Playing with Fire: Other Realm, Frost Family Series Book 5

Trick 5

Bri

My heart rate kicked up, eyes going wide, breath catching in the back of my throat. My palms began to break out in a sweat and I rubbed them against the sides of my jeans nervously. I thought about saying something, but the words were scattered inside my head. I couldn't string together anything coherent because of the fear. Instead all I got out was an awkward, faint little whimper.

Out of the shadows, a beautiful woman with long, flowing black hair stepped forward. She had large, leathery wings at her back, dressed in a dark red dress suit. She was wearing a concerned frown. "Are you okay, miss? I saw you wondering around earlier and you looked...upset," she murmured.

Blinking rapidly, I shook my head. Wow, I'd scared myself so badly earlier with that horror movie comment. Finding a hesitant smile, I let out a breath of relief. "Oh, I'm okay. I was angry and I just sort of...stormed off. I was actually on my way back...If you could tell me where I am, I'd really appreciate it," I offered. 

Her eyes were a red color, glowing just a little bit. Very suddenly, they turned pitch black, the pupils elongating and turning white. "Oh? So you're all alone?" she snickered, voice suddenly no longer pretty. It was shifting to sound ragged and low, gravely. Her smile turned sinister, revealing a very long, creepy-ass tongue as she licked her lips. "That's just perfect, then. A young, pretty, pregnant woman such as yourself is my favorite meal!" she purred in delight. I took an instinctive step back, my entire body shaking with fear, confusion, and horror.

How the hell had this happened again?!

...Oh, yeah. I'd run off, by myself...In the center of Tempus, capitol of the Other Realm...Yeah. In retrospect, not one of my better ideas.

The woman's wings began to flap strongly, making gusts of dust rise up in the alley way as I started to back up. But despite what I expected, the noise her wings made was different from the normal flapping. Instead, they made this strange, faint tik-tik sound...Almost like a half-broken clock, the sound very soft even though she was so close to me. She let out a high-pitched cackle, like a classic witch. "I'll be dining very well tonight! To think a half-breed would stumble into my lap...You're fair game, little missy!" she beamed in glee.

Before I could react, she took several very quick, sudden steps forward. Her hands reached out, gripped the sides of both of my arms. Her freaky tongue stretched out, moving closer and closer to my face. "I can just tell that you have a tasty meal in you..." she groaned in eager anticipation.

My brain stuttered and then kicked back into high-gear on nothing but terror and panic. It didn't make for a very coordinated combination. "G-g-get aw-way!" I tried to command her, but my voice shook horribly as I twisted to get out of her grip.

She froze, blinking down at me. Then she shook her head and a nasty smile ripped through her lips. "A siren?" she sneered. "Not a very good one, are you?" Her fingers dug in even more, until they were hurting me. I cried out in pain at the piercing touch of her nails, feeling my skin break and blood pool to the surface.

Grunting in effort, I tried to calm down and focus. If my voice wasn't going to work right, I could still use my body. I might not be able to fight back well, considering my condition. But there was no way I wasn't going to at least try.

Shifting my stance, I kicked out with my right leg, going for her knee. She grunted, hissing in pain as my strike hit home. I felt my balance very quickly waver and I moved back a few steps, trying to get away.

I backed up even faster, stumbling in my haste, gasping in horror at what happened next. Her upper body, from her belly button up, began to tear off of her lower half. Her long, thin, tube-like tongue was swirling around in disgusting anticipation of eating me. Her eyes were wide and bright as her wings continued to flap, pulling her two halves apart even more. Once she was fully two pieces, she let out another cackle of triumphant.