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A second later, though, I feel myself jerked away from empty land and back to reality.
Chapter Four
My eyelids slowly lift open, and I’m immediately blinded by light. I squint in pain. Dammit, I’m with a demon for … Well, however long I’ve been gone, and I’ve already woken up this way twice.
“Let’s breathe fire on her?” a low voice with a lisp purrs.
I go super rigid, blinking my eyes fiercely and trying to get them to adjust to the light. What the hell was that?
“It looks like one of us already did,” another voice hisses. “Look at her clothes.”
I think about the burn holes in my clothing. What are these things?
“Ooooh … that sounds lovely.” Spit hits my cheek as they speak.
Ew! Yuck! Gross!
“Burn all her clothes off and some of her hair,” the other instructs, sounding pleased. “But don’t get her face. I kind of like it.”
“Should we wake her up before we do it?”
“Maybe.”
“Wakey, wakey, wakey, little rainbow trout,” one says before giggling. “You think master will get upset with us?”
“Maybe,” the other hisses out. “He was upset the first time we burned her clothes.”
“Hmmmm … Good thing we like getting into trouble.”
They both giggle mischievously.
My vision smears back into focus, and I realize I’m back in the room I first woke up in. But I’m not alone.
My gaze snaps to the right, and I instantly cringe.
“Ew, dragon fire snake babies,” I say, pulling a disgusted face at the winged dragons with large nostrils and snake-like bodies hovering beside the bed.
They both turn their beady eyes on me, and the longer, silver-ish black one hisses, its snake-like tongue slipping out of its mouth.
“What do you mean, ew?” it says, sounding offended. “You’re the one who’s half-witch.”
I rub my throbbing forehead. “Yeah, so what? There’s nothing wrong with witches.”
“Other than they’re boring, dull, and stupid.” The shorter, reddish-blue dragon fire snake puffs a cloud of smoke in my face. “See? Stupid.”
“I don’t know how that proves that witches are stupid,” I reply, fanning my hand in front of my face. “And FYI, you’re the ones who are stupid. I mean, your main purpose in life is to be a pet to demons. That’s so not very smart.” I know I’m pushing my luck since they could easily breathe fire on me, but they just called all witches stupid. I feel a bit offended.
Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be. Witches were the ones who betrayed me.
I think about meeting Ryleigh in my dream and wonder if anyone will be able to find me in real life. If they do, should I go with them? It seems like the answer should be a definite yes, considering where I am. Yet, residing deep inside me is a hint of hesitation, either from the betrayal or from the demon blood coursing through my veins.
“I don’t like her very much,” one of the demon fire snake babies scoffs.
Fluttering their wings, they hover in the air while trading a look with each other.
“What do you think?” the reddish one asks. “Should we teach her a lesson?”
The other bobs its head up and down eagerly. “Let’s do it!”
I don’t know what they’re about to do, but I’m not about to lie here and find out.
“I don’t think so.” I bolt upright and scramble out of bed.
I move too quickly, though, and the room whirls and twirls like an out-of-control merry-go-round on witches’ mushrooms.
“Whoa, head rush.” I press my hand against the side of my head, struggling to keep my balance.
The demon fire snakes laugh hysterically.
“Stupid witch, stupid witch,” they chant, wiggling their tails as they fly around my head.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been called a stupid witch before, but it’s definitely the first time two evil demon fire snakes have. Normally, I ignore rude remarks thrown at me, but right now, I feel like I’m about to snap.
I reach up and swat the red one, and it sails through the air, landing on the bed.
The silver one’s eyes flare, smoke funneling out of its nostrils. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“Neither is calling someone stupid,” I tell him, slowly backing away before the smoke coming out of its nose turns into fire.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Its paper-thin wings flutter like a hummingbird as it flies toward me. “You’re not going anywhere. Not until you pay for that by letting me burn all your hair off.”
“That’s never going to happen.” I pause for a beat, then spin on my heels and run toward the exit.
I know when I step out of the room, I’ll probably cross paths with Max or another demon, but I’m not about to let some mutant dragon singe my hair!
“Come back here!” it shouts after me, hot on my heels.
“No way!” I throw over my shoulder. “I’m so—”
It grabs a handful of my hair, and my body is whipped backward. My eyes water as I fight to keep my feet under me.
“Let me go!” I shout, flinging my fists behind me.
It only grabs on tighter, dragging me toward the bed.
I dig my heels into the floor, ignoring the fiery burn as the rocks tear open my flesh.
“You’re going to be toast.” The dragon fire snake snickers as it throws me down on the bed.
I land with a bounce on my back and immediately scurry to get back to my feet with my fists positioned, ready to fight. Deep down, I laugh at myself.
Fight, Eva? Yeah, this is going to end with you getting hurt.
But I have to try.
As the dragon fire snake opens its mouth, I see its tongue flicker with a golden-orange flame. Before it can breathe fire into my face, though, I take a swing—
“Enough!” Max’s voice b
ooms throughout the room.
He startles me so badly I end up missing the dragon fire snake and punching the bedpost.
“Mother of all crazy witches,” I growl out in pain as I cradle my injured hand to my chest. “That hurts so bad.” I grit breaths through my teeth until the pain starts to subside.
“You two can leave now,” Max says to the dragon fire snakes as he makes his way across the room and toward the bed. “And as a punishment for disobeying, you can go straight to the fire pit.”
“Why?” the reddish dragon fire snake whines as it pushes its body off the bed. “She’s the one who hit me.”
Max stops beside the foot of the bed and arches a brow at me. “Is that true?”
I shrug, still hugging my hand to my chest. “Only because they said they were going to burn off my clothes and hair.”
Max gives the silver dragon fire snake a firm look. “I thought I made myself perfectly clear that you two weren’t supposed to touch her. Your only job was to watch her until she woke up, and then come inform me.”
The silver dragon fire snake pulls a guilty face. “Sorry, master, but we couldn’t resist.” His eyes skate to mine. “She just looked so tempting.”
Max observes me with a drop of amusement, but hurriedly squashes the look as he redirects his attention to his pet. “Tempting or not, you deliberately disobeyed me, and for the second time since I brought her here.” His gaze fleetingly drops to the burn holes in my shorts. “She’s not a toy.” His lips quirk as his eyes rise to me, then return to the silver dragon fire snake. “At least, not yours.”
“Hey, I’m no one’s pet,” I protest, standing up straighter.
Max rolls his eyes then points a finger at the doorway. “You two, go to the fire pit and wait for me to come and hand out your full punishment.”
“Ah, man,” one of them grumbles. Then they flutter off with their heads tucked down and shoulders slumped.
I smooth my uninjured hand over my hair, making sure all the locks are still there.
Max watches me fuss with a glimmer in his eyes. “Relax, you look perfectly, weirdly beautiful.”
I crinkle my nose at him. “I’m just trying to make sure your little pets didn’t pull out or burn any of my hair off.”
