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“Oh, no,” Gryla laughed out loud. “The McCrocker Gingerbreads are well known for being assholes in every situation.”
“Hey! That’s not….”
“MOTHER!” The roar shook the cave, cut off whatever rebuttal Ginger was about to spout, and had me diving for cover.
Scurrying behind the first rock I found, I wasn't even pissed off that Ginger was hanging onto my shoulder and hiding in my hair. I just wanted to know who or what was screaming for their momma and what I had to do to make him stop. I'd already landed in the middle of a pile of rocks once. An avalanche was not needed – not ever.
Peeking around the side of the boulder, I was almost blinded – for real this time - when a blast of bright Mystical Light and a bolt of Magic shot into the cavern. Striking the floor right in front of Gryla's perfectly manicured green toes, noxious smoke and nasty fumes filled the air as a male version of the Christmas Witch of Legend appeared.
"Where is she? Where have you put her? I know she landed here. I saw it with my own eyes. Now, give her to me. She's mine, Mother. You said she was mine. You said if I got to the Brown Witch of Magical Deliciousness and Special Memories, and Holder of the Golden Spark of Warmth and Happiness who makes all the celebrations of all religions, sects, shapes, and sizes are all they are meant to be, and she agreed to come the Hinterlands before she met the Dragon made for her by the Universe that she would be mine. You promised! You promised! Now, where is she?”
4
Ibarely had my eyes open before Nate grabbed my hand and pulled me off the ground so quickly, I bounced off his chest and just barely stayed upright. “Whoa, Dude, give me….”
But he wasn't listening. Spinning me one after the other, everything was a blur, and for the second time, I was about to barf when the twirling stopped, and I was looking directly into the eyes of my freaked-out cousin.
Not even waiting until my head stopped spinning and my stomach stopped rolling, he barked, "Are you okay? Did you hit your head? I don't see any bruises or anything, but maybe you need to go into the house and have a seat. I think Molly's got some of her Healing tea in there. Is King Sith okay? Can he heal you if anything is wrong? Do I need to have my King check on him?"
"Yes, Sith is fine. Yes, he could heal me, but I'm good. And no, that's okay," I groaned, reaching around and swiping at the snow still covering my freezing backside. "Nothing's wounded but my pride. Besides, the last time I tried one of your Mate's concoctions, my throat was on fire for a week."
“And be sure to tell him that whatever Molly put in that tea gave me a migraine. I must ask your cousins' Dragon Kings if it also affects them."
“Can that wait? We’re kinda in the middle of something here.”
“But of course, Lad. I’m not daft. We have higher priorities. You need to focus and tell me everything.”
Ignoring Sith's latest rant, I tuned back into the conversation around me just as Nate laughed, "Yeah, but you stopped coughing and sneezing, didn't you? And I'm pretty sure your headache was gone, too."
“But I couldn’t eat or drink anything but water for seven days. I was literally on fire, and Sith couldn’t put it out.”
“Oh, poor baby,” Nate teased, laughing out loud and slapping his leg. “I’m really sorry.”
“Yeah, I can tell.”
"I really am sorry, but the look on your face was priceless." He gasped for air and continued to laugh. "Your eyes were as big as saucers. It was like when Mick convinced you to try the peppers Mrs. Bee had canned. There was smoke coming out of your ears."
"Yeah, sure, priceless." I scoffed. "Glad you had a good laugh –again.Thanks for that. It felt like Sith had let his fire loose before I opened my mouth. And he complained of a migraine until I had to put him on mental ignore for an entire afternoon."
“Don’t worry,” Chris said, appearing on my right. “None of us will drink any of Molly’s teas anymore either. Not only do they mess with us, but they also seriously screw with our Dragon Kings too.”
“See? I just knew it,”Sith grumbled.
“Hush, I’m listening,”I shot back, knowing he would make me pay for it later.
Thankfully, Chris was still talking, and no one noticed I hadn’t been listening. “Worse than that, I swear most of the Brown Witch concoctions will take the chrome off a tailpipe, and those are the ones Molly swears are made from only flowers or weeds."
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Nate objected with a twinkle in his eye.
"It is, too, and you know it, Bro. And don't get me started on those pregnancy cookies she tried to make us all eat," Chris countered. "Please tell me you're taking a break on the baby makin' for a while. I don't think any of us will survive another nine months of nasty cookies, awful tea, and kooky Molly."
“What my Mate and I do in the privacy of our own home is none of your damn business,” Nate pretended to be offended. Unable to keep his smile under control, he chuckled, “Okay, yeah, they were horrible, but sometimes medicine tastes bad even when it works.” Winking in my direction, he added, “And don’t think I’m not gonna tell Molly that you called her kooky.”
Ignoring his brother, Chris turned back to me and asked, "You sure you’re, okay?"
“Yeah, I’m good.”
"It's a wonder you're upright and making any sense at all," Mick chuckled. "Molly almost shook the stuffin' outta ya' even after you hit the ground. She was sure the Wild Magic had gotten a hold of you until she checked you out."
