She pursed her lips. “I hope you don’t expect this to go as smoothly as before. You only slept with the milliner’s daughter then, this is a Princess.”
“Ah,” he grabbed her by the waist and holding her like a doll, planted a quick kiss on her cheek, “you’ll do fine. You’ll show them all’s well and I’ll be free to return. Besides, I did not bed the wench. She’s as untarnished as before. Mostly.”
She growled, even while her heart pounded. He thought it would be as simple as the last time, she knew by his light hearted teasing that he did not understand the magnitude of his earnest mistake. This time Gerard had angered a King, a King bent on retribution. Galeta would respond as she’d been dying to do for decades now, he’d finally given the head godmother a legitimate reason to exact her revenge.
Danika had no clue why Galeta hated Gerard so much. He’d never shared, but knowing her mistress as she did, Danika feared the worst.
Danika would fight like the devil to see the punishment fit the crime, unfortunately she was pretty sure she’d be the only one coming to his defense.
His smile slipped. “Fee? You’re keeping something from me. What?”
“I...” Danika sucked in a breath, hating how transparent she always was. She gave him a weak grin and wiggled free of his grasp, not wanting to be accidentally crushed. Perhaps she should tell him. Just in case, prepare him for the worst possible scenario.
But in that moment he looked like the boy she remembered from his youth, eyes clear and free of guile. Beautiful face made more handsome because he wasn’t oozing sex, but being himself. If Gerard could ever learn not to depend on his looks, but to let a woman see the kindness buried so deep she wasn’t sure he even knew it still existed, he’d bend even more hearts his way.
That peek of his humanity made Danika bite her tongue. Perhaps by some miracle she could convince the court of his innocence in this. “It is nothing, Gerard.”
“Non,” he snarled, fists clenching, “I know you well, fairy, there is fear in your eyes. You tell me the truth.”
Danika held his gaze, wanting desperately to turn away and not meet the blinking fury he directed at her like a lethal blade. He said nothing, only vibrated with the strength of his mounting anger.
She knew he was not angry at her, but at his circumstances, which was the only reason why she didn’t quiver like a sapling. “Be on your best behavior, Gerard. Her name is Betty Hart. Find her, mate her. You’ll thank me.”
She swished her wand and Gerard shot to his feet. “You cannot mean to do this,” he barked, “Danika, what aren’t you telling me?” His body already began to fade into the glowing tunnel that would take him through dimensions. He looked over his shoulder.
Her heart squeezed.
“I’ll be better,” he said, “no more whoring. Drinking,” his French accent thickened. “I’ll... stop.”
The road to hell was paved with good intentions. He might mean it, but Gerard would never be able to stop. It was his way and who he was. The only thing that could possibly change him would be falling in love.
“Gerard, do not forget why this is now a necessity. You’ve placed yourself in this situation. I’m doing my very best to fix what has now become a matter of life and death.” She flew to him, briefly able to touch the corner of his jaw before he became insubstantial. “I’ll return to you once I’ve received verdict.”
“A pox on that,” were his last words before he vanished.
Chapter 2
“Merde!” Gerard snarled when he landed... no dumped was a better word... when he got dumped on hard stone. His body, already bloody and beaten, exploded with sharp stabs of pain on impact.
Stars danced in front of his eyes. Taking two deep breaths between his teeth, he glanced up. Blurred vision made it difficult to figure out where he was.
It took a second for the ringing in his ears to stop, when it finally did, he was slowly able to get to his feet. Grunting heavily with the effort to stay standing, he looked up.
First thing he noticed were the trees. Massive things, tall and towering to the sky, with leaves a dark shade of yellow and red. Second thing he noticed was a thick slab of gray stone leading like a trail to a building. And the third thing he noticed made him growl.
“Fils de salope,” he swore and spat by his boot. Damn that meddlesome witch. A library! He’d specifically told Danika he wanted nothing to do with readers, or smart women, stupid and pretty, that’s all he’d wanted. But of course Danika did not listen, she never did.
The muscle in his jaw ticked. He squared his hips, studying the building like he would an enemy. No way in hell he’d go there. Non!
She’d not make him. Nostrils flaring, he sat on the edge of the path and stared at a world both similar and yet alien to his own.