by Mina Carter
The Demon Prince's Dragon Queen
Paranormal Protection Agency
Mina Carter
New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author
Copyright © 2019 by Mina Carter
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Also by Mina Carter
About the Author
Chapter 1
Coffee Girl was back. Hopefully she’d have pastries again.
There were few things a demon, even a half-demon like Rat, liked more than darkness, fire, and brimstone. Coffee was one of them. Pastries ranked a close second.
Hidden high on the fire escape opposite the back entrance to Frankie’s Coffee Shop, he eased himself out of the shadows and surveyed the alley. His sharp gaze focused on the young woman below him with interest. A tray in her hands, she kept the door opened with one hip as she peered around the shadowed alleyway. Her apprehension was obvious.
She should be nervous. Dusk was hours away, but it might as well have been the middle of the night. Darkness crowded into the hidden corners, creeping into his peripheral vision until he turned his head and banished them with a direct look. Crammed between high-rise buildings, the alley rarely saw direct sunlight.
Which was the reason Rat was camped out on the fire escape. Something of the supernatural persuasion had decided to take advantage of the permanently near-nocturnal conditions. Bins rooted through weren’t so bad, all food-based businesses were used to that. Stray cats and dogs were endemic in the city…there were even a few wolfweres—the opposite of werewolves—who ran loose occasionally, despite the resident wolf packs trying to keep them in line.
But when those stray cats and dogs were found, their guts shredded and chewed on… well, shit got real. Fast. Whatever it was had graduated from scavenging its dinner to hunting it. So the owners of the coffee shop had called in the Paranormal Protection Agency to deal with the problem.
And they’d sent him.
Send a predator to catch a predator.
And Rat knew predators… It wouldn’t stay on small prey long. Which meant he needed to find out what the fuck it was and shut it down. Fast.
“Hello?” Coffee Girl called out, obviously unwilling to leave the safety of the doorway.
He took pity on her. Grabbing a rail, he dropped from his perch, unrolling on the way, and landed lightly onto his booted feet in the center of the alley. Coffee Girl was human, so she needed to be wary of whatever lurked in the shadows. He didn’t. He wasn’t human. Not anywhere near.
Oh, he looked it right now. Tall and broad shouldered, he’d pass for a human male at first. A large one. However, one look at the electric blue of his undercut hair and the heavy muscles under his leather jacket dispelled that notion. He looked like the pixie he was… and that wasn’t his dangerous half.
Something far more lethal lurked beneath the surface.
“Hi.” He flashed a small grin when he spotted that she had, indeed, brought pastries.
Her relief flavored the air, palpable to a creature like him, and she thrust the tray forward. “I thought you’d be hungry, being out here all day.”
Her shy little smile pulled at the hidden side of him, and not for good reasons. He quelled it with the ease of long practice. That path led to bad things—dark and dangerous urges this pretty little human would run screaming from if she had any inkling as to what he really was. No human could hope to tempt him and survive.
No, he needed something more exotic and dangerous… Like a dragon.
The thought slipped through the cracks in his armor before he could stop it. Hurriedly, he stuffed it back and locked it away in the back of his mind.
“Thanks.”
Plucking a coffee mug from the tray, he turned to sit next to her on the step by the door. With him here, she needn’t worry about anything that lurked in the dark. The mug was tiny in his hands, the same size huge in hers. Setting his feet apart, he leaned back with a sigh. The warmth from the drink caressed the skin of his palms, the small, mundane heat a lure to his demon nature.
Coffee Girl turned to take a pastry, and his gaze locked onto the delicate curve of her jaw and the plump temptation of her lips. But he wasn’t seeing her. Instead, he saw another woman with fiery red hair and golden eyes. His mug paused mid-air as a wave of fierce longing stole his breath.
Baby. The dragon queenling the PPA had helped rescue from a deranged human with delusions of grandeur. The one woman in the world he shouldn’t—couldn’t—want.
The trouble was she was never far from his thoughts.
He blinked, and the edge of a dark shadow on Coffee Girl’s skin caught his attention. The growl was ripped from his lips, and his hand snapped out to hold her still. She froze, her gasp of fright cut instantly at his touch. Whether or not she realized what he was, her body reacted like every other human’s at the touch of a demon and became still and pliant.
With fingers as gentle as he could make them, he peeled away the fabric over her shoulder to reveal a deep, still-purpling bruise. Feral rage ripped through him. A man had done this. Used his superior strength and raised a hand to this delicate creature.
“Who did this?”
He could compel the answer from her if he wanted, but she was already scared enough. He didn’t need to be an ass and add to her distress. She tried to pull away, impressive considering humanity had no natural defenses against his kind. Tears sparkled in her eyes.
“It’s nothing. I was clumsy. That’s all. Walked into a door…”
“Uh-huh.” He put her top into place and sat back, watching her carefully. “And how many times were you where the door wanted to be?”
“It wasn’t like that.” She looked down, face calm, but the tremble of her hands around the mug gave her away.
“Really?”
He didn’t believe her for a moment. He’d lived in the seven hells long enough to recognize the evidence of a man’s aggression. His lips curved into a humorless grin. They called his kind monstrous, but the evil humans perpetrated on each other…it’d make even his father proud.
He extended his senses. She had bruises but no torn skin nor internal injuries. She hadn’t been raped. As he opened his mouth to demand the truth, a sound from the alley in front of them made him stop dead.
“What?” Coffee Girl picked up on his tension immediately, drawing closer to him. That amused him. A human looking to a demon for protection. Who’d have thought it?
“Shhh.”
Holding up his hand, he strained his ears for the sound again. There it was. A small clip against the ground and a familiar whuffle. It was a sound that chilled even his blood and one he hadn’t expected to hear in the middle of the city. Quickly he revised his earlier assessment. There were some things that lurked in the darkness even he needed to be wary of.
“Shit.”
Instantly he knew what it was and had a good idea why it was hanging around Frankie’s Coffee Shop. A bead of cold sweat ran down his spine. Without taking his eyes off the alley around them, he leaned closer to Coffee Girl. He kept his voice low. Between them.
“I apologize for the indelicate question but…have you ever… you know, slept with anyone?”
Amusement flooded him
in the silence after his words. Him, a demon, asking carefully if a woman was a virgin. His father wouldn’t have bothered with the question. He’d have just seduced her…and tempted the wrath of the creature watching unseen from the shadows.
“What?” He could feel her cheeks burn and the sharp gaze as she leaned away from him. “No, not that it’s any business of yours!”
He let out a wry chuckle. “Sweetheart, I’m not coming on to you. I’m trying to save our lives.”
Well, his anyway. He was fairly certain she’d be okay.
For a while.
Movement tugged at the corner of his vision. Turning his head, he focused on a darker patch of shadow by a dumpster. He had excellent night vision, all demons did—a side effect of living in any of the seven hells. But if they were dealing with what he thought they were, it wouldn’t matter. What watched them wouldn’t be seen until it wanted to be.
The shadows moved and gave a vague impression of shape. Twin pinpricks of red flared for a moment. Farther apart than he’d thought. Crap, it was already the size of a Rottweiler and infinitely more dangerous.
“What do you mean?” she asked warily. He sensed her movement before it began and slammed a hand out to hold her in place.
“Stop talking and don’t move.”
If she ran, she was done for. Even being untouched wouldn’t save her.
Carefully, he reached inside his jacket pocket and withdrew his cell. A quick swipe over the screen dialed the most frequent number, and a second later a chirpy female voice filled his ear.
“Paranormal Protection Agency. How may I he—”
“It’s Rat.” He tightened his grip on Coffee Girl’s wrist as she moved, her growing fear tainting the air. “Tell the boss lady I got a Reem down at Frankie’s Coffee Shop. I need Cal and Gran here, like yesterday, and put a call into the animal control unit.”
Confusion colored the woman’s voice. “A Reem? What the hell is a Reem?”
He hissed through his teeth, feeling his horns ache on his forehead. Crap, he just had to get the newbie on the switchboard.
“A unicorn, lady,” he hissed, his voice nowhere near human. “I’ve got a juvenile unicorn down here.”
“Awwwww…how cute!” Coffee Girl exclaimed as the unicorn chose that moment to sidle out of the darkness. It was small, with a glowing white coat and a mane that needed its own shampoo commercial. She made to move forward but he had a death grip on her arm.
“How do you know it’s a juvenile?” the girl on the phone wanted to know.
Rat’s control on his temper slipped a little. “Because it’s not tried to eat my fucking face yet. Just get Cal and his brother down here. Now.”
Clicking the phone off, he slid it back in his pocket and stood in one movement, pulling Coffee Girl up with him. Still cooing at the creature in front of them, she tried to shrug off his grip but he pulled her in tightly. Lover tight. She was human and so far under the unicorn’s glamor, she only saw what it wanted her to see—the small, cute, defenseless creature.
Glamor didn’t work on demons or pixies. Which meant Rat saw the white coat was splattered with blood and the lips curled back to reveal, not the flat teeth of an herbivore, but sharp, pointed teeth designed for tearing flesh. The teeth of a carnivore.
Equus Ferus Reem, known in mythology as the unicorn.
As often happened, though, mythology had gotten it wrong. Unicorns weren’t all light and fluffy sweetness. They were vicious fuckers always looking for their next meal.
Their food of choice? There was a reason for the virgin thing. Male or female, it didn’t matter which. Like demons, unicorns were fascinated by innocence, and the only human who had a chance of surviving an encounter with a unicorn was a virgin. Done the down and dirty? You were a goner quicker than you could say the word fuck.
By that reckoning, Rat had been done for a couple of centuries ago.
“Can you dance?” he asked quietly. “Or sing? We need to distract it.”
But not by running. Even a virgin would become a meal that way, the unicorn’s predatory instincts taking over like a shot. Dead virgin running.
Slowly, she nodded. Her eyes were wide, gaze riveted on the unicorn in front of them. His continued touch started to negate the creature’s glamor and she could see it for what it was. He felt her heart hammering in her chest where she pressed under his arm.
“Slowly then,” he advised, taking a half step back and away but keeping his hand lightly on the back of her neck.
If he let go, the glamor would reassert itself, and she’d run forward into the creature’s embrace. From there, it was anyone’s guess what would happen. Beguiled and enraptured, the creature probably wouldn’t hurt her. Probably. There was no definite when dealing with a juvenile unicorn. An adult male—and they were always male—would have been a different matter. They were more interested in fucking virgins than eating them, unless it was in a fun way.
She started to sway. Graceful, delicate movements that drew the interest of the unicorn. Unleashing a little of the power within him, he started to hum softly—a melody she picked up and wove into her dance. Despite himself, he smiled.
They might just get out of this alive…
* * *
Of all the things Baby liked about being alive, coffee was her favorite.
The smell of it. The rich scent that hung enticingly on the air, full and heavy with promise. The heat of the mug as she cradled it in her hands and brought it up to her face to inhale the aromatic steam. It all soothed her soul.
It was a ritual, as she prepared to take her first sip of the dark fluid. Resting her lip against the edge of the mug, she was careful not to burn herself as it hit her tongue.
Bitter and sharp, acrid in its smokiness, the taste exploded on her tongue like a gift from heaven itself. It was a sensual experience from beginning to end. One she loved after spending so long trapped in her dragonlet form asleep beneath the earth, forced to ride in the backs of human minds, never able to live fully.
So she sure as hell intended to now.
And that meant she had to learn to live in this new world. And that meant she needed a job. She sighed, burrowing further into her thick jacket as she walked. Crashing at her friend, Honor’s, place hadn’t been ideal. Honor had said she could stay as long as she liked, but that wasn’t the point. Honor was newly mated… and any wall was too thin for dragon ears, even when it was one all the way over on the other side of the house. Hell, another continent would be too close with a mated couple. Especially one as energetic as Honor and Baron. She’d had to resort to stuffing her head under her pillow and humming song lyrics to herself. Then, after cashing in a couple of scales she’d shed on her first shift, she’d gotten her own little apartment. But that money wouldn’t last forever…
Which was why Baby found herself following Iliona Graham into Frankie’s Coffee Shop, reaching out quickly to hold the door open as the smaller woman struggled with the weight.
“Thanks,” Iliona shot her a smile over her shoulder. “I swear these things get heavier every time. Especially with these little monsters bouncing on my bladder all the time…”
She patted her large, rounded belly proudly and half walked, half waddled toward a table near the window. Baby followed her, easily avoiding a crowd of teenagers heading for the door without looking up from their phones. She seriously had no idea how Iliona was still walking, never mind working.
“You’re due soon, right?” she asked as she sat in the chair opposite.
Iliona smiled, the expression tired, and nodded. “Two weeks. Thank you, love,” she said as the waitress brought them their order, phoned through before they’d arrived.
“Can’t come soon enough to be honest,” she said as she picked up her mug, took a sip, then made a face. “Blech. Decaf.”
Baby bit back her rumble of pleasure as she sipped her own, thankfully non-decaf, coffee. She wasn’t pregnant. She didn’t need to worry about her caffeine intake, thank scal
es.
“So… Duke tells me you’re looking to join us at the PPA?”
Iliona set her mug down barely touched and looked at Baby. It was like being stared at under a microscope. Even though she knew Iliona was only human, it felt like the woman could see right through to her soul somehow. It was… unsettling to say the least, but she didn’t feel any malice from the other woman. Quite the opposite. Iliona radiated concern like a mother hen.
“Yes… well, thinking about it.” Baby shrugged a little. She wasn’t entirely sure working with Baron, Duke and Chase would be a good idea. Not with their habit of calling her “Your Majesty” and rushing to make sure she didn’t get anything worse than a papercut. “I know I have very little real world experience, but I’m a dragon, so that means I’m tough and most magical attacks just slide right off me. I’m pretty good with spells… at least, I don’t burn things anymore.”
She had been practicing hard to make sure she didn’t. The first time she’d tried a spell, she’d almost burned down half of Honor’s house. Luckily the three dragons in residence had been able to contain the blaze. The carpets and curtains still smelled of smoke though.
“We could always use a little more scale-muscle.” Iliona pursed her lips, looking at Baby but not really seeing her. “There’re several close protection jobs coming up that Duke and Baron are too obvious for. I could put you onto those.”
“Seriously? You’re hiring me?” The smile quirked the corners of Baby’s lips. It couldn’t be this easy, surely? She’d expected to have to do a little more begging to get Iliona to even consider taking her on.
Iliona’s attention snapped back to her as the sound of a cell ringtone jangled from her purse. She rooted in the cavernous interior as she answered. “Yes. I am. You’ll have to go through orientation like all employees and we need to get you registered with the city for taxes and whatnot…” She waved her hand as if to indicate someone else would take care of all that and plucked her cell out of her purse.