Page 67 of Dragon in Boots

Interesting.“So when women scream your name and drool over you, they’re giving you—”

“Their energy, which I absorb. All demons do, actually. It’s the ones who feed off anger, fear, and violence you have to watch out for.”

“Not so different from some toxic people I know.”

Once inside, they walked to the end of the building near the large cage where her tiger paced back and forth.

“But you can eat and drink normal food, too, right?” she asked.

“Yes, but it doesn’t do much for me. Even if it tastes good, I can’t live off it.”

She turned to face him, gazing into those beautiful blue eyes. For a moment, she forgot why they were there.

“What did you want to show me?” Dash asked.

Suddenly, the animals all around the sanctuary began making noises outside. Screams, howls, and growls.

“He’s here,” she said.

“I don’t think so. He said he’d be a while because he had something to get for you. Another gift, I suppose.”

The animals’ chirps, roars, and squawks grew stronger.

“If it’s not him, then I’m not sure what it would be,” she said.

Dash shrugged dismissively. “So what are we doing here?”

She was about to tell him her plan—using the tiger as a distraction. Then she would run outside, bolt the door, and pull a cord she’d installed to unleash her army of poisonous snakes hidden inside the building. She’d already laid down electric wire on the outside of the tiger cage so the snakes wouldn’t harm him. As for Heebie, it would only take one bite to kill him. Just one. It didn’t matter if he was the size of an elephant. Her inland taipan could kill a man with one drop of venom. And entire bite could take anything down. Once Heebie was dead, she and Dash would be free.

“Okay, so here’s the plan. When…” Her eyes darted to the tiger poised behind Dash, ready to pounce despite being stuck in a cage.

She looked at Dash again, then at Kip the angry tiger. Outside, the animals were still going bananas.

Wait…“The plan is—” She got up on her tiptoes and kissed him hard. Cold lips met hers, confirming her suspicion. This was Heebie!

She continued, “The plan is for us to say goodbye. Yep, goodbye kiss. I really didn’t want to study you. It was only an excuse so I could let you down easy and tell you that while I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, Heebie is my destiny.”

His eyes narrowed. “What gave me away?”

“What do you mean,Dash?” She had no choice but to continue the ruse. She just hoped Dash was all right.

“Whatever you’re up to, stop right now, or I’ll burn down this sanctuary.”

Her heart raced. “I’m not up to anything. I swear.”

“You think I’d stop with this place, Jacquelin? I know where your sisters live. I know everything about you and your family. I made it a point to learn before choosing you.” He walked forward. “It would take less than twenty minutes to reach them all and burn their homes to the ground with them inside.”

Heartless, cruel scalehole.“Why are you being like this? I thought you liked me.”

“This is me being kind. Otherwise, they’d be dead already along with your precious animals. If you doubt me, ask Dashiel. Oh. Wait. You can’t. Because I ate him.”

Her jaw dropped, and her stomach filled with ice-cold cement. “He’s dead?”

“Tradition.” Heebie shrugged like he couldn’t care less. “Why do you look so sad, Jacquelin? I thought you did not care for oiled demon?” He flashed a reptilian smile, showing all his front teeth, which were clenched together.

“I don’t care about him romantically,” she lied, “but you broke your promise to let me study him. I seriously can’t believe you.” She huffed. “I need a minute.” She turned, leaving him inside the building. Once outside, she leaned over to catch her breath. She couldn’t believe he was gone. Not just gone, but sent to purgatory. Forever.

That nasty, overgrown iguana!She couldn’t let him get away with this!

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