I clenched my fists and tried to remember a time before talking swords and bullshit. Fallon handed the talking antagonizer back to me and slumped off back inside the house. “Trying to break that ward magic really did a number on him, huh?” I asked Cin.
“He’ll be alright in the morning.” She said, “Fallon is still young by dragon standards, so using his magic is extremely taxing.”
“How old is he?”
Cin put a fist to her chin and gazed off. “I think he just turned one hundred and twenty-five.”
Well, damn. “How long do dragons live?”
“Oh, ya know, I never bothered to ask. I think Dante is seven hundred and something. So maybe a thousand?”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Sure, a thousand, why not? Follow up question: does Fallon also have a knot?”
In my hand, I felt Alexis pulse. “OK, now we’re talking. Spill the beans on dragon dick. Inquiring minds want to know!”
My friend tilted her head and put her hands on her hips. “Knot? On a dick? Tell us about this knot.”
“Preferably with imagery, if you can draw.” Alexis chimed.
“So that’s a no on the Fallon thing. Alright. That means not all shifters have them, I guess.” I said.
“I have it on good authority that lamias have two!”
Cin and I looked at the sword in disbelief. “Damn, are these demons just walking around with a surprise box in their pants?” I asked.
“That might be too much for me.” Cin confessed, fanning herself. “I’m just not that ambitious. I feel like we need some kind of monster manual for demon dick. If nothing else, just to warn the local woman of what to expect.”
Alexis gave off another pulse. “Sweet smoldering iron. If I only had a body, I’d jump on that research task with the speed and tenacity of a wild jungle cat.”
“You’re a brave gal, I’ll give you that.” Cin replied.
Down the road, a twig snapped. Immediately, I gripped the sword tighter and held her in front of me. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Cin asked, turning to look at where I was facing.
Her question was met with a pained groan and the sound of shuffling feet. Through the cave of winding trees, a long figure appeared. The figure was limping something fierce. “Oh gods, please don’t let it be another ghoul.”
“Shit,” Cin cursed. “Brie, come inside with me.” She tugged at my arm, but fear had me rooted in place. The figure dragged itself closer until I could just make out a mop of wild brown hair. “Wait, a second.” I squinted, trying to get a better look, then waved. “Kitty, is that you?”
The figure straightened and threw a hand up. “Brie? Oh, thank the gods, I finally made it back.” Kitty rushed forward toward us, nearly stumbling over her own two feet in the process. I let out a breath of relief when my friend finally came into full view. She looked an absolute mess, but she was alive. Her dark brown curls were half matted against her head and there were scrapes all over her hands and knees. When Kitty wiped sweat from her brow, I could see ugly black and blue bruises marring her wrists.
I hooked Alexis through my belt and tried to approach her, but Cin held an arm out, stopping me. “Don’t.” She whispered. “It could just be an illusion.”
“Who are you calling an illusion?” Kitty snapped. “Do you have any idea of the raging bullshit I’ve been through the past few days?”
Cin rolled her eyes, but kept me held back. “It’s nothing personal Cuz, just stay there while we sort this out.”
Kitty growled and stopped. “How are we going to tell if it’s an illusion?” I asked Cin.
A wicked grin spread across her face, and she bent to pick up a pebble. “Sorry Kitty, gotta check!” was all she said before yeeting a pebble at Kitty with zero remorse.
It struck her right in the boob. The disheveled woman let out a yelp and grabbed at her chest. “What the fuck, Cinnamon?” She snarled.
“OK, she’s real.” Cin chirped. The malicious glint in her eye looked suspiciously similar to her husband’s.
Maybe those demons rubbed off on her a little too much.Then again, those two idiots had never really gotten along. If they weren’t fighting over the results of a chili competition, it was some other nonsense they felt the need to compete about. I shoved past Cinnamon and went to steady Kitty. The poor girl looked ready to keel over and happily sagged against me when I offered my weight. “Can you tell us what happened?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Kitty let out a breath and grabbed hold of my arm. “Out of nowhere this giant deer monster thing grabbed me and-” Blue lightning erupted from her body, encasing us both. Hot streaks of pain raced across my skin in its wake. I screamed and tried to pull away, but some invisible force locked my arms and legs in place. Kitty’s eyes had rolled into the back of her head, her mouth had fallen open in a silent scream.
