Page 44 of Demon Queen
He raised a sexy brow. Behind me, I heard Lucia giggle. She was still watching him, undone by his brow raises.
“I wasn’t aware that becoming a Candy Queen and garbing oneself in remarkably unhistoric costumes was normal human behavior, but what do I know? Shall I tell you how many demons were working for you already?”
I grabbed his arm. He flexed under my touch and his eyes flickered before he got his glamour under control. “No. Absolutely not. There was only the one.”
He smiled sweetly. “Perhaps I’ll tell you which of them are human. Toby is human. Congratulations on hiring one human out of so many demons.”
I cleared my throat. All those demons had already been working in my shop? Why? Was it the angel thing? Was I going to faint? The world grew blurry around the edges until I blinked Dorian, the handsomest creature in the world back into focus. Annoyingly handsome. He didn’t need such a pretty glamour. “Ah. They clean up very well.”
“Naturally. They’re demons. Illusions are the first thing a demon learns.”
I glared at him. “Lies too.”
“Absolutely. Would you care to dance, my queen?”
“I’m not your…”
He took my hand and led me out into the dance. Quadrille. I’d looked up how to do it online to prepare, but that didn’t mean I was good at it. Dorian was good, very good, like he’d spent a lifetime in pantaloons leading women into the dance. The musicians were also like that, like they were used to performing for dancers, and the whole shop was so alive, so magical, so otherworldly, even though it was barely after noon. Should I protest? Out of all the weirdness, I could deal with dancing.
I danced with him until a little boy tugged on my sleeve.
“Yes?” I said, relieved to not be so close to Dorian. Except that I also hated it.
“Are you really the Candy Queen?”
I smiled down at him and his big eyes and round cheeks. “I am. Would you like to try the cake?”
“I want to dance with you.”
I glanced at Dorian who gave me an elegant bow and left me to dance with the very young but enthusiastic customer. When the song ended, I curtsied.
He leaned in and said, “Will you marry me?”
It was so adorable. I was going to pat his head, but a strong hand came around my waist.
“She’s already married to the demon king,” Dorian said, so smooth as he spun me away and back into the dance. He moved us away from the customers, staying in the center of his demons who all acted like a barrier so that nothing could break us up. Yep, there were Lisa and Merl as part of the cohesive candy crew. Apparently demons. Shudder.
I glared at Dorian, like it was all his fault that I attracted demons like catnip. Or an angel. “I’m not married to the demon king. I may have had a joke wedding with Dorian, but as you made so clear, you are not the same person.”
“What did you talk to the White Rabbit about?”
I inhaled sharply and stumbled in the dance, but he kept his hand on my waist and held me on my feet. “What?”
He smiled, but it didn’t touch his bright eyes. “It’s was very peculiar to break into the Grand Master’s dungeon to talk to a psychopath murderer. Mixl came to get me and tell me that your life was in danger, but he wasn’t sure why you went to see the White Rabbit in the first place.” His eyes flickered again. Was that anger?
“Well…” I had a flashback of the White Rabbit’s gray features, the intensity in his pink eyes as he made me nod three times. If the Zombie Queen knew I was an angel, I was dead. Dorian also hated angels. “It’s a matter of life and death.”
“Life and death?” He stepped away from me, pointed his foot like the world’s most graceful human, and then spun us around so we were back to back, his chin near my ear.
“Yes. My life. My death. I was doing research on demons with Tom, but he only knows so much. The White Rabbit, what doesn’t he know?”
“Nothing he’d actually tell you, and if he did tell you, nothing that you could trust.”
“Yes, well, he didn’t make a lot of sense, but it was a bad day.”
“I understand that being thrust into a world of monsters isn’t what you wanted, but to search out the White Rabbit? That smells of suicidal.”
“I’ve been suicidal a lot since you failed to dump me so phenomenally. I’m not currently, though, mostly because when I start spiraling down into depression, something incredibly weird drags me back out again.”
