Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
I sigh.
“You have a job here, correct?”
“Slave caretaker.”
“Slave caretaker. You take care of slaves.”
“Did we come to a consensus on that? Because I’m not convinced we did.”
“Oh, we did. You take care of slaves.”
“Which means they’re—”
“Slaves.”
“And I should—”
“Lock them up immediately.”
“Tomas! Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“Because maybe I wasn’t in that book, but I’m one of them, darling. And I just found a loophole in my sentence. I didn’t want to give it up.”
“But now you’re back down here.”
“Yes. But it’s by choice this time.” He looks into the shadows. “Isn’t that right, my love? We’re here because we want to be here, aren’t we?”
A growl rumbles from the corner, low and throaty.
“Is she—”
“Don’t worry, sunshine. She’s not ready yet.”
“Not ready for… what?”
“To be her dragon self. It will take a little while yet.”
“And then what happens?”
“She will be a dragon for a few centuries.”
“Centuries?”
He frowns. “We have a slow maturation process.” Then he brightens. “But that’s OK. If I have to be stuck here forever, then I have all the time in the world to wait for her to be able to love me in this form.”
“So you’re…” I don’t really know how to finish my question, so I wave my finger around in his direction. “Just a chimera now?”
“This is the final life stage for me.”
“Final? You’re not going to die, are you?”
“Darling, everyone dies eventually. Even Pell, one day.”
A sudden sadness overtakes me and I wilt a little. “Well, I hope it’s not soon, Tomas. I love you. I hope you know that. You and Pell, you’re my people now. Oh.” I hold up a finger and my eyes go wide. “I forgot to tell you. I bumped into my best childhood friend out on the country road.”
Tomas guffaws. “You did what?”
“I know. Crazy, right? She’s like the only person I have on the outside. Pell made me call her after my disastrous date with Russ Roth just to prove that I was real. And I told her I was in Granite Springs. So… well, it’s a long, weird story, but she came here to find me.”
“And she did.” He grins.
“She did.” I smile too.
“Well, bring her down. I would love to meet your friend.”
“She’s not here. We put her up in Granite Springs.”
“I thought Pell said the devil was living in the bar?”
“He is. I guess. I don’t know. But I put a spelling on Jacqueline to make her stay out of the bar.”
Tomas is wincing.
“I know. It’s not a perfect solution. But I can’t bring her here. She doesn’t know I’m a monster. And she’s got kids with her. Right now, this is no place for kids.”
“That’s for sure. You said the monsters were restless. But they’re giving you trouble, aren’t they?”
“Trouble? Well…”
“They are.”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “They really are. Ever since the wood nymphs got here, they’ve been different.”
“Ah, yes. The infamous Vincan wood nymphs. Someone, maybe Batty, told me about them. But that was a very stressful night, so I don’t remember all of it.”
“That’s for sure.” My eyes dart to the shadow behind Tomas where Madeline is hiding. She must see me looking in her direction because another low growl floats out from the darkness.
“Never mind her.” Tomas waves a hand in the air, dismissing the growl.
I redirect to Tomas. “Do you remember setting Granite Springs on fire?”
“I do.” His eyes narrow and his face changes. And this is maybe the first time I’ve ever seen the dragon hiding underneath when he’s in his chimera form. His eyes flash yellow for a moment. Then there’s like… like a mirage, or something. Blood-red scales form and disappear over his chest, arms, and neck. “They deserved it though.”
And the moment after this declaration, the mirage fades and Tomas is Tomas again. Cheerful, optimistic, and sexy. He claps his hands together. “Now. What else can I do for you?”
I let out a breath. “Nothing, I guess. What can I do for you? Do you need help with anything, Tomas?”
“Is that a real question? Or a polite one?”
“Real. If you need anything, just let me know. You’re not a prisoner here, OK? I don’t care why they sent you here in the first place—whatever you did, thousands of years should be enough penance.”
He presses his lips together.
“What? What do you need? Just spit it out.”
“It’s a big ask.”
“Maybe. But ask anyway.”
“OK, if you insist. I would like a door. One like that.” He points behind me where my door, the one I came through from Pell’s tomb, is waiting like a patient steed for me to exit.
“Huh. OK. Well, I’ve never given away a door before. I’m not sure how I would do it. But I’m sure—”
And then, like magic, the words are tumbling out of my mouth.
“A dragon’s lair, bare to bone.
A door to where, and when, and home.