“No, I don’t.”

What an odd thing to deny. She cocked her head and squinted, but the horns remained. “Yeah, you do. Itty bitty ones trying to poke out of your forehead.”

His hand rose to rub across the expanse, and he frowned. “This is your fault.”

“Are your horns an allergic reaction to me?”

“They’re a reaction, all right,” he grumbled.

“Perhaps we should see a doctor and have something prescribed for your allergy.” Or not. The tiny nubs gave him a dashing air.

“How about you leave instead of vexing me to the point where I lose control?”

She frowned. “But a moment ago, you told me to get back to my stall in the barn. You really should make up your mind.”

“Are all dragons as annoyingly obtuse as you.”

“Actually, I’m the nice one. Most of my kin aren’t as accommodating. I’m considered handicapped because I don’t have the proper amount of arrogance.” Or a hoard that they knew about. “I can’t help it if I prefer to be happy and helpful.”

“Dragons are vile and heartless creatures. I can see how that would irritate them.”

His agreement wasn’t exactly a positive thing. Yet, on the plus side, he was talking to her. “How come you hate dragons so much?”

“Because they killed my people. And kept me prisoner for my entire life.”

“You escaped, though.”

“Only recently, and by accident. And they didn’t do me a kindness. The dimension they freed me into was a dead place. If I’d not escaped via a portal, I’d have died.”

“Wait a second.” The gears in her mind turned as she put the pieces together. “You’re from the same place as that crazy lady we fought in the grand battle. The one with the red eyes.”

“Voadicia, who styled herself suzerain in my world.” He sneered. “Because of her, I had to leave.”

“What did she do?” Because she’d only heard bits and pieces.

“Are you going to tell me you don’t know of her crimes?”

“We don’t exactly get your news channel. I know that, while she was here, she meddled in our politics.” And there were other rumors of her taking over people’s identities.

“That was how it started in our world, too. She arrived, centuries before, with the other dragon mages. Cast from this world because of a mistake,” he said.

“If by mistake, you mean that those mages supposedly used their magic to overthrow the dragon monarchy. Only it ended up being a bad plan because the humans betrayed the mages and almost wiped us out.”

“A pity they failed,” he said with a sneer. “My ancestors also lacked the balls to do what needed to be done. Bloody pacifists who thought they could live in harmony with the dragon mages.”

“Obviously, it wasn’t too bad. You said this happened hundreds of years ago.”

“Because that was how long it took her before she ran out of the living energy she needed to prolong her life and turned to her hosts instead.”

“What living energy? I don’t understand.”

“No one did at first.” His eyes took on a dreamy cast as he remembered aloud. “According to the elders who passed on the stories, Voadicia discovered the spell to prolong her life in an ancient text.”

“A spell to live forever?” Her eyes widened. “Cool.”

“Not really. Magic has a cost. Especially strong magic. The spell requires a certain perversion to happen. A theft, really. To prolong her life, she needed to take life. To siphon the essence of living things.”

“Are you saying Voadicia was like a vampire?” She wrinkled her nose. While not exactly everyone’s cup of tea, Elspeth didn’t see the problem. People donated blood every day. What did it matter if it was for eating or transfusing?

“Vampire?” He frowned at her. “Do you speak of the mythical creatures I’ve seen within the moving picture frame? Alfred says they are not real.”

“Apparently, they are.” She rolled her eyes. “Like, duh, you just said Voadicia was sucking the life out of stuff.”

“Living essence, not blood. Had it only been their plasma, my world might have survived. But she needed their life force. Living things only have a certain amount to give before they die.”

Elsie’s lips pursed. “Didn’t anyone notice her killing stuff?”

“Not at first. You see, she used the portals to visit other dimensions. Places without a dominant intelligent species. Away from prying eyes, she and her minions sucked the life out of everything they could, starting with the animals. Then the plants. She drained entire dimensions, leaving them barren. When those became useless to her, she turned to my land. And, eventually, my people.”

“How many survived?”

“None.”

The dark despair in his words managed to penetrate her usually happy bubble. It didn’t help that she’d missed her daily dose of medicine. Her lips turned down. “She killed your family?”

He nodded. “Siphoned their lives to extend her own. I had to watch as my people were taken, one by one, to feed her hunger. To see the cells around me emptied until only my family remained. And then it was my parents’ turn. Once they were snatched, I found myself alone.”

Her lower lip trembled. Her eyes brimmed with tears. She couldn’t find anything positive to say. Nothing. At. All.

It was so… “Horrible. How horrible!” she wailed. “OhmygodIamsosorry.” She blubbered in a stream of words. “No wonder you hate dragons. We’re awful. Wicked. Murderers. Oh, no.” She sobbed. And sobbed.

“Stop that,” he barked. “No crying.”

“I can’t. You’re all alone in the world.” The very idea broke her heart, and she wailed louder.

She also lunged and grabbed him into a hug, squeezing him tightly, and while nothing cracked, he did gasp.

“Unhand me.”

“I can’t. You need love. Even if…if you don’t want it from me because I’m a horrible dragon.” How could he stand to be close to her? She probably reminded him of his poor, dead parents.

The fire engine wail rose and fell with every heaving breath she took.

A crashing sound barely managed to penetrate her grief.

But she couldn’t ignore Babsy yelling, “What the fuck is going on?”

Elsie raised her tear-stained face to see her bestie stomping into the bedroom, fists raised and clenched. A petite bundle of ire.

Any other time, she would have given her a hug, but instead, she blubbered, “Lucifer hates dragons.”

For a moment, Babsy appeared puzzled, but then her gaze landed on Lucifer, and she snapped, “What the fuck did you do to her, asshole?”

He straightened. Trying to look stoic when, really, he was just all broken inside.

Elspeth blubbered anew. “Poor baby.”

He glared at Elsie. “I am not a baby.” Then a heated gaze directed at Babette. “And I did nothing. Yet she is carrying on as if… I don’t know why she is acting thus. She is not the aggrieved one here.”

“You must have done something,” snapped Babsy, dropping onto the bed beside Elspeth. She couldn’t stop sobbing, even though Babsy patted her back.

“It’s so sad,” she hiccupped to Babette. “They’re all gone.”

“Who’s all gone?”

“His family, and it’s my fault.”

Babsy sighed. “What the fuck did you do now, Elsie? Did you hug someone without asking first again? What have we said about running up to strangers? Remember Allentown?”

“I merely wanted to help the woman with her children and groceries.”

“Snatching people’s babies and tossing them into the air to stop them from crying isn’t something you can do with humans.”

“But it worked.”

“And got you a citation. Now, you going to explain how you killed his family?” Babsy shot him a look. “I’ll put a call in to the family lawyers, and we’ll garner you some kind of compensation.”

Luc recoiled as he pivoted, drawing attention to his body. He was a distracting hunk in low-hanging track pants that exposed his bulky body. Bulked with muscle, the dark tattoos on his flesh enhancing his perfection.

Elspeth ogled his half-naked frame, only belatedly realizing that if she could see his perfection, then so could Babs.

At least her bestie knew better than to stare at his impeccable pecs. She’d hate to take out her eyes. They were pretty.

“First of all, I never said she killed my family. She started that. And then she cried. I hate crying,” said with a pointed look in Elspeth’s direction.

“See. Luc hates me,” she mumbled sadly. Which made her arousal and body tingling every time she saw him all the more wrong.

“I don’t hate you,” he snapped. “I hate dragons.”

Babsy cocked her head. “Fair enough. I’d hate you, too, but that would imply caring what you thought, and you know what? I just really don’t.”

“But we should care because it is our fault. We sent the dragon mage to his dimension, and she ate his whole family, leaving him all—all-all alone.” Elspeth wailed anew as the tragedy of it hit her.

Babsy gave her one last back rub before she jumped to her feet and stalked over to Luc. “What is wrong with you?” She jabbed him in the chest. A bare chest.

Skin to skin.

Elsie’s tears stopped as heat suffused her, evaporating them.

She really shouldn’t poke him like that.

“What’s wrong with me?” He sounded rather incredulous. “How about the fact that your kind decimated my entire world?”

“The dragon mages did. Not us. And most definitely not her.” Babs pointed her finger at Elsie. “She doesn’t need a whining asshat telling her she’s at fault when his damned people might have survived had they been impossibly better than dragons.”

“Are you blaming us for their actions?”

“You tell me. Are you at fault?”

Elsie roused herself enough to exclaim, “Babsy, you can’t blame the victim.”

“Why the hell not? He thinks it’s okay to unload on you. Casting the blame for his people’s weakness on you. What is wrong with you?” Babette swung her glare onto him. “Can’t you fucking tell she’s sensitive?” Babsy yelled at Lucifer, and he got that look on his face again.

Elspeth struggled to her feet, tangled somehow in the sheets, and staggered toward them. “Don’t yell at him, Babsy. It’s not his fault.” She stood in front of him. “He needed to express his feelings. How can he heal without expelling his anger?”

“Now he needs to damned well apologize, or he’ll be healing from my fist.” Babette leaned around to shake one in his direction.

“In the dungeon, I learned to eat any kind of flesh. I have to say, since arriving here, I’ve been wondering about the taste of dragon.”

“Did you just threaten to eat me?” Babsy wrinkled her nose. “Dude, that is gross. I’m into chicks, not dicks.”

He looked puzzled, whereas Elsie was a tad bit…angry? Which didn’t make much sense. Why be upset? Look at them all talking. Without blood. Or hitting.

It wouldn’t be hard to start the hitting. Starting with Luc, who really needs to put a shirt on. Really, flaunting himself like that. He’s even tempting Babette.

Luc recoiled. “You flatter yourself if you think I would ever find a dragon attractive. To me, you are the enemy.”

“We’re not your problem, dude. Sounds like your issue is with Voadicia.”

“My problem is with dragons,” he pointed out.

“She was a dragon mage,” Babsy corrected. “And we obviously understood she was badass, which was why she got exiled out of this world.”

“You sent them to my world instead of executing them.”

“Because, back then, they were related to people who didn’t want to see them all die.”

“You could have imprisoned them.”

“We did. And then someone considered it mean, and so banishment was sought.”

“Well, because your ancestors were soft, Voadicia and her cohorts continued to perpetrate their evil.” He glared.

Elspeth sobbed. “You’re right. We did it.”

Babette barked, “Gawd’s sake, Elsie. This is not our fault. Our ancestors tossed them into that hell world figuring they’d die out.”

“Except Voadicia found a spell to extend her life at the expense of others.”

“And whose fault is that?” Babsy rose on tiptoe and said much too nicely, “You guys were the ones who left that kind of magic lying around. Making you twat waffles. So, your fault.”

His brows rose. “You would blame the eradication of my kind on me? Only a dragon would be so arrogant. Which is why your kind needs to die. I’m here to avenge my people.”

“You and what army?”

“I don’t need an army.”

“Think you can take me? Bring it.” Babette beckoned with her fingers.

Perhaps it was time for an intervention. Elspeth threw her arms around them both as best she could. “Make love, not war.” She’d gladly donate her body to making love…to him. Babsy could watch since she didn’t like boys. Sounded like a good plan all around.

She squeezed him tightly. He stiffened.

“What is she doing?” he whispered.

“Hugging,” Babette said with a long sigh. “Which is better than the crying, so shut up and enjoy it.”

“What if I don’t want to enjoy it?”

“No one enjoys it, but given her special needs, we endure it.”

“I can hear you,” Elspeth replied. “And am so happy to see you starting to talk and become friends. It wouldn’t do at all for my two besties to hate each other.”

“Besties? What is she saying?” he asked.

Rather than let Babsy reply, Elspeth beamed at Lucifer. “You are no longer alone. I will make sure of that. Best friend.”