Page 5 of Dragon in Boots

Abruptly, the music ended, and Dash confidently strolled offstage before anyone got near him.

Like a switch had been thrown, the audience instantly calmed, taking their seats and catching their breath. It was like the entire room had collectively experienced one big orgasm. Jac included.

Jac leaned her butt against the back counter and reached for an ice-cold beer. She chugged it and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

What the hell just happened?

She looked down, noticing she was only wearing her black lace bra.

CHAPTER THREE

From the comfort of his mansion’s balcony, Damien Greystone clutched a bottle of forty-year-old scotch in one hand and a small, irate sex fairy in the other while he gazed out at the glittering LA skyline.

Why must life be so complicated?He took a swig from the bottle, attempting (and failing) to drown out the emotions twisting in his gut. It was one thing to love a woman, but it was another to fall for a dead one.

Sky…He sighed.I have to let her go.Not that the ghost sex hadn’t been enjoyable when they’d first hooked up, but dating a ghost came with a long list of complications.

Like Sky being dead, for starters.Then there was the fact that she could not manifest herself very easily, so Damien had to rely on supernatural creatures such as this pesky perverted sex fairy to communicate with Sky. Those facts, however, paled in comparison to their biggest challenge as a couple: Sky dumping him.

Me! Damien Greystone! Immortal tailor to the gods.

It had all started when one of the gods gifted Sky a new living body, a second chance at life. At first, Damien felt elated. He would finally be able to hear Sky speak with a real voice. He would be able to touch her skin and make love to her without any ghostly acrobatics.

His joy, however, quickly unraveled the moment Sky announced she was leaving to once again pursue her career as an investigative journalist.

Obviously, he’d taken it like a man, meaning he’d shoved his pain and anger down a deep dark hole in his heart, but it had not been easy to accept her decision. Especially not after all the twists and turns their relationship had taken.

For two hundred years, he’d been bespelled by Willa, an evil witch who’d made him believe he loved her. So the moment he found himself free of Willa’s sorcery, he began to realize how strong his connection to Sky was. With Sky’s new body and his freedom from Willa, Damien saw a bright future ahead.

Then she stomped on my heart the first chance she got and ran off.

Now Sky was dead again, demanding his help.How dare that heartbreaking vixen come crawling back just because she was murdered a second time.He would not allow it! She’d just end up leaving anyway.

Ghost me once, shame on you. Ghost me twice, shame on me.

“You let me go, Damien!” Pet, the sex fairy, yelled, her tiny voice coming out like a mousey shriek.

“Silence,” Damien growled and hit the bottle.

“Sky says being angry isn’t going to solve the problem.” Pet flapped her lavender wings, trying to break free from his fist. “She says she knows she hurt you, but you have to hear her out. You owe her that much.”

“Meoweher?” he growled. Sky alone had made the decision to go undercover and work for the governor because she wanted to expose his corrupt network of allies who were hunting down supernatural creatures to conduct experiments.

Actually, they’d moved well beyond the experimental phase. The company, SBP, short for Supernatural Body Parts, had been collecting stem cells from creatures like Pet and then using them to grow humanlike bodies. Only, these bodies could live much longer and possessed abilities. SBP, which had been linked to Governor Newbery, was selling these bodies to his wealthy friends who wished to be young forever.

Sky had been one of the first recipients of such a body—a long story—but it had been at great expense to Damien.Such a waste.

“You can’t ignore Sky forever. Now let me go!” Pet sank her tiny, razor-sharp teeth into his thumb.

“Sonofabitch!” He released her and shook his hand in the air. “That hurt.”

Pet fluttered in front of his face, her big blue eyes narrow. “Sky says you’re being a stubborn man-twat, and if you won’t step up to help her, then we’ll rescue her sister and nephew without your help.”

Oh, yes. That was the other part to the most recent chapter of Sky returning to ghosthood; SBP had caught on to Sky’s plot to expose them, and they’d killed her, but not before kidnapping Sky’s sister and nephew, Amelia and Miguel.

What did they want with the two? Damien didn’t know, but he had a much bigger question: How had SBP figured out Sky’s plan?

Answer: someone had tipped them off, and that meant there was a rat in Sky’s immediate circle. Until he knew who the rat was, it made no sense to attempt to free Amelia and Miguel. They’d be ambushed.

---