Can you resist a double-dog dare? Are you daring? Today’s #1lineWed theme is **DARE**. The past few weeks, I’ve had to quickly write something to meet the project. Given my process, none of those snippets will go to waste. I’ll slot them into a book somewhere. This week, I found a snippet I’d written previously–one that hasn’t yet found it’s spot. I doubt it appears in the upcoming Penumbra Papers book, but it will eventually because I laugh every time I read this. I hope you enjoy this “adventure” with our intrepid FBI agent Sade Marquis. Oh, warning: There be dragons. 😉
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“Can we have those?”
Sade followed the girl’s pointing finger, not missing the use of the royal “we.” Four boys lounged against the seawall, all youthful arrogance and confidence. “They don’t taste good.”
“How would you know? You’re only human.” The girl lifted her chin in a display of smug conceit.
Mentally counting to ten, Sade vowed to kill Nikos Constantine as soon as she tracked down his sorry ass. A favor, he’d said. A few hours of your time. To smooth diplomacy between dragons and mundanes. If she’d known that favor encompassed babysitting an adolescent dragonet with the stomach capacity of teenage humans of the male persuasion, she’d have run, diplomatic relations be damned.
“You just want to trust me on this, Princess Nerine. Besides, you just ate.”
The boys nudged each other with elbows, working up their nerves and egging themselves on. They resorted to their skateboards, executing a series of moves worthy of male peacocks everywhere. The princess watched avidly, the displayed bravado holding her attention. The dragonet wanted to hunt and the faster the boys moved, the more they resembled prey.
“Not happening, girlfriend.”
The princess turned shining, topaz eyes on Sade. “You would presume to stop me? Puny human.” She giggled.
Giggles? Seriously? Dragon. Fae. Werewolf. Human. Didn’t frigging matter. Teenage girls were all the same all over. Sade closed her left eye to hide the twitch.
One of the skateboarders got too close. He was swooping in to snatch a kiss from the princess. Sade, with a quick kick, stomp, and shove, halted his forward motion, reversed the board, and sent him back to his buddies. He just missed getting his throat gouged by the princess’s claws. Just as quickly as she averted that disaster, she had the girl by the scruff of the neck and was frog-marching her down the path.
“Here’s the deal, princess. The Drakon left you in my charge. You’ll behave or else.”
“Else what? You’ll tattle to Nikos?”
Sade put on her scary cop face, the one that made trolls piss themselves. “Nope. I’ve always wanted a pair of dragon-hide boots.”
Princess Nerine’s chin dropped and her mouth gaped open. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Wouldn’t I? Let’s play truth or dare, princess. Oh, wait. We just did. You lose.” Sade shoved Nerine into a small alley and pressed the girl up against the wall. A serrated combat knife magically appeared in her hand. “We can do this easy, or we can do it hard.”
“Sade, you aren’t playing fair.”
“Nikos, eat shit and die.” She didn’t bother to look over her shoulder. She’d already felt the heat from the Drakon, knew he was close.
“Uncle Nikos, make her stop. She’s so mean. She says she’ll make boots of me.” Nerine shed crocodile tears and reached out to her savior.
“You’re lucky she didn’t turn you over her knee, Princess. You know the rules. No eating humans in their realm.”
“You’re no fun, Nikolas.”
“And it’s time for you to return home.”
A blink and a flash later, Sade’s arm was braced against the rough stucco wall rather than the dragonet terror. She turned, a brow lifted to show her disdain. “You’re fuckin’ lucky I’m in a gawddamned good mood. Never again, Nikos. No more dragon herding.”
“I feel lucky, darling.” Nikos leaned in to claim a kiss. His lips nibbled, nipped, his tongue soothed. Moving closer to take Sade into his arms, he felt the brush of cold steel against his docl. He froze, broke the kiss, glanced down. The vixen held that ferocious knife of hers against his family jewels. He growled in frustration even as he admired her.
Sade offered a huge smile that didn’t reach eyes reminding him of emeralds. She slipped past him and paused a few steps away. “Gosh, I was wrong. It doesn’t take much to wrangle dragons after all.” She kept watching, waving a negligent hand. “And magic up some clothes, Nikos. I’d hate for you to catch cold.”
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So…do you think you’d be a good dragonet wrangler? Do you dare to share a daring snippet from your own work?
Have I mentioned that I love Fall? And all the wonderful recipes that come with the season. That includes this sweetly tart dessert that includes three of my favorite things: apples, cake, and ricotta cheese. Why yes, I am one of those who likes cheese with my apples.
The Kraft recipe site is such a treasure trove for recipes for all sorts of food. CLICK ON OVER THERE for the full nutritional details–which are important to anthropologist Dana Peterson, the heroine of RESCUE MOON (Special Forces: Operation Alpha/Moonstruck). She might be a scientist at heart but when she discovered the apple tree on the Greenwood’s home place, she whipped up this dessert. Hawk Greenwood, Wolf and former Army Special Operator, and his grandparents were more than happy to settle in at the kitchen table and indulge. If you haven’t already, and would like to read the story of how Hawk rescued Dana from a Mexican drug cartel, click on the cover. You can read free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Pssst. Dana says brands don’t really matter but wanted us to see the recipe she scarfed from Kraft. 😉
Silver James 