Chapter 15 #2
I looked up at him, those glimmering, mischievous eyes and the slight wiggle of his brows while his lips twitched. I leaned against his chest and nipped his chin. “You’re amazing. And now I can take what he owes me then you can stick it back in his pocket.”
“Or I’ll put it behind the bar where his guards can collect it when he’s had as much fun as he can handle.”
I glanced over at the daffodil prince. “What makes him a prince?”
“You know fairies. Vicious blood. They have house wars, wipe each other out, and right now, he’s one of the lovely families that aren’t dead.”
“Nice. Oh! That’s how my parents met. My mom’s house was wiped out. Does that mean she was one of those…”
His eyes flickered with orange sparks. “Everyone’s a princess of something. But does it mean anything if there’s no money to accompany the title?”
“Absolutely. It means that people out there might have a reason to kill me. Maybe it wasn’t great-uncle Drestri, but someone in these house-war thingies.”
“Ah. House-war thingies. You’re clearly ready to engage in warfare.”
“Clearly. As long as I have my rabbit, I’ll be fine. Can we dance for real? Do they ever play anything like a waltz or a quickstep?”
He raised a brow. “You waltz and quickstep?”
“Of course. My mother taught me along with how to pour tea. Do you?”
He smiled then swept me into a waltz that somehow didn’t run into anyone else. Even more astonishing was that everyone else flowed around in their own waltzes, and the band morphed into music suitable for the fanciest fairy balls.
It was actually delightful, and much more me than the alluring stuff. We danced for ages, spinning out to float, hovering on the edge of his grasp before he pulled me back into his arms and we moved back into the round.
I gazed up at him as we danced, on and on and on until my whole soul was buzzing with happiness.
A bell rang somewhere, and then Rawley was pushing the devil’s coat and shirt at him.
“It’s closing time, sir. Fairy-goblin. Don’t you have an early morning at the bakery? Too late. It’s already early morning.”
“Oh! The bakery!” I looked up at the devil, hating that we had to stop, but of course we did. I blinked and took a step away from him, but his forked tail wrapped around my ankle, pulling me back into his arms.
“I will take you home,” he murmured low in my ear while my heart beat so fast in my chest. I pressed my hand against his chest to feel his heart, but there was nothing. I blinked at him. “You really don’t have a heart?”
He studied me, and some of the luminosity in his eyes faded. “Not with me.”
“Right.” Because he’d given it away to some idiot who’d sold him to cultists. It was unlikely a devil would ever love, but after that kind of betrayal? It was as impossible as I was. “We should go,” I murmured.
He pulled me close then spun around in a cloud of smoke and sparkles. When he stopped spinning and the smoke cleared, we were in the dead mistress’s room. The rabbit rubbed my ankles while I stood there, the devil’s hands on my shoulders, securing me to him.
“Teleportation. Fancy. You must’ve traded something really cool for that.”
His lips twitched. “I came by that naturally.”
“Weird. You kept that but not your heart?”
He frowned. “Well, we don’t always make the wisest choices.” He pulled bills out of his jacket and handed them to me. Several hundreds. “Don’t open the shop today. Bake to stock up then open tomorrow. You need to sleep.”
I nodded while his warmth seeped into me. He kept his hands on me while the rabbit rubbed my ankles. “That’s very wise. Pity we don’t always make the wisest choices.” I smiled slowly while his eyes narrowed.
“If I release you, you’ll likely crumple to the floor. That nap was a long time ago.”
“All right. Open the door to my room then if you want me to go to bed.”
“Now I don’t trust you to sleep instead of bake.”
“But it’s none of your business as long as I take care of your rabbit.”
“If you don’t take care of yourself, how can you possibly take care of my rabbit?”
I cocked my head as I studied him. “What do you propose? Will you tuck me into the dead mistress’s bed and watch over me to make sure I don’t do anything terribly shocking like start a batch of macarons?”
He picked me up and walked with me the few steps to the large bed then tucked me under the blankets, shoes and all.
I giggled. “You’ve clearly never tucked anyone into bed before. Thank you for being backup and pickpocketing the pretty prince. And the dancing.”
“I have never tucked anyone in bed before. Did I do it all wrong?”
“My shoes. And my pajamas. And I should probably shower before I go to bed so I don’t bake in the stench of sweaty bodies.”
He studied me for a long moment before leaning over and kissing my forehead.
With a slight sensation of falling, I blinked, and I was in my own room, in my own pajamas, in my bed, without my shoes on, and smelling of vanilla and a hint of rose.
The devil was gone, but the rabbit was there, glowing all luminous and ephemeral.
“Well,” I said to him as he snuggled up to me and a wave of happiness flowed over me. “I guess the devil’s a quick learner.” I kissed his forehead like the devil had kissed me then drifted off into the sweetest, caramel-coated dreams.