Page 55 of Dragon in Boots

She couldn’t believe that Heebie planned to eat Dash or that Heebie thought she’d want to spend her life with him, a dragon. But that wasn’t the absolute strangest part. The true quagmire was how Dash didn’t want to fight his impending devourment.

Why?The story about giving his word to Heebie sounded like a bunch of rotten garbage. There had to be more to the story. Maybe Dash feared what might happen to Jac if Heebie didn’t get his way. Regardless, she was under zero obligation to that murder-kitten.

I don’t care if he touches a dozen of my eggs! He doesn’t own my coop.

Funny how the demon turned out to be the nice one, and the “innocent” furball turned out to be the tyrant. It just went to show that the saying “Never judge a book by its cover” held solid truth.But more like, never judge a stripper by his forty-hour abs and furry companion.Also true:Never judge a broke bartender by her ark of crippled animals.

That last one was especially accurate. She was so much more than she appeared on the outside.I’m a dragon. A dragon!How come she’d never shifted into one or noticed anything nonhuman about herself?

Then again, there was that egg.What more proof did she need? Somewhere inside was an ancient species of predator.But super nice.

It suddenly dawned on her that while she did have a compassionate heart, she didn’t actually have to stay silent or accept anything Heebie wanted. She could fight back. And she would!

So what if she didn’t know the first thing about being a dragon or how to tap into that fierce primal power? She’d faced graver challenges and came out alive. Like the time that black mamba got loose because one of the interns didn’t lock the snake’s enclosure. She had been sitting outside, giving a back massage to a pregnant hyena, when something slithered up the side of her shirt. She knew right away what it was because they’d been looking for the snake for three days. It had been Jac’s cool head that kept her heart rate down, which prevented the snake from biting. The moment it slithered out, she plucked the little fucker from the ground by the back of the head, saving both her and the mamma hyena. So, yeah, if she could wrangle one of the world’s deadliest snakes, she could take on Heebie.Besides, what’s a dragon other than a flying snake, right?

I can do this. I can do this!

Jac said goodbye to the children, giving them little gift bags with three-legged Larry erasers (RIP, Larry) and pencils with toothless alligators, along with a coloring book to help them learn more about the animals they’d seen today.

The moment their bus pulled away, she went to see Bernard, the most senior of their volunteers, who’d been with the sanctuary before Salome’s passing. He was a rotund man with thinning red hair, a clown phobia, and an addiction to colorful clothing—rainbow hoodies, neon pink joggers, and turquoise socks. Definitely eccentric.

“Hey, Bernard, I have a family emergency. Think you could stay until I get back? Might be pretty late.”

He gave her a strange look.

“What?” she asked. “Do I have dung on my face again?” As usual, Fernando the elephant had the runs. Irritable bowel syndrome, after being fed nothing but cocaine and Pop-Tarts during his five years living with some cartel guy who thought it would be cool to have a private zoo. Fernando was in great shape now, but his system went nuts when he saw anything in a shiny wrapper. Also, doughnuts with powdered sugar.

She wiped her cheeks.

“No. Your face is fine.”

“Then?” she asked.

“You just look…different. Bigger somehow.”

“You think I’m getting fat?” She looked down at her body. She knew she hadn’t been eating super healthy lately, but her clothes still fit the same.If anything. I’ve lost a few pounds since the egg.

“No.” He shook his head. “It’s like you’re unafraid to be seen. It’s refreshing. I like it.”

“You think I was afraid to be seen?”

“Come on, Jac. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve hidden behind your animals, makingthemthe stars of this sanctuary. But they wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your dedication. You’re the heart of this place.”

To her, the sanctuary was a home for creatures who had to fight to survive in a world that didn’t care very much about them.Theydid all the work. She just did her best to feed them, love them, and provide veterinary care.

“Thanks,” she said, “but to me, they’re the heroes. They choose to keep going in a less than ideal living situation, and their will to live is teaching a new generation how special they are.” It was true. These animals weren’t just beautiful, they radiated inspiration, nobility, the magnificence of Mother Nature.

Okay, maybe except for Putt Putt, the incontinent fruit bat.He was hard to admire.

Bernard frowned, apparently disagreeing. “I think it’s time you start taking credit for your work. You love the unlovable, and you make us love these animals just by watching you fight for them.”

A speck of invisible dust flew in her eye, and she whisked it away.Not crying. Not crying…

He continued, “Ninety percent of the volunteers come and go. Even Salome threw in the towel after putting her heart and soul into this place for almost twenty years. She just wore herself out and then gave up on life. Don’t get me wrong; I admired her from the first moment I signed on as an intern until her last breath, but she failed to have a vision for the sanctuary, to imagine what this place could become: a model for a revolution.”

“Revolution?” The word reminded her of that strange comment Mink had made.

“With the right funding, the sanctuary doesn’t have to stop growing, Jac. You’ve doubled the number of animals we take in, and raised more money than Salome ever did. At this point, you have to be considering expansion to new locations.”

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