Page 48 of Dragon in Boots

“I think we should go now,” said Damien. “If I know one thing about dragons, this place is about to get messy. Come. Hurry.” Damien helped Jac up and walked her toward the exit.

Jac glanced over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of something she wished she could unsee.

Jesus, it’s like a firehose of—

“Hurry. Now.” Damien dragged her outside.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jac got into Damien’s SUV, fully aware she was going into shock. Nothing back in the theater made any sense.

“What just happened?” she muttered.

“Apparently, you are a dragon and a mother-to-be,” Damien said.

“But how?” This had to be a mistake. Or a bad dream.Or…something!

“How could I have a rage demon possessing me for two hundred years and not know? The world we live in is filled with mysteries.”

Rage demon?Jac needed to lie down. “But I just laid an egg. Like a fucking chicken.”

“Trust me. That’s no chick. And you need to figure out what to do with it after it hatches.”

“I’m not going anywhere near it.” If it weren’t for the sanctuary, she’d be fleeing the continent right now.

There was a loud knock at the window. “Hey,” said the Belch man, standing there in his white underwear. “Anyone want to party? This place turned into a snoozefest. Just a bunch of hags fawning over their eggs.”

“I would love to,” Jac said under her breath.

“I think you need to rest,” Damien said, “but we can stop and get you supplies.”

At sunrise, Jac woke up on a gold-and-white couch in a fancy hotel room with a view of downtown Dallas. If memory served, this was Damien’s suite, and that man under the dining table (dream-mumbling to some woman named Margarita about being sorry for having too much fun) was the God of Wine.

She slowly sat up and massaged the sides of her pounding head, faintly recalling getting hammered and playing Twister. It had been Belch’s idea.

Then that Pet bird-thing showed up, and Damien started arguing with a ghost named Sky. He didn’t want her to leave. Sky disagreed. Belch thought they were being rude for missing their turns at Twister. It had been a crazy night—not at all what she’d needed.

Was there any piece of Jac’s reality left intact?I need a vacation.Somewhere weird beings couldn’t get close to her.Weird beings besides myself, I mean.

Still lying on the couch, Jac realized that someone was knocking on the door. Probably the maid service.

She struggled to get to her feet and open it.

“You happy now?” said Dash, standing in the hallway, wearing boots, black jeans, and a snug white tee that accentuated his fit body.

She winced. “Stop screaming.”

“I’m not screaming,” he hissed.

“Then why do my eardrums feel like they’re about to explode?”

“You just couldn’t wait to fuck him, could you, Jac?” Dash’s plump lips formed a flat line.

She held out her palm. “Whoa, whoa. What are you talking about?” She didn’t remember hooking up with anyone last night.

“You let him touch your egg.”

She blinked. Then she blinked some more. Faint memories of pain, stomach cramping, and then something popping into her panties flooded her mind. It hadn’t been just a bad dream.

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