Page 20 of Blaze of Our Lives

“Call in Fifi,” I told Cher. “I want her touching me too.”

My self-proclaimed succubus bodyguard was insane and overprotective. She was a gun-toting, grenade-carrying nutjob, but I trusted her with my life. If I could have backup, I wanted her there.

“On it,” Cher said, pulling out her cellphone.

The gummy relaxed me immediately. My eyes were heavy, and the couch was comfortable. Abaddon tucked a pillow underneath my head and softly kissed me.

“Come back to me,” he whispered. “We have some unfinished business.”

I grinned as I struggled to stay awake. “It’s my number one goal.”

I let the gummy work and fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

The dream state arrived. What was ahead was anyone’s guess.

CHAPTER SIX

“Oh shit,” I muttered as I glanced around wildly, hoping that my little army of powerful Immortals had shown up.

Nothing.

Nada.

No one.

Well, no one except me, Pandora, and the woman headed toward us in a golf cart. I was still wearing the badass black outfit. All my appendages were where they were supposed to be. The air in the dream state was breathable, and there were no weapons aimed at me. I considered that a win. I needed all the small victories I could get right now.

“What? What do you see?” Pandora asked, sounding perturbed and on edge.

I really didn’t need her to freak out. I was so close to my own breakdown there was no time for both of us to lose our shit. Quickly taking in the surroundings, I tried to assess how much danger we were in.

What I saw was nuts. I seriously wished I hadn’t mentioned the Wizard of Oz earlier. It appeared I dropped into the middle of Munchkin Land on steroids.

The trees were made of giant colorful lollipops—rooted into the ground with what appeared to be rainbow sprinkles. There was a quaint row of twelve houses that were made of gingerbread. Gumdrops framed the windows, and icing coated the roofs. Bushes filled with lemon drops and candy canes lined the walkways. The sun was bright pink, and the clouds were silver. It gave the entire area a sparkly and ethereal glow. And it wouldn’t be complete without a brick road. However, the brick road I stood on wasn’t yellow. It was green—neon green. Honestly, it looked like there was no danger at all, which most likely meant the opposite.

“It’s weird.” I went on to explain to Pandora what I was looking at right down to the gingerbread houses and the color of the bricks.

“Of course, it’s weird,” she snapped. “You’re weird.”

Punching her would mean punching myself. I was tempted, but decided against it.

“It looks kind of like a warped version of the Wizard of Oz set.”

“Are there munchkins?” she demanded with a squeal. “I love munchkins.”

The golf cart was drawing closer. I hoped the woman driving it wasn’t here to kill me. From where I stood, the gal in the cart wasn’t Glenda the Good Witch or the Wicked Witch of the West. That was a relief. It looked like she had red hair and could barely see above the steering wheel.

“I ASKED if there were any fucking munchkins,” Pandora hissed.

I punched myself in the stomach. It was a knee-jerk reaction.

“OUCH,” Pandora shouted.

I smiled. While I hadn’t enjoyed socking myself, it was lovely to know she felt it.

“I don’t see…” I swallowed the rest of my sentence as a pop of green minty-scented mist made me jump.

And wouldn’t you know… Pandora’s beloved munchkins appeared. Not the cute ones from the movie, though. Nope. These munchkins were tiny—about eighteen inches tall—with razor sharp teeth and were staring at me like I was trespassing and they were starving. Not good. They wore brightly colored track suits and trucker hats. The kicker was their faces. The resemblance to Brad Pitt, Warren Beatty, Dolly Parton, Clark Gable and Jennifer Aniston was uncanny. There were about forty of them. The majority were Brads. The Dollys were a close second.

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