Defender Dragon (Protection, Inc 2)

He released her hand, stepped back, and turned to the orchestra. Catching the eye of the conductor, he made a small gesture of his hand: Another.

The conductor nodded, and the orchestra struck up another waltz.

Lucas bowed and offered her his hand again. “May I have the next dance?”

With a delighted smile, Journey curtsied. “You may.”

Their second dance was as enchanting as their first. So was their third. And their fourth. The conductor caught on to Lucas’s intent, and had the orchestra play only tunes that would be easy for a foreigner – waltzes and folk tunes whose simple dances could easily be learned on the fly by a good dancer with a strong partner.

Lucas and Journey danced and talked, mostly about her travels. Her favorite place in Europe, outside of Brandusa, was Venice; his favorite was Vienna. The coincidence of the V amused them in a manner Lucas recognized from seeing other new couples’ delight at sharing some trivial similarity. He’d once heard Ellie and Hal enraptured by the discovery that they both loved root beer and hated Dr. Pepper. Lucas had thought it a ridiculous topic for a fifteen-minute conversation. Now he understood.

As their fourth dance concluded, Lucas stepped back. As he began to bow and offer Journey his hand, a cold voice said, “Your highness?”

Lucas straightened and turned. Grand Duke Vaclav stood on one side of him, and Raluca’s uncle, Duke Constantine, on the other. Grand Duke Vaclav wore a familiar expression of chilly disapproval, while Duke Constantine seemed to be repressing outright anger.

“It is good luck to dance with the prince. It is not better luck to dance with the prince four times.” Grand Duke Vaclav shot a contemptuous glance at Journey, making Lucas’s blood flash into steam.

“I asked her to dance,” Lucas replied, trying to keep his voice even. “You will address your concerns to me.”

Duke Constantine broke in, “Princess Raluca, your betrothed, is charming the people of Brandusa with her efforts to meet and dance with the guests.”

Lucas was watching Journey, not Duke Constantine. When the duke mentioned Raluca, Journey flinched as if she’d been slapped.

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking from Duke Constantine to Grand Duke Vaclav to Lucas. “Lu— Prince Lucas, it was wonderful to meet you. I’ll never forget it. And I won’t keep you any longer.”

She stepped back, her lovely green eyes clouded with sorrow.

Fool, Lucas’s dragon roared. You missed your chance to explain. Now our mate is leaving us. Quick, stop her before it’s too late!

Hot blood rushed to Lucas’s head. His dragon was so loud, he could barely hear himself think. How dare Grand Duke Vaclav look at his mate with such contempt! How dare Duke Constantine try to separate them!

“Grand Duke Vaclav, Duke Constantine, leave us. Now!” Lucas put the chill of command into his voice.

The men gave him a final pair of glares, then marched off. Journey started to follow them.

Lucas caught her hand. “Journey, stay with me.”

To his dismay, she eyed him warily. “No, they’re right. I should go. It’s your engagement ball.”

Lucas gritted his teeth. All his careful planning had evaporated in a puff of smoke. Now he had to explain quickly, before he lost her trust forever. “Journey, wait. It’s an arranged marriage. Raluca and I don’t love each other.”

She detached her hand from his grip. “I’m sorry, but that’s between you and the princess. And I’m sorry I led you on. I don’t know what I was thinking— I got carried away. But I have to go now.”

Stop her! His dragon’s roar nearly deafened him.

“No, wait! It’s not what you think!” Lucas heard his voice rise, louder than he’d intended. He never sounded like that, ever— out of control, frantic— but he couldn’t stop himself. “Now that I’ve met you, there won’t be any engagement. I love you, Journey. Raluca will understand—”

The look Journey gave him made him feel like he’d been stabbed in the heart. Worse. She looked like he’d stabbed her in the heart.

“I’m so stupid,” she said quietly, more to herself than to him. “You can run away from home, but you can never run away from yourself. I swore I’d never again fall for a charming liar, and here I am with another one.”

The pain in her voice struck Lucas dumb. Before he could say anything, she went on, “And my job! I completely forgot why I’m even here!”

She looked around wildly, then bolted across the dance floor. Lucas took a step toward her.

“Are you all right?” It was a voice like crystal. Raluca stood beside him, looking concerned. “I saw you having some sort of confrontation with Grand Duke Vaclav and my uncle, and then some red-headed woman ran away...”

“That ‘red-headed woman’ was my mate!”