Page 32 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
The look on her face as she backed away from me after I lost my cool still stung. Didn’t she know by now that I would never hurt her? Not now.
Lily’s apartment had gone dark hours ago, but that was because she had to wake up so early. It was only now, as the hours crossed into a new day, that the rest of the building dimmed along with her.
I knew I should go over there and tell her everything. That it was my fault. That I was the one who had brought it on her. Lily was smart. I could sense she knew I was holding something back, that I wasn’t revealing everything. It wouldn’t change what happened next, unfortunately, but I would have to tell her soon.
I didn’t look forward to that. She would be hurt and mad at me, and I didn’t relish her looking at me like that. The fear from earlier had been enough. I wanted Lily to feel nothing like that ever again. She should be safe. Protected. At ease with the world around her. Maybe I could give that to her, maybe not, but I wouldtry.
Which was why I watched from within the dark. Waiting patiently.
The gray-clad man would have gone back to Dannorax, the little rat. Triuk wouldn’t hesitate to make my life more difficult, and informing the dragon judge would do just that.
So, I waited in the dark and watched.
In that scenario, Dannorax would be predictable nearly to a fault. A young human female broke the laws of magic. There was only one acceptable outcome in his eyes. She must be made to stand trial before being bound to one of the jury members for punishment.
Until Lily, I’d sat on the jury for years, enforcing his particular brand of justice upon the local territory. I knew what Dannorax would do. I knew how he would do it. The only things that remained were when he would do it … and what would I do?
The idea of letting the Gray Knights lay a hand on Lily was enough to spark my anger. Those brutish minotaurs, the heavy-handed enforcers of Dannorax’s rule, would come for her in the night. Fear, intimidation, violence, those were their calling cards. That was what they would inflict upon Lily … if I allowed it.
I brooded in the dark. Neither option appealing to me. Defying Dannorax was not smart. He took those sorts of things personally, and I would have to provide suitable reparations to settle the debt between us. On the other hand, if one of those heavy-handed brutes laid so much as a hand upon Lily, I would rip them limb from limb and send them to see some of my kin. A few thousand years of torture at the hands of a demon bred for just that purpose would serve them right.
On the streets below me, a figure buried under a thick coat hurried across an intersection just ahead of a car, narrowly escaping with nothing more than a quick tap of the horn. I watched, but the person didn’t slow down as they hit the other side. They kept moving. Running.
No, not running, but runningaway. Every so often, they looked over their shoulder. Like they were afraid of being pursued.
I swept my gaze back up the road and saw what had sent the runner on their way. A trio of huge men walked down the street in a huddle. Other than their size, there wasn’t much about them that would send someone running. They seemed down on their luck, clothing ripped and torn, but otherwise, they had nothing on them.
Snorting, I muttered a quick word, and my vision changed.
The guise of homeless men shimmered and then faded, showing me the minotaurs underneath, covered in armor, weapons strapped to their sides.
The Gray Knights had arrived.
I leaped into the air, my wings catching me with a strong downsweep that sent me soaring over the divide between buildings, and I landed on the roof with the faintest whisper of gravel underfoot. Hurrying toward the far edge, I glanced into the alley behind Lily’s building. If the knights were ready to show themselves on the street, then—
There. Moving in the alley's shadows, a quartet of enforcers headed for the back door near the garbage dumpsters.
I dropped off the edge, no longer thinking about what I was doing, only acting. There would be others already in the building, having snuck in earlier in ones or twos so as not to draw attention. I suppressed my anger at having missed them and vowed to make up for it.
The only sound of my approach was a whisper of air. But it was enough. The knights scattered as I landed in their midst, leg scything out. I took down one and pounced on him, swiftly knocking him unconscious. Killing would be easier, but that would piss Dannorax off even more. So, I settled for incapacitation.
A brutal-looking axe swung at me, its wielder reacting with unusual speed. I let my demon aspect fully shine through for a moment, and my tail came up like lightning, its razor edge slicing through the weapon's shaft, rendering it useless. Simultaneously, I hit the minotaur in the stomach, driving up with enough force to empty his lungs. As he gasped for air, I slapped him hard enough to scramble his brains.
Then I was moving, bouncing off the wall and over the head of one of the two remaining knights. I landed, reached back to grab his shoulders, and whipped the beast overhead, slamming him to the ground hard enough to crunch asphalt. The minotaur lay still. I grimaced, unsure if he would survive.
That pause allowed the last of the four to hit me in the side with a hammer. The blow tossed me across the alley into the brick wall. Mortar and brick crumbled under the impact. I landed on all fours with a grunt, then shot forward without rising, taking out his feet and dumping the minotaur to his face. My tail shot back as I passed, slicing his belt and waist.
“Damn.” It was all the Gray Knight could say as he stood, and his pants dropped to his knees, rendering him immobile.
My punch caught him across the jaw, and he dropped. I turned and looked up toward the darkened windows of the building. Focusing my mind, I sent the clearest burst of emotion and thought I could.
Danger! Lily! Danger!
There was no time to waste. My fingers dug into the metal door at the lock, yanking it open. A minotaur with a magical stun baton greeted me, shoving it at my face. I fell backward, wings and tail catching me as I kicked out, catching the knight in the stomach, driving him upward and back, and burying his head in the ceiling.
“Gonna owe Dannorax for that one,” I muttered, hurrying past as blood began to drip into the hallway.
His fellows would remove him before any humans came across the scene, including burning away the evidence of his blood. But I hadn’t meant to kill anyone. The night was not off to a good start.
