I stared at my hand. The soft feeling of his lips against my fingers left a shadowed sensation I wasn’t sure how to respond to. Beside me, Cin sat wide-eyed, sipping her drink. After a slight pause, she lowered her cup and shook her head in pity. “You aresofucked.”
“Yeah, that’s not helping.” My hand found another shot, and I threw it back.
She chuckled and waved her hand dismissively. “You’ll be fine. Felix is a sweetheart.”
“A drugged sweetheart.” Sunbeam muttered as she sat down another round of drinks.
“Exactly, Sunbeam gets it.” I shouted, pointing to the bartender.
Cinnamon rolled her eyes. “Do you just wanna wait here until the fellas get back? I could mediate a chat for you two so you can discuss what to do about this love potion situation.”
It wasn’t a poor plan for sure. Yet the thought of more social interaction made me want to crawl into a hole for at least a week. “I think I’ve had enough for today. Lemme sleep this off and I’d be happy to meet up and get things sorted tomorrow.”
I paid my tab, lit my lantern and bid the two goodnight. I had no intention of accidentally running into more of my new friends, so I veered off Boohail’s main road and headed into a smaller path behind the market stalls I often used for deliveries.
The roar of the festival crowd died down into peaceful silence. Cool night air brushed pleasantly past my shot warmed cheeks. “What a night.” I said to myself. When the world was quiet enough for me to hear my own thoughts, I let my mind drift to Felix’s earlier words.
‘When my kind sees their mate for the first time, we know instantly.’
I wondered what his kind was. He didn’t have horns like Fallon, so he probably wasn’t a dragon. Thank the stars. To his credit, the man had been nothing but polite since Cin brought him home, but I still haven’t forgotten the way he almost ripped a man’s arm off in front of me.
In the distance, a sharp scream erupted from the trees. Startled, I tripped over myself and looked around. “What the fuck was that?” I rasped. The silent woods around me gave no answers. Taking deep breaths, I continued walking.
“Maybe it was just a puma that had come down from the mountains.” Pumas made the most terrifying noises. Every time one of those overgrown cats came close to the village, we’d be stuck with a sea of screeching caterwauling until the damn thing moved on. “Yeah, it’s just another damn puma.”
A soft voice called out from the trees. “Hello.”
Pausing, I stopped and looked toward the noise. “Yeah?” I answered.
“Hello.” the voice called again.
“Yes, hello what’s up?” I couldn’t see who was calling. But they didn’t sound far away. I wondered briefly if some drunk idiot fell off the trail and got stuck in a prickle bush. Not that I was one to judge. We’ve all drunkenly tripped and gotten stuck in a barrel or two at some point in our lives.
“Hello.”
Annoyed, I spoke a little louder. “Yes, hello, we’ve established greetings. What do you need? Are you stuck?”
“Hello.”
“Well, fuck you then.” I said, swatting at the voice. “I’m too tired for this level of patience.” Stomping away, I ignored the repetitive twat and kept moving. Whoever it was fell quiet. I sighed in relief at not having to deal with any other social interactions. No more people for tonight, thank you.
Something moved impossibly fast in the trees and stopped a little way behind me. “Hello.”
I clicked my tongue, nodding as a rush of fear traveled down my spine. “Yup. That’s a damn demon.” Not bothering to look back, I hauled ass down the road toward my farm.
Sharp ticks of claws against stone met my ears, followed by a low hiss. I peeked over my shoulder. The creature darting after me was an immense mass of slithering grass like hair. It had the arms and legs of a human but crawled on all fours with the swaying gait of an alligator. Its long jaw opened wide, showing off rows of serrated, sharp teeth. I screamed and pushed my legs faster, cursing my mother, father, and all my ancestors for my stubby legs.
The beast closed the distance between us, snapping at the hem of my skirt. I shrieked and swung my lantern at it. It hissed angrily and slowed down, only to regain its composure and dart after me again. Its clawed hand shot out and seized my ankle, sending me to the ground.
“Get off me.” I cried out, kicking at the offending hand. I grabbed a handful of dirt, but when I turned to throw it in the creature’s eyes, something had ripped it off of me. The alligator freak let off a pained cry.
Moonlight flickered through the trees, revealing my savior. Unfortunately for my unlucky ass, that savior was an even bigger monster. The newcomer snarled, tearing into the flesh of the gator beast like it was parchment paper. It was too dim to make out the exact features of the beast. All I could tell was that, unlike the gator, this one stood on two legs. Its body was covered in light colored fur and was clearly twice as pissed off as the smaller monster it was mauling.
The gator shrieked and the sound of snapping bones cut through the air. I cried out when something landed in front of me. I held the lantern up, then held down vomit when the light flickered against a severed arm.
Scrambling to my feet, I took off running. Hoping the gator monster was enough to fill the appetite of whatever the hell that thing was.
“Brie, stop.” A loud thud hit the ground.
