Page 73 of Mama Si's Paradise

Hesuckedthe blood out of me like a fucking leech, and by the time I was able to coordinate my movements and try to grab him by the tail to take him off me, he let go.

The bigger one was gone. I still heard his roar coming from far away, but he wasn’t flying over us anymore, and the small dragon flew back, too, opening his jaws wide as he roared. It sounded more like screeching tires. I’d never forget his face—the sharp grey spikes over his nose, the small one between his deep black eyes, his small ears and his grey belly as he raised his arms to the sides, attached to membranous wings that extended to his shorter legs, too. That tail, possibly twenty inches long and sharp like a fucking blade, was lined with small sharp spikes, like it had tiny teeth of its own.

Then he flew up and up and up, disappearing from my view completely, just like the rest of them.

Nobody was screaming anymore. The tail of the siren next to me, no longer squeezing me like it wanted to burst me open, just held me above water. All the dragons, big and small, were flying toward the dark cloud of the Whispering Woods now, and before five seconds were over, they disappeared just as fast as they had appeared.

My hand shook as I raised it above the water and brought it to the right side of my neck where the dragon had bitten me. I’d felt it, felt its teeth perfectly clearly, and even though my body was numb right now to feel pain, I touched the wound and my fingers were stained with my blood.

A dragon bite.

Right where Hannah had had that bite mark on her neck, too, even if hers had been much bigger than mine.

No more fishtail around my legs. The siren moved, let go of me, and my body was so fucking heavy, I sank. I sankunderwater for a good few seconds until my instincts kicked in and I realized that I would drown if I didn’t start swimming.

So, I did.

I swam up and up until I broke the surface and filled my lungs with air, and I looked around me, at the Whispering Woods, at all the other human girls swimming in front of their boats, the sirens gone.

It was over. The ritual was already over.

So why did it feel like it was only just beginning?

Twenty

“Mama Si,”I whispered, holding onto the boat’s edge like the other girls were doing. I could see them only barely—they were far away, and I was still panicked, though my own thoughts were starting to come back to me slowly.

Mama Si slowly sat down at the tip of the boat, taking her hat off with a deep sigh. She looked exhausted like I’d never seen her before, and it bothered me, that look on her face. It bothered me even before I understood why.

“Well, now we wait. I did everything right, didn’t I? The rest is out of my control,” she said, almost like she was talking more to herself than to me.

“What…what’s out of your control, Mama Si? You didn’t tell me they’d bebitingus. You didn’t tell me there’d be sirens and dragons—youdidn’t tell me!” I slammed my hand onto the wood of the boat, so frustrated so suddenly my blood was boiling.

“Oh, my sweet Fall Doll. I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve you. You fell right in my lap,” she then said, throwing her head back and laughing heartily.

I sighed, knowing it was useless to be pissed off right now—it was done. The dragon had bitten me and it had flown away.

“Just help me up. I’m tired.” My legs were starting to ache, not because of exhaustion but because of how tightly that fucking siren had held me with her fishtail. I mean, how long was that thing?! Because it had felt like she’d wrapped it around me at least three times.

“Oh, no, you can’t come up here. You need to stay in the water. Fingers crossed it comes for you again!” And she crossed her gloved fingers.

I tried not to let it get to me. “Mama Si, help me up. I can barely swim,” I said through gritted teeth. “Stop joking—give me your hand!”

And I reached out my hand for her, spraying her face with water.

The way the look in her eyes changed so suddenly surprised me almost as much as those damned dragons.

The next second, she’d leaned over the boat, gripping my chin so hard her fingernails dug into my skin, and her eyes were all that I could see.

Mad eyes.

“Don’t tempt me, human,” she spit. “Or you won’t be coming back with me even if they don’t choose you.”

Oh, God.

Different face. Different eyes. Different voice—and no warmth coming from her bare hand gripping my face whatsoever.

Mama Si let go of me and settled back in the boat, looking at the Whispering Woods every few seconds while I couldn’t look away from her.

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