Page 64 of Dance with the Dragon Duke

“Who would Leif sell that information to?” Dark asked.

“The only person I know he’s taken bribes from in the past is Lord Glen Freest. Glen has lots of reasons to want me dead.”Jonas tried to set the cat down, but she dug her claws in and refused to budge. The Bargainer winced.

“Same. What’d you do to the man?”

“I married the mate he wanted,” he said with a sly grin.

“That’ll do it,” Dark said. “I can’t stay here. I’m supposed to be at the ball.”

“I’m sure Miss Easton will understand,” Jonas said. The next bullet cut through the door, much too close to his head.

Dark reached up and over Jonas. He turned the knob twice, then thrice. Purple lit the threshold.

“What in the hottest Hell is that?” Lavendar light glowed in the Bargainer’s dark eyes.

The duke pushed his treasures inside the safety of his sacred space, ignoring the question. “I’ll send help for you.”

“Oh no. No, no, no, you damn well won’t leave me here!” Head down, Jonas pressed in closer as more bullets peppered the doorframe. “Take us with you!”

“I don’t let people inside my hoard,” Dark groused, “and I doubt that cat is going to let go of you, so sit tight. I’ll send—”

Cradling the cat like it was an infant, Jonas shook his head. “Whatever dragon thing is happening right now, you’d better suck it up, man! I have a wife and daughter who I promised I’d always be there for!” His gaze narrowed to slits. “If I catch a lead bullet in my head, I’ll be a liar. Don’t make me a liar, you great brute. Take me with you.”

The sound of gunshots continued to echo about the pawnshop. Dark heaved a pained breath. “Fine, but touch anything in my hoard, and I meananything,and I’ll bite your hands clean off. Understand?”

“I’m not going to touch anything, for gods sakes!”

“Get in there, then!” Dark shoved him headlong inside. He followed the Bargainer, slamming the door shut.

Jonas rolled into the meadow, and his cat yowled and hissed in his arm. He rose to his feet, dusting down his woolen trousers with his free hand. “What are you doing now?”

Dark stood before the door, took hold of the handle once more, and twisted it. “Going to the winter ball. I’m late. If you want to see to your shop, you’ll need to see to it from there.”

When Jonas didn’t answer, Dark looked behind him.

The Bargainer was covered in fairies. Jonas chortled at them. The cat clung to his jacket, rightfully wary of the girls as they zipped around. They climbed on the Bargainer’s horns, swinging from them.

“I’m not touching anything,” Jonas insisted, spreading his arms wide. “Stop looking at me like you’re going to bite my hands off. They’re touchingme.”

“Bebebebebe,” Bebe buzzed, sailing toward the cat.

“Don’t eat the feline,” Dark shot over his shoulder. He turned the knob once more, closing his eyes so he could better picture the closet near the small library at the House of Night. He visualized marble floors, the dull gas lamps made for Lunar eyes, bookshelves and artwork that melded new and ancient.

He opened the door into a dark corridor. Twinkling blue and purple mage lights lit a path up ahead into the main hall. The cloying scent of incense burned in his nose. Jonas said a brisk goodbye to the girls and followed Dark out, settling his cat into the crook of his arm. They walked together down the corridor, funneling into the hall toward the ballroom.

The sound of angry bees cut through the string music. Dark looked up and spotted Ruby jetting from chandelier to chandelier in a panic, glancing this way and that, her tiny head on a swivel.

“Ruby,” Dark shouted, waving the fairy child over.

“Rower!” Ruby shouted, jetting in closer, her bat-like wings buzzing behind her. “Rower, Rower, Rower!”

“Where is she?” Dark scanned the ballroom for her familiar white hair.

Ruby flew into his chest so hard she knocked him back a step. She grabbed the lapels of his formal jacket and jerked on them. “ROWER!”

Something was very wrong. Icy cold crept through Dark’s veins.

“I’ll handle the gunmen. You’ve got other problems,” Jonas said, turning on his heels and departing at a gallop.

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