Page 109 of Marked By Moonlight

I burned to, but Mina was capable of handling Gordon. More capable than I was, probably.

I stared out the window, my hands balled into fists. Somewhere behind London’s gloomy skies, the sun was setting without any fanfare. It just drained away gradually, leaving us in limbo.

Auberre is so much better,my dragon complained.

Which just went to show how much my priorities had changed. Forgotten little towns in the countryside had never really done it for me before. I’d grown up in one and escaped as soon as I could. But now…

I closed my eyes, picturing the forest. The rolling vineyards. Quiet nights in the drawing room.

Mina defending her grandmother’s china,my dragon chuckled.

My lips curled in a faint smile, then went hard as Celeste approached.

“Poor, poor Marius. So deep in love, he doesn’t know what to do with himself,” she cooed.

Oh, I knew what to do. Throttle Celeste. Help Mina get through this shitty job and back home, where I would leave her just long enough to destroy every one of my enemies. Then we could live happily ever after.

I grimaced. Not a plan Mina would approve of.

Poor Celeste,Bene mocked, though only into my mind.Nothing better to do than hang around guys with zero interest in her.

Roux growled, warning him not to rile up the succubus. Especially when she was probably already plotting against us.

Bene grimaced and flicked through the channels. “Poor us. Ninety-nine channels and nothing interesting on any of them.” Then he brightened, coming across a documentary set on a savanna. The camera panned to a pride of lions, and a narrator spoke in hushed tones about social hierarchy.

“Got that right,” Bene murmured as the narrator gushed on about the alpha lion.

Celeste rolled her eyes.

I ignored her and did my best to emulate Bene — a first — by picturing myself gliding over the Alps with cold wind under my wings and bursts of heat from occasional spits of fire. I closed my eyes, reliving my favorite route. I used to zoom low over Lake Lucerne at midnight, then race up over the slopes of Mount Pilatus. The surrounding villages were usually asleep at that hour, but a few lights dotted the slopes. In winter, snow blanketed the landscape. In summer, a lush carpet of grass. I recalled the scent of mountain flowers and dairy farms and glaciers…

Then my nostrils flared, and I whirled as the door flew open.

Mina stormed in. Literally. The napkins on the table fluttered, and the air pressure dropped, the way it did when clouds rolled in to smother the mountains.

“Gordon wants you,” she snipped to Celeste in a very un-Mina-like tone.

Roux’s eyes went wide, and Bene shuffled to the far end of the couch.

Even Celeste was thrown off — enough that she slipped out of the room without comment. Mina slammed the door behind her.

“Did Gordon really want her?” Bene asked quietly.

“No.” Mina slumped against the door.

Bene held up a little bag. “Here. Have a cookie.”

The man had more brains than I thought.

Mina looked at the bag, clearly warring with herself.

“You deserve it,” Roux threw in.

“Bet your ass, I do,” she grumbled, snatching it. She sat at the dining table with her back to the room, munching aggressively.

I approached her…slowly.

Bene looked over, wincing.Maybe not the best time…