Page 6 of Defy Me

The demon was drawn to several more hearts pushing blood through the weak little bodies of the humans. It couldn't help but want a snack. Jett kept it satisfied with very rare steak. Tonight he ignored it. He wanted something entirely different. An ache he hadn't allowed himself to feel for a hundred years mawed open in his chest.

Only she could fill it.

Jett shook his head. What the fuck kind of thinking was that? He had never needed anything or anyone. Ever. This was a passing fancy. A wild goose chase, a lark. Something to entertain him for a few hours while he awaited news from the the magic dealer. The fucking really well paid man who had so far come up with nothing but fairy tales.

He couldn't save his brethren with rainbows and unicorn kisses.

Unicorn blood on the other hand...

Jett let himself sink into the shadow and his form dissolve. He shifted into his demon dragon form, his senses reaching out and touching every bit of life in the area. He could feel the blood rushing through everything from the sleeping tourists in the buildings around him to the tiniest cockroach under their beds.

She had to be here somewhere. His dragon sight took over and he jumped onto the rooftops. He would be able to better track her from up here. There, over in an alleyway, he could taste her in the shadows. He followed the scent up and down the narrow spaces between buildings. She was here, but she wasn't.

He hadn't thought she was a witch. She was something, but magic like that had a particular flavor about it. He'd met several witches, both powerful and not. None of them had the deliciousness of his thief. Now, where could she be.

Jett set his nose to the rooftop tiles and followed any hint of her scent. She was here, he knew it. He peaked in windows and saw plenty of beautiful women in various states of undress. He couldn't care less. None of them were the one he sought. None of them were her.

Obsessed much? His search was bordering on it. This was more than a mere distraction now. He couldn't do anything but sit around and drink beer until he got the next clue in his quest to kill the Black Dragon and break the curse.

He relished a good distraction. She was it, his new goal.

Hours passed with no progress and soon the sun would lighten the sky. He wouldn't be able to hide in the shadows much longer. Being seen in dragon form would only stir up trouble. Fine. He would shift back to his human form. Eventually she'd have to come out of her hiding place and he would be ready to pounce on her.

Jett slid down the side of the building he stood on, sneaking into the last shadows of the night. A swirl of black wafted around his feet. He wasn't the only creature of the dark. Against the wall, a demon dragon, his brethren formed out of the inky blackness.

One of the demon dragon's wings was torn nearly off and he had deep cuts criss-crossing his body. Jett recognized those wounds. They were from his father's fire whip. The King of Hell himself had beaten one of his brothers, nearly to death.

"Jett." Its hissed voice was a mere rasp, telegraphing the pain. "AllFather comes. Jett dies. Go now."

His brother collapsed and Jett caught him in his arms. The demon dragon's head lulled and there was no saving him. Damn it all to the fiery pits.

"Rest now brother and know no more pain."

Black eyes, matching Jett's own blinked up at him one more time. "Jett comes. AllFather dies."

The cursed creature turned to coal black dust, staining the wall, the street, and Jett's skin.

Jett could do nothing but growl low and re-avow the vengeance he would wreak for this death. More of his brothers died, mostly killed by the dragons he'd stuck a pseudo-alliance with or his own father's hand. He may have clawed his way out of hell, but it followed him each and every day. It would continue to until he could return and depose his father, end his reign.

Only then would he and his brothers be free. To do that he needed an army of his own. He'd tried already to battle the Black Dragon on his own. He would have died trying if the dragons would have let him. But, no. They had to rescue someone else's fated mates.

Fuck fate.

At least he'd extracted a future favor from the Gold Dragon Wyvern in the process. Once he had the key to ending the curse, he'd call in the favor. Big time.

Until then, he needed to keep a low profile. If his father had found him in this seaside German village, it was time to find a new village. Maybe in the south of France. He'd had a shameful lack of sunshine in his life.

Jett wiped his hands clean and glanced around to make sure no other demon dragons were about. Only the cursed could be trusted. The others were dumb as fucking boxes of rocks and would report his position back to his father hoping for a boon.

He neither saw or sensed any darkness rising. What he did get was a slap in the face of her. That unique energy that was entirely the little thief was amped up and calling to him like a giant flashing sign that said "Come and get me."

Well, fuck. No woman, lickable or not, was worth risking his life or the lives he was responsible for. So why wasn't he walking away? What was it that had him chasing her all night long and rooted now to this spot watching her like a creepy stalker?

She walked out of the front of a building he'd searched a half-dozen times last night. An electrified magical charm winked at him from her chest, dangling on a delicate chain around her throat. She had not been wearing that last night.

Zings of energy, lust, and the need to claim her as his own burst every damn cell in his body, filling him with light and intense need. No way, no how could he leave her to the destruction the Black Dragon was about to wreak on this little town.

Death if he stayed, death to her if he didn't. Caught between a rock and a hard on. He wasn't as dumb as he looked. Jett was going to have the best of both worlds if he acted fast. His enticing thief was standing at a food cart and he snuck up behind her. She was fumbling with some awkward German.

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