Free B00CGOH3US EBOK by Lori Dillon Page B

platter. "At least it's good to know you don't gobble them up for dinner when they fail your tests."
    Baelin flinched as if she'd struck him. Did she actually think he would eat the maidens? If the possibility crossed her mind, then she must truly believe him more beast than man.
    "I allow no harm to befall the maidens while they are under my protection," he replied through gritted teeth. "The challenges are not of my making. If it were within my power, I would not involve another to break the curse."
    "But you do involve them. You kidnap innocent women and force them to come here against their will. Not very chivalrous, if you ask me."
    He looked away, shamed by the truth in her words. "They are rewarded well for their time spent with me. When I release them, I give them enough gold to live without want for the rest of their days."
    "Gee, thirty days in a damp cave with komodo man in exchange for a lifetime of luxury. That actually doesn't sound like such a bad deal." Lady Jill cast a pitying glance his way. "Well, for the girls, anyway."
    "Perhaps." He sighed, knowing he had to tell her the whole truth. "But for some, the wealth they receive is not enough for all that they lose."
    "What do you mean?"
    "Once the maidens are sacrificed to me, they can never return to the village. To do so would be their death."
    Her brow puckered. "Why?"
    "After living in the company of the beast, they are deemed soiled." He poked the hot embers with a stick before tossing it into the flames. "The maiden would be burned at the stake for bringing back the evil of the dragon with them."
    Her wide eyes followed the dancing sparks as they rose above the fire, only to extinguish and fade. "Oh, my God. That's horrible."
    "'Twas a mistake made only once. Since then, the maidens have heeded my advice, taken their coin and fled, never to return."
    "Can't say I blame them."
    Lady Jill wrapped her arms around her knees and stared into the fire. What thoughts occupied her mind, he could not tell. He waited in silence, anticipating the moment she would refuse him as all the others had before her.
    She stood abruptly and rubbed her hands together. "Okay, so let's get started."
    He spoke softly, not quite certain he'd heard her correctly. "You intend to aid me?"
    "I don't seem to have much choice, do I?"
    "There are always choices, at least for most."
    "Well, that doesn't seem to be true for me at the moment. No offense, but if I had a choice, I'd rather be surrounded by a dozen sugared-up, shrieking six-year-old girls at a Chuck E Cheese birthday party instead of where I am right now. But since I appear to be an unwilling star in this real live Excalibur, I figure I'm going to have to play my part out to the end."
    He watched her glance around the cave, as if seeing it for the first time. When she shook her head and sighed, he wondered if she'd changed her mind. Yet, when her gaze returned to him, it was one of resolved determination.
    "I don't understand the hows or whys of it, but for some reason, my fate seems to be tied to this curse just as much as yours is, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here right now. And if I'm guessing right, breaking the curse is somehow the key to getting me back to my time. So that means until we figure this thing out, consider me your new best friend."
    Friend.
    Something strange turned in the dragon heart beating within his chest. It had been so long since someone had called themselves such. All friends he'd known from his mortal life before were long dead. Dare he hope she might grow to care for him enough to consider him a true friend? Or perhaps, in time, something even more?
    "Okay, so what's the plan?"
    Her simple question caught him off guard. "The plan?"
    "Yes, the plan."
    Baelin didn't know what to say. None of the maids had ever wanted to help him. The two who tried had been reluctant at best. With the others, he never progressed much farther than alleviating their fears enough to allow them to speak a word or two