” he told his captives, pain coloring his words with menace, “I’ll burn you both into smoldering piles of ash.”

With a sacrifice of the blood oozing from his leg, he allowed smoke and sparks to blow from his mouth. His next breath covered them in smog, singeing their clothing. Brimstone stung his nostrils.

When Dark released them, they bolted from the alleyway, slipping and sliding in the gathering snow.

“What about that one?” Tomorrow asked, jutting her chin at the unconscious human on the ground. She favored her fists, clutching them to her chest like they hurt. “Are—are you really going to eat him?”

“No,” he scoffed. “Certainly not in this form. Susan and Margot can handle one mortal. They’ll probably offer him to the constable as the reason for the commotion.”

“I suppose that’s wise.”

Their eyes met, hers a whirlwind of worry and fear. A tangled mess of white hair curtained her pale face.

“You saved me from an iron blade,” he said.

“And I regret it,” she said playfully. Sucking in a breath, she showed him her knuckles. They were bright red and trembling. “Helping you really hurt. I don’t think I’ll try it again.”

A grunt of laughter slipped out of Dark. “You swung at him with your thumbs tucked into your fists. You’ll break your hands that way.”

“Gods above and below!” Tomorrow’s eyes widened on the knife sticking out of his thigh, seeing it for the first time. “They stabbed you! And you’re standing there lecturing me about my fighting form?”

“I’m all right.” It wasn’t pleasant, but he’d certainly suffered worse. It wasn’t even bleeding much with the blade still in place. Taking it out was the tricky part.

“Divines’ sakes. No, you aren’t!” She rushed to his side, tucking herself under his arm. “Let me help you.”

Dark rested a fraction of his weight against her. Tomorrow sunk under his bulk.

“Oh, holy hell. You’re heavy as a horse,” she said, gritting her teeth and glancing down at the black blood oozing from the tear in his leg. She gagged.

“I’m not offended that you think I’m too heavy to lift,” he told her, “but I will be offended if you vomit on my wound.”

---