A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 2)

I couldn’t help but giggle. “It’s not like he was attacking or chasing you. That’s usually when I’ve heard his roar before now.”

Although…I guess he was kind of chasing me. The dragon was, at any rate.

Hadriel continued to shake his head. “I don’t know. It just… Wasn’t it terrifying? I thought it was terrifying.”

Leala poked her head into the open door. She smiled and walked in, her eyes sparkling. “Did you hear the master?”

“See? Leala isn’t scared,” I told Hadriel, splashing my face at the water basin.

“Of course she isn’t scared!” Hadriel yelled, sitting in my chair and wiping his face. “She isn’t scared of anything. She lets demons beat the shit out of her and smiles while they do it.”

Leala rolled her eyes as she opened the wardrobe. “You’re such a baby. That roar had nothing to do with you. It sounded like he was warning away enemies or something. Anyway, it had a lot more power than before, don’t you think? Or am I just imagining it?”

See? my animal said.

Shut up. You’re dead to me.

Her laugh grated.

Leala laid a white slip on the bed, and then my large purple robe. “What did you want to wear for dinner, milady? I was thinking maybe…” She pulled out a slinky little number.

“No, the master already saw one like that.” Hadriel waved it away. “It needs to be something grander. How about red? Now, Finley, tell me.” He crossed an ankle over his knee and entwined his fingers. “Are you not over the moon about today? People just, like…came back to life! I’ve never seen anything like it. That one guy—the one who was literally on his deathbed?—I stayed in the room with Hannon after you left. I figured he’d die, but his eyes started fluttering! And then blinking. He was confused, I could see that, but little by little, tiny things started changing. It was like watching a flower grow. It was so fucking cool.”

“What’s this now?” Leala asked, sitting me down and taking a hairbrush to me.

“And the rest of them. They didn’t really believe they were getting the real stuff, did you see that?” Hadriel went on. “They were dubious. Sure, they drank it, because you looked so fine and you have this air of ‘shut the fuck up, this is happening,’ but they were dubious. And then within hours they were feeling loads better. Like a switch had been flicked, did you see that? Hah!” He put a fist up. “Holy fuckstains on the goddess’s sheets, I’m seriously pumped. That’s better than gardening. Because you’re, like…growing people! No, that’s making a baby. You’re, like…harvesting people. I don’t fucking know—you’re helping them, anyway. You’re keeping life going.”

“You’re starting to lose it,” Leala muttered.

He stood. “I feel good. It feels good to help people. I’d rather do that than be a butler. I think I’ll switch jobs.”

“You’ll get killed a whole lot faster for curing people than prancing around like you know what you’re doing at butlering,” Leala said, now washing my face.

“Not likely, since I’ll be near Finley, and she has no qualms about killing demons.”

“It’ll also be during the day,” I added.

“Yes!” He pointed at me. “It’ll be during the day! So you see, Leala? Suck a ballsack.”

“You first,” she replied. “Now leave so I can get the miss ready.”

“Yeah, yeah. See you later, Finley.” He knocked on the frame of the door as he left. “Enjoy your date with the scary, somewhat unhinged dragon. Better you than me.”

When he was gone, Leala tsked. “He’s just remembering getting picked on by all the dragons when he was small. He’d run his mouth, and then they’d kick him around. Schoolboy stuff. Now he nearly wets himself when one of them spouts off. Though obviously…” She stood back, eyeing me. She tousled my hair. “He hasn’t heard one in a long time. After the curse, the master’s roar was nothing special. Equivalent to a lion shifter back in the day or something. But today…” She shivered. “He really amped it up. Did you have something to do with that?”

“No!” I said automatically. “Why?”

She shrugged, moving to the wardrobe. “Let’s pick that dress so we can wow him. From the sounds of it, he has an incredible night planned for you.”

Twenty

“Maybe he’s not going to come,” I said into the hush, sitting in the corner of the tower room with a book that I couldn’t concentrate on enough to read. The twilight sky behind me continued to dim.

“He’ll come, miss,” Leala said, putting my dress in the washroom so that he didn’t see it when he came to get me. “Otherwise I would’ve been informed of a change of plans. He might be delayed, what with tracking down your pants.”

I’d told her everything, of course. Finding the pants wouldn’t have taken him but a moment. He could move fast in his dragon form, and his sense of smell would be more useful than his eyes. Forcing the dragon to shift and give Nyfain control back, though, might take a little longer.