Page 99 of Their Fierce Little Monster

“Fucking psycho,” Kazak murmurs. “It galls me to even be contemplating this. I must have done some real horrific shit in my past life to be punished like this.”

I rub a hand over my face. It’s way too early for such conversation, but it needs to happen without Dawn.

Lian chuckles. “Never knew you had any humor in you.” He slaps Kazak on the back, and Kazak snarls.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

“Wonderful start,” I say.

A heart-wrenching scream rips through the bedroom, and we all startle alert, glancing inside.

“Dawn!” I gasp.

We scramble for the glass door, my shoulder smashing into the frame, ripping it partly off its foundation. The three of us burst free and charge toward her bedroom like madmen. In a heartbeat, I shove the door open so hard it crashes inward, tearing off its hinges.

And we’re all crowding in front of the bed.

Dawn is curled up with her back to the headboard, the bedsheet clutched to her chest. Eve stands beside her, holding the other end of the sheet and tugging.

“Is she trying to kill me?” Dawn blurts out.

“Eve,” I growl. “Leave the room.”

The aide drops the sheet and glances over at me. “My lord, I followed your instructions to fix up the messy beds.”

“So this is your fault,” Lian barks. He and Kazak glide over to either side of the bed, moving closer to Dawn. With her wide eyes, she honestly believed Eve might hurt her because the aide started behaving like a stalker. All right, thinking it makes sense now.

I follow Eve into the main room. She pauses, glancing up at me. “How can I help you, my lord?” Her mouth tugs into a smile, and I hate the way she stares at me. My skin crawls.

“You know Dawn is mine, and she can never be harmed, correct?”

“My lord,” she says, looking horrified, her eyes wide. “I would never do that. She is yours, and I saw the way you pleased her on the couch. So I will protect her too.”

With no idea how I’m supposed to make an undead aide comprehend anything, I figure her understanding is close enough. “Good. No one outside of me, Lian, or Kazak is to lay a hand on her. If someone does, you come and inform me instantly.”

“Of course. Is that all?”

I nod. “Yes.”

I return to the bedroom, and the other two haven’t left her side, but she has eyes only for me. “Are you all right?” I ask.

“Just got spooked. One second, I’m sleeping, and the next, I’m shaken awake. Then I open my eyes to her face. And I know she’s been all obsessed with you, so my brain jumped to the worst conclusion.”

“She’ll be going back soon. Let’s focus on the king’s garden party first.” I glance over to Kazak and Lian. “We work as a team, and then we’re done with the city.”

I lean forward, offering Dawn my hand, and she accepts it. Then I draw her to her feet. She takes the bed sheet with her and stumbles into my arms. “Nothing is going to touch you around us.”

“I know. It scared me, which is embarrassing now that I think about my reaction,” she murmurs, pinching her lips to the corner of her mouth.

I bring her closer, loving the feel of her breasts against my chest.

She curls in against me. I’d wait a lifetime for her if that’s what she asked me to do.

With a kiss on her brow, I scoop an arm across the back of her thighs and lift her up against me. “I’ll always be there for you. Now, let’s get you in the shower, as we have a garden party to attend.”

Behind me, the other two groan, but I once heard a human adage that feels appropriate: You snooze, you lose.

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