Page 14 of Heart On For Dragon

“Shut the fuck up, Violet!” Harvey roared, throwing Bernie like she was a football, he was the quarterback, and his team needed a Hail Mary as he bellowed, “I will have you! I will break you! I will…”

"You will eat shit and die!" Bernie hollered as the magically purple and perfectly pink sparkling rope shooting out of the finger that had once been wagging at Harvey wrapped around her tummy and pulled her to me. "I will turn you into a Toad and feed you to Gloria Gator. I will Magick your ass to the lowest Pit of Hell, coat you in the scent of tuna and catnip, and drop you in the kitty box of Lucifer's prettiest pussies. I will…"

“You will do nothing of the kind!” Harvey exploded, his voice like a giant foghorn as black smog, onyx fireworks, and the fetid stench of rotten eggs zipping and zapping from the tips of his horns. “Uncle Big Daddy and Auntie Mother Archer promised I could have you…”

Wham! Another crack of Magic hit the rocks right next to me just as Bernie’s feet hit the ground. Diving in the opposite direction, I would like to tell you that I moved with the grace of a well-trained stunt woman, but sadly, I would be lying.

Slamming my hands into the stone floor so hard my body shimmied and shook so hard my eyes damned near rolled back in my head, I managed to barrel roll out of the way and get to my knees before Harvey fired off another round of noxious sorcery while continuing to rage, “…as long as I make Mick pay for turning on them. They promised!”

Acting like a very large, very pissed off sullen two-year-old who was about to take his toys and run home to momma, the nasally whine returned to Harvey’s rumbling baritone making him sound as if the reverb on his internal sound system was all whacked out. “Those fucking Archer boys should’ve stayed gone. They got their Magic. They got their Dragons. They. Got. Everything!”

Arms extended to what looked like the length of half a football field, that crazy ass Minotaur lowered his head, rolled his eyes up as high as they would go, and glared at me as his eyes glowed an eerie bloodred and the black of his pupils overtook everything else. Tossing his head to and fro, his stance widened, and he pawed the ground.

I swear to the Great Goddess, I was waiting to hear the music of trumpets playing the Pasodoble and a matador’s red cape to appear in my hands. Thankfully, it was Bernie’s voice shouting in my brain that spurred me into action.

“Wake the hell up, Vi! That bullshit bull’s about to charge!”The tippity-tap of her hooves on the rocks wiping away the last of my shock, she barked,“You go left! I’ll go right! Let’s wrap this mutha ducker up!”

Acting without thinking, I didexactlyas I was told for the first time in my very long life. Unfortunately, Harvey was in full Minotaur mode and moving damned near faster than my eyes could track. Twisting his torso and legs to the left as he kept his head and those long-ass horns pointed towards me, that rat bastard was making sure I could see exactly how big he truly was. Having the utter nerve to try and intimidate me. Who the hell did he think he was?

With a war cry that would’ve made Sitting Bull happy, I screamed, “Go straight back to hell, Harvey Archer,” as I ran full speed to the left with Magic coming out of every orifice I could force it from.

Growling so low and with so much power that the ground beneath my feet shook and rocks and dust fell from the ceiling the Minotaur that was Harvey Archer audibly breathed, “Rrrrumph rrrrumph, you will be mine.Rrrrumph rrrrumph,Violet Brown!”

Dropping to my knees and sliding across the gravel and dirt to avoid a swipe of his mighty horns, I fired off a bolt of the harshest, nastiest Magic the Keeper of the Spark of Love could conjure. Literally hitting the Bull’s eye – or rather, the Bull’s belly – at exactly the same moment that Bernie crashed into his knees, all I could do was yell, “Timber!”

It was a thing of beauty, extreme hilarity, and the best sight I’d ever laid eyes on…

(Aside from seeing Mick for the first time in forever.)

…as Harvey’s big ass hooves got tangled up in Bernie’s tutu and in one fell-swoop a ginormous, gigantic, giant pain in the ass Minotaur flew ass over tits through the air. In the blink of an eye, everything seemed to switch to slow motion and it was the best show I’d ever seen.

Mouth open so wide he could’ve swallowed both of his big, clopping hooves…

(Talk about hoof-in-mouth disease, that Minotaur had a case not even Dr. Bombay could cure.)

…Harvey’s terrified roars echoed and reverberated until my ears were ringing so loud I barely heard Bernie shriek, “Shut the hell up, Asshole! Take your payback with a bit of dignity!”

Slamming into a very huge, very pointed rock sticking out of the farthest wall, Harvey’s cries cut out like someone had flipped a switch. Jumping to my feet, I was just about to blast him again, when the nerdiest jackass to ever walk the planet crumbled into a massive pile of mangy Minotaur hide and big curvy horns with stupid, round coke-bottle-lensed glasses hanging from one of his ears.

And just like that, the rest of my Magic – and Bernie’s, too – came whooshing back in a cloud of wonderful red bubbles, pink sparkles, and beautiful lavender mist. With only a look and a wink between us, my Potbellied Familiar and I lifted our hands and let the Mysticism flow.

Wrapping Harvey up as tight as we could in enchanted ropes, charmed shackles, and a chain imbued with so much Magic I knew only the Great Goddess Herself could break the links, I turned towards Bernie and got as far as, "Damn, Girl, we make one helluva a te…"

When Mick raced into the room looking like he'd been through one too many spin cycles in an industrial washing machine filled with nuts and bolts. Shirt torn to shreds, blood stains covering most of his wonderfully and permanently tanned skin, he was winded and heaving as his eyes flew from my face to Bernie and finally to a trussed-up, still unconscious Harvey.

Throwing his hands in the air, my man, my Dragon, my hunka-hunka-burnin’ love huffed, “Well, shit, you don’t need me at all, do ya’?”

“Nope,” Bernie scoffed.

To which I growled, “Bernice,” while goosing her good with a zipping zap of Magic.

Running across the dingy cave and into the waiting arms of my Mate, I wrapped my arms around his neck, planted a big kiss on his lips, and reassured straight into his mind,"I'll always need you, Mick Archer, forever and ever, Amen and then some."

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