Page 16 of The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating

I stood straighter. “Lord Blackrose put sneaky blood-sucking roses in my chambers,” I said flatly, “without my knowledge or consent.”

“Not sucking,” Griffin squeaked, “just sampling! Borrowing! Barely a drop. No harm done.”

My hand curled into a fist before I forced it back down. “So theDark Lordhas my blood. What’s he planning?”

Griffin’s gaze skittered anywhere but my face. “I—I’m not sure. Could be part of the wedding rites, or maybe an ancient text about ‘maiden blood’ that?—”

I cut him off. “Maiden blood, huh? Are you implying something about my virtue, Griffin?”

He spluttered as though choking on air. “No! Absolutely not! That’s none of my business, I Would Never Dare?—”

I let him squirm for a moment, but then decided to put him out of his misery, metaphorically speaking. “All right, enough. Take me to him.”

Griffin took a stumbling step back. “Lord Blackrose is busy in his workroom. He might be in the middle of… something, which is often hazardous. Occasionally humiliating for the poor soul who interrupts.”

“I don’t care if he’s in the middle of raising the dead,” I stepped closer. “You’re going to take me to him right now, or I’ll touch every single crystal in here and see what new chaos we can cause. Maybe all the bridges will collapse at once.”

He blanched, eyes flicking around the room. “Y-yes, my lady. Right this way, please. Though if he incinerates me on sight, I’m blaming you.”

“Deal.” I gestured at the door. “Lead the way.”

He led me through winding passages at a brisk pace, spouting apologies and nervous chatter, pointing out various features and occasionally apologizing for things I hadn’t accused him of.

Eventually, we reached a familiar tower. Instead of going up toward my chambers, we proceeded down. At the base, we turned down a darker corridor and followed it until Griffin halted at a black door etched with silver runes. He hesitated. “Are you positive you won’t consider drafting a polite note of complaint instead?”

I just stared him down until he sullenly knocked in a peculiar pattern—three quick taps, a pause, then two more. Without waiting for an answer, he pushed the door open and stepped aside.

“My lord,” he croaked, voice jumping a full octave. “Lady Evenfall insisted on seeing you. Says it’s urgent, definitely not my fault, I tried everything but she’s scarily persistent?—”

“Enough,” came Kazimir’s cool baritone from inside. “You may go.”

Griffin shot me a halfhearted grimace of solidarity before scuttling off, leaving me alone to face the embodiment of my current fury.

Kazimir stood with his back to me, leaning over a table cluttered with arcane tools and glass vials. Magic glowed from an apparatus, casting flickers of eerie light over his tall form. He was dressed in plain black, the sleeves rolled up to reveal corded forearms crisscrossed with scars. Even my fury couldn’t dull how unreasonably attractive he looked.

“Lady Evenfall,” he said, not bothering to turn. “I was expecting you.”

“Were you?” I stepped inside, letting the door swing shut behind me. “Perhaps you anticipated my visit when you stole my blood without my consent.”

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “Griffin”.

8

ARGUE WITH YOUR BRIDE (IT’S FOREPLAY FOR VILLAINS)

KAZIMIR

The moment Griffin fled, I felt the temperature in my workroom drop about ten degrees. Not from any spell, but from the sheer force of Arabella’s glare razoring right through me. She hovered in the doorway, spine rigid, fury rolling off her in waves.

“Found out about the roses?” I set my face into a bored mask before finally turning around.

She stood firm, practically crackling with angry energy. She wore fitted trousers and a deep emerald tunic that brought out the green and gold in her eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a neat braid, baring the curve of her throat. Somehow, that tiny reveal of skin managed to spark heat in my gut, an annoyance I tried to ignore.

“You had enchanted roses collecting my blood,” she said, voice dangerously calm, “without my knowledge or consent.”

I set the arcane measuring device I’d been adjusting onto the workbench. “Clearly, Griffin shouldn’t have told you.”

Inside my head, I cursed his loose tongue. He had a knack for unraveling half my carefully laid plans with a single panicked outburst.

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