Page 120 of Dancing With Demons

The carrion crows launched off their perches—shrouding me in shadows as their massive flock dove.

“Ow!”

Charlotte kicked, flailed, and carried on as they plucked her from certain death and took off, flying her back up to the top of the tower.

My glamour was firmly in place by the time her head crested the ledge.

“I knew it!” she shrieked.

“What the fuck was that?!”

“You’ve been following me! Stalking me!”

“Are you insane, woman! Why would you jump off a fucking tower!”

“I knew all those times I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I heard someone cough, I wasn’t imagining it!

“Don’t ever do that again!” we shouted at the same time, chests heaving and eyes flashing.

The crows deposited Charlotte on her feet, and I shot forward, crushing her in a hug. “You scared the shit out of me,” I groaned, furious tears blurring my vision. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

Charlotte was still in my embrace, allowing me to hold her close—

—for all of ten seconds.

“Get off me!” She wriggled free, shoving my hands away. “I only jumped to prove you were stalking me. Telling you to disappear doesn’t mean you literally disappear, Ronin. It means fuck off!”

Her fury didn’t faze me in the least. “I’m not fucking off anywhere now, then, or ever. You’re mine, Hunter. I love you and I’m always going to protect you. Whether you like it or not.”

Charlotte’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me? You can’t still be on that. What is wrong with you! I swear, you’re the worst fucking psycho ex-boyfriend ever, and you’re not even my ex-boyfriend!”

I brushed her rage aside like a gnat. “This wasn’t how I was going to do this, but since you’re running around throwing yourself off of towers, there’s no more time to waste.

“Get ready, baby girl, because as much as you hate me right now, that’s how much you’re going to love me in the next ten seconds. It took six weeks of pulling favors, dropping my glamour more times than a whore drops his pants, and amassing enough hatred to power the spell, but I’ve finally combined the best gift, best grand gesture, and best apology into the ultimate grovel.”

Charlotte gaped at me—dumbfounded.

I smirked right back, raising my fingers. “Get ready to love me.”

Snap.

The super-powered transportation spell ripped us out of Abaddon Academy, and dropped us into the fifth-floor, east wing bedroom of Ignavia Palace.

The room’s inhabitant glanced up from her lunch as we popped out of thin air and stumbled over the rug.

She beamed. “Tracy!” Adora jumped up from the table and bolted through the mass of servants, throwing her arms around Charlotte. “You’re finally here! Oh, I missed you so much—”

Charlotte ripped away, gaping wide-eyed at Adora as if she’d seen a ghost—and to be fair to her, she kind of did.

“Wha— Wha— You—” Eyes rolling up in her head, Charlotte fainted.

CHARLOTTE

I jolted back to consciousness almost immediately after I hit the floor.

Ronin gazed down on me, his hand cradling the back of my head—protecting it from the fall. “You faint a lot, Hunter. Is that normal for mortals?”

I barely heard him. I only had eyes for the very confused and very concerned Adora kneeling down next to me.