Page 67 of Dance with the Dragon Duke

When nothing but silence answered him, he smashed an outbuilding flat. Then the stone carriage house went next, destroyed under his claws.

“Give me Tomorrow!” he thundered.

“Atta Rower!” Ruby squealed.

There was movement then. Dark pressed his face closer to the window. He spotted Glen in a second-story room, shouting at two other fae, and a growl rumbled deep in his chest. His fire rose up in his throat, ready for him.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs inside. He lowered his head, showing his massive teeth in a threatening leer as two fae ambled out of the house.

The first was dressed like he’d come from the House of Judges, in midnight black. “Your Grace. I am Magistrate Balder,” the fae called. He held a paper in his hands, the font too small to read clearly at that distance. “I’ve just witnessed the marriage of Miss Tomorrow Easton to Lord Glen Freest.”

“I signed nothing!” Tomorrow’s voice carried from the second-story window.

Dark roared at the sky, their plot clear to him now. Glen couldn’t take her inheritance by murdering her. She’d thwarted his every attempt, so he’d forced a marriage on her and would use the certificate to steal the duchy.

“Give me Tomorrow!” Dark bellowed, his breath knocking the bowler hat from the magistrate’s balding head.

“She’s with her husband inside. This is all quite legal and binding, I assure you,” the magistrate said smugly. Rolling the stamped agreement between his hands, he bent low and scooped up his fallen hat, plopping it back on his head. “You’re standing on Lunar lands. Here, Lunar laws reign supreme. Perhaps you should go back where you belong if you don’t like it.”

The magistrate climbed inside the carriage, and a horned Lunar fae with blue skin mounted the driver’s seat, gathering the reins. Dark recognized the scoundrel.

“We are married now!” Glen shouted through the closed window. “It’s been signed and witnessed by a magistrate. See thecertificate for yourself! There’s nothing for you to do here! The deed is finished. Go back to your mountains, you filthy lizard!”

Dark’s fire burned in his throat. He used his claw to cut open his arm, accessing his magic. The duke lowered his head, dropped his jaw, and blew a black ball of fire out of his maw. The ball of flames ate up the magistrate, the carriage, and the driver before they even had the chance to shout. Nothing but smoldering ash remained.

The horses sped off, the ends of their detached harnesses still smoking.

Dark’s big head swung around to face the window. “What certificate?” he said.

But Glen was gone. Dark pressed his eye to the glass and could see nothing inside. He wanted to rip the roof off and retrieve his love, but he could cause something to fall. He could hurt her by accident if he compromised the old building.

Out of options, he rounded to the front door. His claws were too big to turn the knob, but his long tail tapered at the end. It was supple and more efficient as a tool. He used it to turn the knob twice, then thrice. The door opened to his hoard.

“Girls!” he shouted.

It only took a moment for dozens of fairies to glide outside into the winter night.

“Forta Rower!” Ruby chattered at them, flying down to join the group.

“Get Tomorrow,” Dark told them.

And he didn’t have to say it twice. The girls flew up to the window, led by Ruby. Claws bared, they tore through wood and smashed glass. They were inside in seconds, swarming one room and then the next, in search of her.

Dark followed them from window to window, watching.

He found Glen holding Tomorrow by her hair, an arm around her throat in the master bedroom. When the fairies poured inside, he shoved Tomorrow at them and ran.

The girls grabbed her up, lifting her together as one unit, floating her out of the house and into the safety of Dark’s claws. The moment she was in his arms, a vice released from around his heart.

Ruby tore after Glen, hunting him in the halls.

“Wait, Ruby!” Tomorrow twisted, trying to reach for her familiar. “She’s all alone!”

Dark held her gently against his chest, where his body was warmest, to fend off winter’s chill. “Ruby likes to bite,” he reminded her.

“No, no, no!” Glen shouted.

His screams were abruptly silenced.

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