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“I get it.” Layala shifted away from him, resting her hand on the dagger at her hip. “I’m a beautiful girl, alone, much smaller than you lot. An easy target. But trust me, this isn’t going to play out like you think.”

“You hear that, boys? She ain’t an easy target.”

They all chuckled and Layala rolled her eyes. All she wanted was to be left alone. To drown in self-pity, was that too much to ask for? She wanted to finish this mug of ale in silence until she didn’t think of Thane anymore.

“We don’t want to hurt you, doll,” said the shifter who first approached. “We just want to get to know the new girl and play a game as I said. Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Layala said, meeting his reptilian-like stare. Did heartbreak make one reckless? Or was this alcohol stronger than she anticipated? She glanced down in the mug to find she hadn’t even drunk half of it.

The group laughed again. “She’s feisty.”

The shifter smiled. “Alright, dare. I dare you to go outside and find a rocktailed wyvern. Don’t worry, they’re little buggers, but do have a nasty bite. You’re capable, right? If it’s too much, we’ll let you switch to truth.”

He was goading her, and she knew it, but she was still about to take the dare. At least it would let her escape these assholes.

A smooth as velvet voice said, “Oh, boys.” Hel tsked his tongue. “You picked the wrong target.”

“Who are you?” the scarred leader asked.

“I’m the monster your mother warned you about. The reason you’re afraid of the dark.”

The group of them laughed, except the leader. He clenched his fists on the tabletop, assessed Hel from head to toe. “That so?”

“Most definitely.”

“You don’t look like much to me, elf.”

“But you sense it, don’t you? That I could end you with a snap of my fingers. And if I was a better person, I’d give you a chance to walk away, but seeing as I’m not…” He smiled. With a flick of his wrist five of their heads snapped hard to one side with a sickcrack. All five bodies slumped forward, to the side or out of their chairs. The silverware and drinks rattled with the impact. Layala slowly poked the shoulder of the shifter beside her with his face smashed against the table. His pipe still burned from the side of his mouth, the embers sizzling the skin of his cheek. They were dead.

Except for the leader across from her. Hel’s expression was wolfish. “Youdon’t get off that easy.” He dragged him out of the booth with ease that didn’t seem possible given the dragon shifter’s size. With the leader on his back, Hel stepped on his throat. He gripped his thumb and bent it back. “You can’t shift, can you? Can’t move. I bet you’re terrified.”

Someone at the next table stood and shouted, “What’s going on over there?” And pointed angrily their way.

Hel glanced over his shoulder. “Stay where you are. All of you, or every single person in the room is dead.”

No one got up, or even did more than sit there and blink. She wasn’t sure if it was because of his gift of persuasion or if they were scared he’d make good on his threat.

A bright red serpent appeared around Hel’s shoulders and slithered down his arm, its tongue flicking out on the way until it made its way to the dragon and coiled around his neck. His eyes were wide with terror, his body frozen, as the snake opened its mouth, bearing huge dripping fangs and sunk them into the dragon shifter’s neck.

Hel dropped his hold on him and reached his hand across the table to Layala. “Come on. Let’s go.”

The dragon shifter on the ground began to convulse and white foam dribbled out of his mouth and then he stopped moving, and the snake vanished.

Layala grasped Hel’s hand and in a flash they appeared outside in the middle of the deserted dirt roadway. Pulling away, she said, “That was… Terrifying and simultaneously one of the most interesting things I’ve ever seen. But you murdered six people.” She wasn’t as horrified as she might have been even a day ago. In fact, she didn’t care at all. Those men wanted to hurt her.

“More of an execution rather.”

“They really didn’t do anything except talk to me.”

“In the book of Hel, that makes it justifiable.”

“You’re barbaric. You do know that.”

“And you’re not surprised, or at least, you shouldn’t be.” He started walking and she fell into step beside him. “Besides, they were mercenaries. You know what they deal in?”

“No.”

“The barter and trade of poor girls like you. They spotted someone worth a lot of coin, and I don’t even want to begin to imagine what they might have done to you if given the chance. I thought I showed restraint, actually. I could have been much more brutal, and took my time with each of them, but then I probably would have had to kill everyone in that bar, and there’d be no one left to serve us ale later. Gods forbid I’d have to pour myself a drink or make my own meal.”