The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 168: One of MINE

Right as the last of Lodia's air ran out and the oystragon's jaws opened wide to bite off her head, the water vanished. She crashed to the ground and found herself staring up at the sky. Was this what Heaven looked like? Blue skies everywhere, and not a single cloud in sight?

Pain lanced through her, from landing on a hard...sharp surface littered with rocks and broken-off coral. Blood dripped from a gash across her right arm. She heard the drops plink-plink-plinking onto the rocks.

Was this death? Were you supposed to hurt after you died? Pip would know, she thought blearily. From the snatches of overheard conversations, Pip had died multiple times. She didn't like talking about it, though, at least not with Lodia.

Rocks and coral grated. Something heavy and hard scraped over them. The ground vibrated like a drum pounding out the beat for a warrior dance. Lodia tried to roll onto her side to see who it was, but her body wouldn't move. She twisted her neck to a side – and fear propelled her onto her knees.

Her left arm, the one that wasn't bleeding, buckled and snapped when she pushed off it, and a cry rattled her throat.

"Your friends seem determined to save you," said the oystragon. "That mage actually has some power."

He planted a three-clawed foot next to her and shook his head with what might have been regret. His mane whipped around his face, catching the sunlight like fine silk threads. For an instant, Lodia stared, transfixed, considering how to embroider him.

No! This was not the time for that.

"Wait," she croaked. "At least tell me why. What did I do?"

The jaws stopped a foot above her face. "You angered a goddess. She ordered the Dragon Commander to do something about you. He, in turn, ordered my liege lord, the Dragon King of the Western Sea, to do something about you. And my liege, in turn, ordered me to eliminate you. Like I said, it's nothing personal."

The jaws opened again, but his comment about her friends had given her hope. The water disappearing like that – that must have been Floridiana or Den, right? One was a mage, the other a dragon who controlled water. So if she could hang on long enough, keep the oystragon talking long enough, one of them would find her. One of them would save her.

"Wait!" she croaked again. "Which goddess?"

"I don't know."

"They didn't tell you?"

The maned head shook from side to side. "I have no need to know. Human girl, I understand what you're trying to do, but believe me, dragging this out will only make it worse."

The inside of his maw blocked out the cloudless sky, replacing it with a long red tongue and long dagger teeth.

"Wait! Didn't they tell you which god I serve?"

The tips of his fangs prickled her neck on both sides – but didn't break the skin. Her heart was so beating hard that she could feel the artery pulsing below her jaw, right under his teeth. Her breath came in shallow gasps.

Please don't bite down, please don't bite down, please don't bite down.

The jaws withdrew. Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, they were replaced by a giant eyeball. "Which god do you serve?"

"The Ki– " she began, before she cut off the rest of the name.

What was the relationship between the Kitchen God and the Dragon King of the Western Sea? Who outranked whom? Who was allied with whom? It mattered, she knew from living on the periphery of Queen Jullia's court, but she didn't know any of the answers that might save her.