Page 5 of The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating

“You conjured a storm… to propose?” I sputtered. “You’re trying way too hard.”

One corner of his mouth twitched. “I heard you like to set your suitors on fire. I wanted to make an impression.”

“Congratulations,” I said tightly. “You just made the worst first impression of all time. Now kindly burn in hell.”

The Dark Lord inclined his head in mock courtesy. “I’m afraid I don’t have the time, since I’m kidnapping you.”

I jerked my chin toward Agnes. “Let her go.”

“Release the maid,” he said to his men, but his eyes never left me. “She’s irrelevant.”

Irrelevant. My jaw clenched, but I shot Agnes a swift look. “Go!” She fled while the thugs stepped back. Magic buzzed under my skin, begging for release. “You obviously don’t know me. I can ruin that smug face with a flick of my wrist.”

“I appreciate your confidence,” he drawled, stepping into my space. Power seeped from him, raising the hairs on my arms.

My pulse hammered as I fought its pull. “Let me make something clear,” I said. “I’m not a piece in your game, and I’m certainly not marrying you just because you decided to make a dramatic entr?—”

“Come here,” he commanded, voice thrumming with compulsion.

The order slammed into my mind, nearly buckling my knees. Every shred of me wanted to obey, but I stayed upright, fists clenched as white-hot pressure filled my skull.

“Surrender,” he added, and the compulsion intensified.

My vision narrowed further, and my foot twitched forward on its own. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to hold. “Nice trick,” I managed. “But I don’t take orders well.”

“Fascinating. You really do carry the First Hero’s blood.” Satisfaction colored his tone. He nodded to the trees. “Vex. Take care of the stragglers. Then meet us at the citadel.”

A silver-haired woman appeared from the shadows and set to work.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I spat.

Kazimir extended a polite hand. “This can be gentle or… not. Your choice.”

I pretended to accept, and then drove my knee at his groin. He blocked with infuriating ease, spinning me until my back hit his chest and my arms were trapped. Heat rolled off him, unsettling in the storm’s chill. Shadows beside us shaped themselves into a doorway of pure darkness, a portal.

“Stop squirming,” he growled near my ear. “You’ll tear yourself apart.”

“Better than marrying a tyrant.” I reached for one last burst of magic, meaning to blast him away. Power flared between us,then twisted and rebounded into me, flooding my sight with hard white sparks.

My knees buckled. Kazimir’s grip tightened, keeping me upright. “I’ve got you,” he murmured.

“Fuck… you…” I hissed.

“Maybe later,” he said with dark amusement, and then launched us into the waiting portal.

3

PROPOSE BEFORE SHE STABS YOU?(TIMING IS EVERYTHING)

ARABELLA

The world went sideways in a dizzying rush. I gasped, and the taste of cold night and raw lightning coated my tongue. Kazimir’s arms tightened around my waist, his chest hard and unyielding against my back as we hurtled through whatever nightmare realm existed between spaces.

Then reality snapped back with brutal force. We careened out of his portal and crashed onto a massive wooden desk, scattering papers and sending an inkwell tumbling. I twisted in his grip, reaching for the dagger at his hip.Our momentum carried us off the desk, sending us rolling across a plush carpet until we ground to a stop. I was crushed beneath him as he pinned my wrists to the floor.

He was even more devastating up close. His eyes weren’t just gray—they were storm clouds, laced with slivers of bright silver that shimmered whenever the lightning flashed outside. A faint scar cut through his left eyebrow, and a single dark strand of hair fell over his face, making him look infuriatingly human for a man rumored to be the Terror of the Western Realms.

He was younger than I’d imagined, maybe a handful of years older than me. Either everyone exaggerated his reign of terror, or he’d found some cursed elixir to preserve his youth.

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