The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon
Chapter 18

MIRA

Heat spreads across my body at his words. He doesn’t take his hand away and only presses his fingers deeper into my flesh. For a moment there I am lost for words and this is when he pushes himself into my body, still groping my bottom, and I give out a soft m**n. I flinch at the realization and look up at the lord in panic, flashes of dark magic in his eyes should have warned me not to say anything. But no…

“Please, let me go…”

His lips plunder into mine, hot and firm… This man has kissed me so many times during the past few days that I stopped counting. And the worst thing is that it’s getting harder and harder to stop him. And not because I don’t want to. It’s because he stopped listening and reacting.

He is literary devouring me, hands roaming my body when he leaves a hot and wet trail of k****s on my neck.

“Lord Derwood! Please, stop!”, I try to push him away with all my might and he freezes with his face still somewhere around my collarbone.

“What do you want, Mira?”, his suddenly hoarse voice creates vibrations on my skin, “More presents? Jewellery? What?!”

He looks at me, clearly displeased. But I seize the opportunity. I mean, since he is asking…

“I want to see the room where Bella died again!”, I say firmly, and after hearing that his facial expression changes. Not too much. But I notice.

“Well, that’s… unexpected!” he admits, stepping away, “What do you want to replace there?”

“I want to replace out who murdered her!”, I state plainly and he looks at me, clearly amused.

“What makes you think you can do that?”, he raises his chin still eyeing me.

“I have my reasons”, I fix my now-crinkled dress, not wishing to give away too much information, “Or maybe you have found the murderer already and I am just wasting my time?”

“I have my suspects..”

“Would you share with me?” I look at him and smile playfully but it only makes him chuckle.

“Of course not,” he smirks, “That wouldn’t be wise of me considering that you are a suspect yourself!”

“I am not!”, I roll my eyes, “And you know it!”

“Oh, do I?”, he comes closer to me and puts hands around my waist, pulling me to him.

“Y-yes”, I mumble suddenly blushing all over again, “I was with you during the time the murder has been committed!”

“And how do you know what time it has been committed if you are not the murderer?”, he is most definitely mocking me.

“Because, lord Derwood, “Bella died of a spell called Crystal Shard. And from the moment of death to her eyes starting to look like they are covered with glass should pass at least 20 minutes. I was in the room for less than five! And you know it because before that you were with me!”

“Very well, little mage!”, he chuckles and dark flames surround us bringing us into my old room. Bella’s body was removed, of course. But a chill still went down my spine.

Derrien steppes away, not taking his eyes away from me though. However, I can’t waste precious time here thinking about him! There wouldn’t be a second chance!

I switch to my magical sight, scanning the room for abnormalities. There must be something! Anything! At least the smallest clue!

But all I see is the dark magic in the room… Considering how many gerdians were here and that they have been sealing the room with their magic…it would be hard to see anything else now…

I come closer to the chair in which Bella was seating when I found her… Still nothing! Until I notice a tiny spark on the floor. I nervously look at the dark lord and he is still watching me while leaning across a wall with hands on his chest and a very intrigued look on his perfect face. This is the first time I see him through the magical sight and something is off… The energy around him is definitely dark, but it behaves oddly… A lot of it is gathered behind his back, ready to attack any moment… Strange, but it looks like two huge wings…

“You have five more minutes, little mage”, he smirks and I shrug at that. As gracefully as I can I lower myself to the floor to have a better look at the tiny spark that I found. The fact that I know he is aware that there is nothing under my dress does not help me to concentrate. I use air to lift up the tiny spec of the spell that was used to kill my roommate.

“Well, well, well, you did manage to replace something after all”, he comes closer and takes a look, “But haven’t you known already the spell that was used? What is this going to give you?”

“If I could test it, I could defy the ingredients used, and maybe I could even see a particle of the murderer’s aura…”, I reply, “But I would need equipment to do that…”

“No need, Mira”, he waves his hand and the particle is gone, “Our specialist would take care of it. But you did a good job! Whatever we found in her body, was already dissolved and couldn’t be used. This little shard would tell us more. I wonder how we missed it…”

“Because you coated everything in your dark magic and below it it’s harder to notice small things like that,” I inform him, “I could hardly replace it myself. It’s suffocating here…”

“You will get used to the dark magic in time”, he says calmly, pulling me closer once again, “The more you are with us, the easier it’ll get.”

Dark flames bring us back to my room before I can say anything else. I am feeling a bit upset that he didn’t let me investigate the matter myself.

“What are you thinking about, little mage?”, Derrien asks.

“I am thinking that whoever it was, he or she used a human spell…”

“So, it’s a human?”, the dark lord chuckles, undoing his tie.

“Or this person wants us to think that it was a human!”, I say and look at him, puzzled, “W-why are you undressing here?”

Now he is the one who looks surprised.

“Because it’s time to go to bed, Mira! Why else?”, he throws his coat on the nearby sofa and makes a step in my direction, “I asked you what you want to be mine and you said you want to go to that room. I fulfilled your wish and now you are going to fulfill mine…”

Oh, gods…