Ferocious Flea Market Dragons, page 13
Thorn grabbed the back of my shirt and tugged. I followed him to keep backing away, even when the second head added, “Sure you won’t come inside for supper?”
“I’ve learned enough, thank you,” I replied.
“You idiot,” the third head said. “You don’t ask your prey to just come inside.”
The second head nipped at the first. “It might’ve worked. You’re always mocking me.”
“I’d stop making fun of you, if you’d stop saying stupid shit.”
The argument continued as Thorn and I walked away. A new plan formed in my mind: Time to bring the fire. A lot of it.
The morning shift had already started by the time Thorn and I pulled up to The Bends’ parking lot. He dropped me off so I could run inside. The scent of fried food wafted through the air—probably from Kramkar’s business to entice customers from Bill’s place.
As I approached the entrance, my phone buzzed in my pocket, startling me. I pulled it out to find Erica’s name flashing on the screen. I groaned and quickly answered with, “Hey, Erica, now’s not a good time.”
“I’m so sorry about this, Nat.” Erica sounded breathless. “Thank goodness you picked up. I need some help at The Bends.”
At least I was right outside. “What’s up?”
Erica must’ve been in the back office. I couldn’t hear much from the main floor. “Mrs. Kite is causing a ruckus again, and this time it’s worse. She brought her whole damn family, and they’re demanding compensation for a broken handle on an early 20th century gramophone. She said it was broken beforehand and Bill made a written promise guaranteeing quality or a refund.”
I smacked my lips. That harpy was so damn good at making a scene. “I’ll be there in a sec. Hey, is Millicent working now?”
“Yeah, do you need to speak to her?”
“I’ll talk to her once I’m inside,” I replied before ending the call.
I quickened my pace and entered the building through the front this time. Dodging curious stares, I made my way to the counter where Erica was dealing with a harpy commotion. You couldn’t miss them—the whole place stank like the cheap vanilla perfume Mrs. Kite wore. The conniving creature came in dressed in her usual bedazzled jeans and jean jacket and screeched at the poor clerk. She waved some kind of letter about.
“Are you going to help me or what?” Mrs. Kite snapped. “Or do you need to make another phone call?”
“I’ll be happy to help you,” Erica replied, “but I need you to stop harassing my staff.”
Four other harpies, all of them covered in shiny, over-the-top glamours blustered and complained to anyone who’d listen.
“Can you believe the kind of service my sister is getting?” said one busty harpy dressed in a construction-worker orange velour jogger set.
Another nodded in a jailbird black and white stripped romper, clearly disgusted with a frown filling her whole face.
“Dirty thieves.” The third gestured wildly to make sure everyone noticed. “All of ’em.”
I approached discreetly and examined the antique record player in question on the checkout counter. The broken handle confirmed Mrs. Kite’s claim, but something felt off. I returned to the back office and jumped on a nearby workstation. Since my login still worked, I scrolled through the old receipts, finally finding the one associated with the record player.
After printing off the evidence, I rejoined Erica and Mrs. Kite. The moment that harpy spotted me, I could’ve sworn her black feathers rustled with disgust under her glamour.
“You,” she spat. “I heard you don’t work here anymore. You have no say here, Nat.”
“Guess I returned just in time.” I slammed the receipt on the counter. I didn’t have time for this bullshit. “This is the original description, and it doesn’t mention a broken handle. Based on that, you’re not entitled to compensation. Yet. Again.”
Erica stepped forward. “Nat speaks for the store. Stop making a scene and leave, please.”
Mrs. Kite huffed but eventually left with her disgruntled family in tow. I breathed a sigh of relief, realizing I had to get back to my original mission.
Turning to Erica, I shook my head. “Bill needs to ban her for life.”
Erica smiled. “If he didn’t make so much money from her, he would. Didn’t you need to speak to Millicent?”
“Yeah.” I glanced around and spotted the fire witch at the far-end register. You couldn’t miss her since she was the only person with bright purple hair in the store.
“I’ll cover for her while you chat,” Erica offered.
We walked over and I tapped Millicent on the shoulder.
“Hey, there, I need your help with something,” I said. “Can we talk for a sec?”
Millicent looked intrigued. “Sure, Nat. What’s going on?”
“Let’s chat in private.” I gestured to the back office doors.
Erica took Millicent’s place while we found a quieter spot to chat in the back office. Only Quinton worked in there, but when he spotted us, he waved and returned to the sales floor.
“I’m not sure how to say this, but I need your fire magic. Can you create flames as hot as a dragon’s?”
Millicent raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure. How hot is a dragon’s fire?”
I shrugged. “Not sure, but I need enough heat to torch a magical seed.”
Millicent grinned. “If all I need to do is set something on fire, count me in.”
I sagged against the fire witch and hugged her for the first time in my life. “Oh, thank you.”
I shot a quick text to Erica explaining the situation while the fire witch laughed a bit. “This must be serious,” she said. “Where are we going?”
“It’s not far, I promise.”
We hurried out of the back office to the dock. The bright summer sun briefly blinded me. When the sun retreated, the oak trees behind the market shuddered and distant heavy thuds grew stronger. And closer.
Then the forest grew quiet.
“What was that?” Millicent asked.
“Oh shit,” I breathed.
My time had run out.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The fire witch bolted down the path around The Bends toward the parking lot. A single, middle-aged man waltzed in and stared at her in confusion. I zipped past him and caught up with her. As she darted around a motorcycle and glanced over her shoulder, I waved my arms for her to keep running.
“You don’t wanna see what’s coming!” I yelled.
The SUV’s tires screeched as Thorn swerved around the parking lot. He pulled up next to us and we jumped in.
“What were you doing in there?” Thorn asked. “I almost ran in.”
Was he serious? “We were planning a Pampered Chef party.”
Thorn avoided the Garden State Parkway, or the Parkway as we called it, and hit the side streets to take us southward back to the state park. “I alerted the pack before all hell broke loose. Everyone’s heading to Jake Branch to help draw the hellhounds away from us.”
We reached Double Trouble State Road and raced southeast. All we had to do was reach the park entrance and we’d be far enough from people to unleash the dragon. Having enough time to summon the dragon was another matter.
The park entrance loomed ahead and my hope lifted. Thankfully, the Sunday morning traffic was non-existent, and no one spotted the twenty-foot-tall hounds barreling our way.
Thorn slowed down to make the turn. As we turned, the back of the SUV lifted and lurched hard to the right.
“Fuck!” Thorn’s arm shot out to brace me. In the backseat, Millicent screamed. The SUV slammed into the tree line and fell onto its side.
I didn’t wait for the hellhounds to pluck me out like a tasty sardine from a tin can. I unbuckled my seatbelt and scrambled into the back.
“I’ll get her,” Thorn shouted. “Run for the woods.”
Briefly our gazes connected, and endearments jumped between us. I escaped out of a broken window, cutting my palms in the process. I had little time to think about the pain as I ran away from the open parking lot toward the thicker clusters of trees. With each step, the wolf within whined for me to run faster. To surrender to my natural form to hide.
The ground continued to murmur as the hellhounds closed in. Bushes appeared too sparse, the nearby trees too spread out to hide behind. The interior of Jack Branch County Park began to coalesce. The places the pack had run through like the hiking trails to the observation deck, fell away from my mind. I tried to grasp for a place to hide, but I couldn’t think of anything.
Think, think.
After too many seconds of indecision, I ran south. The gentle gurgles from the creek tugged me forward. When I crossed Jack Branch Creek to veer southward, the trees behind me parted like curtains announcing the stage’s main attraction. A hellhound with piercing light-gray eyes barreled in my direction. I stood in the knee-deep water and stared at it like a fool. Before I could virtually shock myself back into reality, the gray-eyed hellhound in front of me opened its mouth. Every single sharp tooth grew within my field of vision. My heartbeat hammered against my ribs. The sounds around me ceased. All that was left was my end approaching.
Out of nowhere, Thorn crossed my path to head east while Millicent ran south. The gray-eyed hellhound darted after him, but the four others wouldn’t be deterred by such shiny distractions. Two of them closed in. The smaller one between the pair, a runt with burnt-orange jowls, surged forward to sink its teeth into my right leg. It yanked me back hard enough for my hip to pop out of the socket. Ouch. I screamed in mid-air before a larger hellhound with one ear bit into my shoulder. Horrific pain streaked down my torso as each tried to pull me in a different direction.
Fight, Natalya, Fight.
All I could see was white-hot pain. Breathtaking pain. Not far from me, a monstrous snaggle-toothed hellhound corned Millicent. I had to do something. Anything.
I opened my mouth to speak, but the One-Earred hellhound growled and bit down harder. Darkness seeped into the edge of my vision. The other hellhounds scrambled to retrieve the prize, namely me, when I finally sucked in a breath to scream out a spell.
A heartbeat later, a screeching wind picked up the hellhounds. The whirlwind snapped the branches off the trees and flung brush high into the air. The Runt and One-Ear released me as they flailed. The ankle holster with my goblin blade was tossed into the trees.
I landed hard onto the back of the fifth hellhound. As the pink-nosed hound turned around, I flopped off its back and landed on my face in the tall grass.
Pink Nose yipped with glee and stomped on my back to pin me down. I growled and scratched at the dirt to free myself. With each moment that passed, I couldn’t suck in a full breath.
Somehow, I managed to turn my head to see a great white light fill the forest. The light forced me to squeeze my eyes shut. Suddenly, the dirt in my face receded. The weight off my back lifted. Warm arms wrapped around me. I craned my head to see Thorn. Behind him, a white wizard wearing a long, black coat thrust a majestic ebony staff into the ground. Sparks danced across the sky before another lightning bolt forced the hellhounds to retreat a bit.
Nick Fenton had arrived, and as usual, he’d made quite the entrance. Thank goodness.
The white wizard, along with Brenna and Millicent, ran to us. Once Nick touched Thorn’s arm, we were whisked away in another flash of light.
We teleported to an open field on the southern edge of Jack Branch County Park. I recognized a nearby hiking trail. Poor Millicent collapsed while Thorn managed to hold me. Blood from a grisly wound on his ribs trickled down his leg.
“Are you alright?” Thorn asked me.
I almost laughed and groaned instead.
“Don’t answer that,” he added.
Brenna wrapped her arms around the fire witch and helped her stand.
Nick placed his hand on my shoulder. Two palm-sized bitemarks marred my skin. “What did they do to you?”
“How bad is it?” Thorn craned his head to peek at my injuries.
“Good to see you too, Fenton,” I managed to say.
“You think this is good?” The white wizard snorted. “You and I should aim for much quieter reunions.”
I couldn’t resist laughing. Every deep breath hurt like hell.
“She’s a wreck. Let’s tackle the dislocation first,” Nick said. “I need her to lie flat so I can do a reduction.”
“What’s that?” Thorn asked as he put me down.
Millicent was sitting up now, so Brenna came over to assist. “He needs to manipulate the dislocated hip joint to guide the femoral head back into the hip socket.”
“Doesn’t it just pop back in on its own?” Thorn asked.
Brenna refused to look up as she said, “That won’t happen if the socket is crushed. He has to repair that too.”
My mate’s mouth formed an “oh.”
Nick worked quickly to place his hands on my hip first. “I can’t make this feel nice, Nat.”
“Just take care of it,” I grunted.
“Knock her out,” Thorn growled to Nick.
“No, the hellhounds are coming—” I bit out.
Thorn’s head snapped in Nick’s direction. “Lights. Out.”
I blinked and then everyone around me except Nick was standing again. Damn it, that sneaky wizard knocked me out. I eyed the wizard with contempt as Thorn spoke with my dad on the phone. The pack was in position. Millicent must’ve fished the seed from my pocket. Brenna and the fire witch stooped before a dark patch of earth.
“Aren’t you supposed to do what the patient asks?” It was much easier to speak this time. “How much time did I lose?”
“Five minutes.” The annoyed expression on Nick’s face told me he’d wanted a lot longer to work. “You tried to wake up too many times.”
I lifted my head and listened. No sign of the hellhounds yet. I also noticed I was missing something important.
“My goblin blade—” I said.
“I found it trying to crawl back to you,” Nick said with a single raised eyebrow. “Would you like it back?”
I shook my head. “The holster is broken. Just keep it safe until I need it again.”
He nodded.
“Can I get up now?” I asked. All my fingers and toes wiggled. That had to be a good sign, right?
“Do I need to put you to sleep again?”
Before he could knock me out, I rose on unsteady feet. My shoulder was almost healed, but my hip felt like rolling about in shards of glass. Thorn finished his call and joined us.
“How long will it take to summon your dragon?” Nick asked, tension evident in his voice.
“Hopefully not long.” I hobbled over to Brenna and Millicent. Thorn tried to help me, but I shook my head. I didn’t want to be carried anymore.
Thorn turned to Nick and said, “How did you know where we were?”
“Aggie’s kept us up to date,” Brenna said as she placed her hand on the seed. “It’s gonna take an inferno to make this grow. It’s gobbling up the heat in this spot already.”
Nick grasped my shoulder and gently tugged me to sit. “If you’re going to be a stubborn patient, at least let me heal you while you work.”
His healing magic flooded my system again.
Millicent’s gaze was trained on the seed as she cast a simple warming spell, but the earth remained unyielding. The scent of burnt cinnamon spread across the field. The air grew humid and the temperature rose, but nothing happened.
“You’re gonna need a maple one,” Brenna said. “That thing’s a thermal absorber.”
Millicent swapped out her oak wand for a maple one as Brenna instructed.
Thorn shifted nervously. “We don’t have a lot of time,” he warned.
“We need more heat,” Brenna said.
“Can you help?” Thorn asked Brenna.
She ran her hand through her dark, chin-length hair and bit her lower lip. “This isn’t your standard growth magic here.”
“We don’t have time for this.” My insides screamed for me to sit. Every movement hurt, but I scrambled closer.
“I’m not done.” Nick followed me, clearly annoyed.
I didn’t care. I was only ten feet away when I spied a tiny green bud had sprouted on the seed.
“Let’s cook this little fella.” Millicent fished a cigarette out of her bag. She placed the unlit cig between her lips and closed her eyes. Dark red and burnt orange lights flickered around her, the air crackling with energy. The grass around the seed withered, the rocks darkened, and the wind picked up.
Six more buds formed and expanded into a head, four limbs, and a tail. The dragon was taking shape, writhing and stretching out its tiny vine-like limbs. But the fire witch’s flames were dying. Millicent clenched her teeth until she bit off the end of the cigarette.
“She needs help,” I murmured to Nick.
“I’m barely holding you up.” He reached into his black coat with his free hand and withdrew an elm wand from one of his magical pockets. “I can help a little.” He pointed the stalk toward the pile and scorching flames fed the writhing dragon.
But it still wasn’t enough.
The pain in my hip returned like a tsunami threatening to pull me under. My knees weakened. Nick’s healing attention had wavered.
Thorn stepped in to hold me up. “Got you.”
“No, I need to help,” I breathed.
“You’re not using old magic,” Thorn warned.
“We have no choice.” I whispered the fire spell Tamara had taught me. Instead of picturing that piece of toast back in Tamara’s kitchen, I imagined a great bonfire. All it needed was gasoline.
“Nat, you’re too weak,” Nick warned. “Not now.”
It took a moment, but the magic swelled inside me, and fire flowed from my hands to the growing dragon. The pain in my hip magnified twenty times, but I gritted my teeth and channeled my agony toward the task at hand.
Nick’s hand shot from my shoulder to my hip. “You’re ripping apart what I’m weaving back together.”
The dragon’s body unfolded like a living tapestry. Its scales, resembling delicate ivy leaves, unfurled and caught the sunlight, creating a dazzling display of emerald hues. As the creature continued to grow, its limbs extended outward, transforming into sinuous vines. The twirling branches thickened, forming strong, knotty rootlike limbs that anchored the majestic beast to the earth. Progress was finally made, and the dragon grew until it stood at the height of the surrounding trees. The creature roared, its eyes fixed on me.
