Willow's Point of View

  The sun had fallen behind the horizon by the time we got back to the castle and our conversation disappeared with it. Awkward silence had stretched between us ever since that kiss, but I was determined to fix it. One little friendly kiss shouldn't ruin a good working partnership, right?

  "Have you thought of a name yet?" I asked. "Unless you want me to keep calling you Lord Shadowbuns..."

  "Definitely not." He shook his head, shadows snapping at the air like he was swatting bugs. "It should be something regal and terrifying."

  "Terrifying? But you're kind of, well, not terrifying at all." I held my hands up as he whipped around to gape at me. "What? You play with little dragons and secretly enjoy the company of bunnies and appreciate cozy mattresses. You're far from what I'd call terrifying."

  His glare felt like he was trying to turn me to stone to prove how terrifying he was, but his little smirk shattered the illusion entirely. All this effort trying to be scary was an absolute waste if he didn't stop smiling, but I'd go along with it if that's what he wanted.

  "Okay, maybe I'm wrong." I held open the castle doors for him, bowing as I did so. "Go ahead, Lord Darkshadow. Lord Grimshadow? Maybe Lord Gloom and Doom?"

  He wrinkled his nose. "These are getting worse and worse every day. Are you mocking me?"

  "Only a little," I mumbled, trying not to smile too much. With just a few silly names, the awkwardness disappeared entirely. My stomach rumbled, reminding me how late it was. "Want to make something for dinner?"

  He nodded, but before we could make it to the kitchen, Dain stopped us. He slammed his fist against his chest, standing tall and proud. "My lord, welcome home."

  "Thank you." The Demon Lord narrowed his eyes, glancing between me and my bodyguard. "But weren't you supposed to be guarding Willow?"

  "About that..." I winced. "Remember how I said something sort of happened while you were gone? Well, the thing is, I might have casually mentioned how nice it would be to talk to the hero and Dain might have taken that as an order and he might have tried to go get him." I motioned for the Demon Lord to calm down. "It's fine! He's here in one piece and nothing bad happened. It's all good. He must have realized he couldn't do it and came back, right?"

  Dain frowned. "I would never leave a job unfinished. I told you I'd get the hero, so I got the hero."

  Oh boy. My eyes widened as the Demon Lord pinned me with another one of those death stares. I just smiled and shrugged. "Honest mistake?"

  "You could start a war!" His voice thundered through the halls, echoing off the stone. "Why didn't you tell me a demon was going to kidnap the hero?"

  "Kidnap is a strong word," I said, glancing at Dain. "You didn't kidnap him, right? You just asked politely and he came here with you of his own free will?"

  "Oh, no. I definitely kidnapped him." Dain grinned proudly. "I threw him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and just walked right out of their camp with them none the wiser. Honestly, those humans are far too overconfident. None of them would expect a demon to just walk in and grab their hero. It was easy."

  I shrank in on myself, wishing I could hide in the shadows like the Demon Lord, but they were currently flooding the hallway like an eerie fog rolling in. "You're joking, right?"

  "I never joke about kidnapping." Dain puffed out his chest. "I just threw a cloak on, pulled the hood up, and said I had an important mission for the hero. They led me right to him."

  "You did what?" The Demon Lord's shoulders stiffened. "Where is he?"

  Please don't say the dungeons. Please don't say the dungeons.

  "The dungeons, my lord." Dain sighed. "Well, at least that's what I told him. You don't actually have a dungeon though. I was pretty surprised, so I just stuffed him in the coldest room."

  I let out a breath. "See? It's fine–"

  "Show me." The Demon Lord's voice was so low and commanding that I was starting to believe the terrifying part after all.

  Dain marched toward the end of the hallway where the sconces were barely shining and opened a door. A man paced inside, whipping around when the door creaked. If his blonde hair and bright amber eyes weren't identifiable enough, his shining white armor and the holy sword leaning against the wall outside the room definitely were.

  "You really kidnapped him." My mouth fell open, staring at the bodyguard who I'd assumed was a bit silly and maybe not very good at his job. But now I was seeing him in a whole new light. "You're actually pretty skilled, aren't you?"

  "Of course, I am. The Demon Lord wouldn't have appointed me as your bodyguard if I wasn't."

  I didn't have the heart to tell him that was probably a spur of the moment decision without much thought behind it and the Demon Lord was too distracted staring at the hero to weigh in either.

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  "Vile monsters!" The hero reached for a sword that was no longer at his hip and instead moved to the corner of the room to keep a good distance between us. "I'll defeat you and save this world, once and for all. You never should have brought me here, not unless you're ready to die!"

  The Demon Lord sighed and turned back to Dain. "Take him back."

  "But my lord, we haven't even questioned him yet." Dain motioned for me to get closer. "You said you needed to talk to him, so talk before the Demon Lord sends him away in his infinite mercy."

  The hero clenched his hands at his side. "I'll never talk. Not even if you torture me."

  "Whoa, nobody's torturing anyone." I held my hands up. "I just want to ask you a few things. You know, have a friendly conversation."

  "No, he's going back." The Demon Lord's shadows filled the room. "Now."

  "See reason, my lord," Dain pleaded.

  I nodded. "We already kidnapped him, so we might as well get something out of it. Just let him stay the night."

  Our conversation devolved into us arguing about the pros and cons of kidnapping a hero. On the pro side, I'd be able to get all the information I wanted for the book, but there was a pretty big con of his people probably counting this as an act of war and trying to get him back by any means necessary. Cinder poked her head inside the room, completely ignoring all the excitement as she hopped over to the hero, who had sat on the stone bed at some point and was staring at us with a blank look on his face.

  "Uhhh, do I get a vote?" The hero raised his hand like a school kid.

  "No!" We all said it at the same time, and I couldn't help but laugh a little at the absurd situation. I took a deep breath to calm down and smiled at him. "Sorry. What were you going to say?"

  He gave me an exasperated look. "That I actually agree with the Demon Lord. Send me back. I promise I won't mention this little visit and I'll save the invasion for later. Tomorrow maybe."

  The Demon Lord shook his head. "Well now we definitely can't send him back. He's going to invade my lands either way."

  I bit my lip, hoping that didn't mean he planned to deal with the hero permanently or something. I should probably talk to the Demon Lord in private before anyone made any decisions about this hero.

  "Come with me." I tugged on his sleeve, pulling him into the hallway and lowering my voice. "If you want me to finish this book series, then I need to talk to the hero."

  "Really?" The Demon Lord raised an eyebrow at me.

  "Yes, really. He's the main character! Don't you think we should ask him about the books? See what his plans are and all that?"

  "His plans are to kill me," he snapped. "I thought you were trying to find a better ending than that."

  "That's not fair and you know it." I jabbed my finger at his chest. "Of course I'm trying to find a better ending for you, but to do that, I need him. So we're going to talk to him and that's that."

  "But he's my enemy." He gave me a look that screamed I was being really dense, but I wasn't about to give in.

  "So what if he is?"

  "So, this is dangerous, Willow. I can't defend you if an army storms this village."

  He had a point there. Since I couldn't leave the book whenever I wanted, I'd be stuck with whatever chaos this decision brought upon us. But the hero was literally in the next room! I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by.

  "What if he agrees to tell his party that he's on a mission and will be back soon?"

  The Demon Lord crossed his arms. "And how will you get him to agree to that?"

  "That's a problem for tomorrow." I forced a smile on my face that hopefully looked far more confident than I felt. "Let's sleep on it and see where we're at in the morning. After he gets some rest and eats a hot meal, I'm sure he'll be more open to our plan."

  The Demon Lord snorted, but didn't say anything else as we walked back into the room. The hero was having a staring contest with Cinder while Dain nudged the bunny closer.

  "Uhh, what's going on?" I asked.

  "The demon bunny has found its newest prey." Dain smiled grimly. "And she's not going to let him go."

  Cinder puffed up her fur and produced three little balls of red flames in the air. The hero leaned back, but then Cinder sneezed, and sparks flew up like sparklers and ruined the whole scary bunny vibe. Honestly, what were they thinking?

  "Let's all get some sleep." I shooed Dain and the Demon Lord outside. "You're safe here, hero. So please, rest."

  He glanced at the stone bed and barren room. "Right. It feels very safe and cozy in this dungeon."

  "It's not a dungeon." Exasperation colored my voice. It had been a long day and this was not how I'd wanted to end it. "I promise, you're safe here. I give you my word."

  "And how can I trust that? The Demon Lord is in charge here." The hero leaned down, staring at Cinder as she flipped her ears. "And is this bunny really dangerous?"

  "No, she can even stay here and keep you company if that helps." I put on my best smile again and said the only thing that might actually help this situation. "And you can trust me because I'm the Demon Lord's consort. My promise means something. So if I say you're safe here, then you're as safe as a well-sealed tonic."

  His mouth dropped open. "Wait, Demon Lord! When did you get married?"

  The hero's voice was loud enough to reach the Demon Lord down the hall who called back, "I didn't!"

  "My spies are terrible," the hero muttered, gazing at me with newfound wonder. "I can't believe he married a human and we didn't even know about it. Hmmm...I'll have to work on our spy network when I get back. Oh, and congratulations!"

  The last part was also shouted loud enough to make the Demon Lord grumble and moan, muttering something about annoying consorts. I pressed my lips together to stop from laughing. I'd loved the hero's personality as a reader and he seemed to be exactly the same in the flesh. Wary when needed, but also happy and genuine, making the best out of any situation. Even congratulating his enemy on getting married.

  I could work with that. Maybe I could even get the information we needed without starting a war.

  "Sleep well," I said as I walked out the door. "Cinder will keep you safe."

  The bunny hopped up on the bed with the hero and snuggled closer to him even as he tried to jerk away. After a moment, he pet the bunny's head with a smile. Yup, this was all going to work out brilliantly. I'd have to congratulate Dain on a job well done. Never in a million years did I think I'd get the chance to actually talk to the hero.

  Now I just had to patiently wait until the morning.