Page 2 of The Endless Dance

I pull her into my arms, and she clings to me with trembling limbs.

“Shhh,” I hush. “I know. I’m ok. And you are too.”

There is a sudden snapping noise, and we pull apart quickly, mouths agape as Lord Draekoh drops the corpse of the male he has just snapped the neck of with a single fist.

“Was that really necessary?” I demand after a moment of shocked silence. I’d seen too much death lately.

Draekoh raises a single eyebrow, looking at me like I’m the daft one. “Yes.”

I huff. “You could have just claimed her.”

Draekoh sighs and looks towards the sky as if pleading for the patience to deal with a senseless person. “You may be feisty, Little Bird, but you are not very smart.”

I fold my arms across my chest and sneer at him. Asshole.

“The girl is not mine to claim,” he continues, ignoring my tantrum. “We have but one stone each Hunt. You have my stone.”

“So, what’s going to happen now? You let one of the other males claim her?” Draekoh’s eyes thin as he glares at me. I throw my hands in the air. “I know, I know! You’re still figuring it out.”

I huff and get to my feet, reaching out a hand for Akari as I do. She accepts it, and I pull her to stand by my side.

“Delta,” she whispers. “Is that…?”

She’s too terrified to finish the question.

“High Lord Draekoh of Light?” I finish for her. “Unfortunately.”

Draekoh smirks before turning his back on us and walking a few paces away. A moment later, another male appears in the clearing, flickering into existence as if from the ether. I blink. Is that how I got here so quickly? Had Lord Draekoh simply transported us from one location to another within the blink of an eye?

I want to ask him more about it, but pause as I take in our new companion. His hair is just as silver as the High Lord’s, though twisted into dreadlocks. I’d never been a fan of them, thinking them dirty and smelly, but fuck, this male wore them well. He was just an inch shorter than Draekoh, though just as muscular. That’s where the similarities ended.

This male’s eyes were icy blue, like the ocean crashing up against an iceberg. His skin was a rich, dark coffee. The contradiction of his skin, eyes, and hair tones was oddly appealing.

“You summoned me, my Lord?” he says in a guttural growl that could please a girl in all the right ways.

Wait, did he say summon? I snort, remembering the conversation the High Lord and I had had the other night. I don’t know what the fuck this summoning shit was, but it wasn’t an ability I, nor any other human, could wield.

Lord Draekoh gives me an exasperated look. In turn, I flip him the bird. He grins.

Akari and the unknown male follow the exchange, Akari in terrified horror and the male in wicked amusement.

“I need you to kill any male that comes for this girl,” he says, sparing Akari a reluctant glance. “Then you are going to claim her.”

“What!?”

While Akari squeaks it, the same word comes out of me as a demand.

The male seems to have his own misgivings, but he keeps his reservations silent.

Lord Draekoh sighs. “Do you want your friend to survive or not?”

“Of course I do! But I want her to go home! Not to become some sex slave to whoever the fuck this prick is!”

“I do not have sexual relations with children!” The brusque male cuts in. “Nor the unwilling.”

“Which is exactly why I chose Lord Sol,” Lord Draekoh responds in a tired tone.

Great, I thought to myself, another fucking Lord.