“Fuck, can we just take them joined?” Malachi wonders. “I doubt they’d even notice some Idol skewering them.”
Idol. Danger.
I tear my mouth free of the dazed woman in my arms. She scowls at our audience. “Sausage blockers. A maiden can die of being too maideny, you know.”
“Not a thing,” Hart mutters as he chucks a bundle of clothes in my direction. “Suit up. I’m assuming using your dragon to burn our enemies isn’t an option right now?”
I shake my head. I need to create a little distance between us, or I risk losing myself to my dragon forever. With a sigh, I release Daphne from my grasp. Her feet slide to the ground, but then she keeps going until she’s on her ass. “I just need a tempo.”
“That must have been some kiss,” Malachi muses.
I wink at Daphne, not trusting myself to speak yet while I yank on the clothes. With difficulty, I tear my gaze away from the impossible creature who rescued me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.
She brought me back from the beast, but she has no idea what else followed me out.
Chapter Twenty
Daphne
Hart thrusts a piece of parchment into my hands. I scowl at the words, and a deep hatred for the Idols builds.
NOTICE OF SACRED REPOSSESSION
Issued under the Unquestionable Authority of the IDOLS OF THE HALLOWS.
Do not fold. Do not burn. Do not mock. Do not kiss under this notice.
WANTED: THE STONE SISTERS FOR CRIMES AGAINST FATE
DAPHNE STONE and GWYNETH STONE
Aliases include, but are not limited to:
Grimm Bloodline
Architects in Rebellion
Narrative Tamperers
The Problem(s)
That One With the Mouth
CRIMES AGAINST FATE (ALLEGED, OBVIOUS, AND EXTREMELY RUDE)
Interfering with ordained endings
REWARD
DEAD:1,000 gold coins each
ALIVE:3,000 gold coins each
ALIVE AND INTACT:5,000 gold coins each. Intact includes: eyes, toes, fingers, heart, and narrative compliance.
My finger traces the terrible drawings of me and Gwyneth. No one is going to recognize us from this. My nose is not that wide, and my eyebrows don’t curl at the ends like a mustache that traveled up my face. Wait. Is that what eyebrows are? Rouge facial hair that got stuck on its way off one’s face?
“Why the need to define intact?” I mutter as Theo presses himself against my spine and clamps his hands on my hips. He’s only broken contact for a tempo to shrug his clothes on. More’s the pity. That man should stay naked, but only around me. No one else can have my dragon.
