Straight for me.
I tensed, watching every step she took and trying to figure out what to do. I hadn’t heard of a llama attacking a human before. Rumor was Esmerelda was spoiled and soft and only wanted cookies, but if that was true, why was she closing in on me? I sadly had no cookies.
She was between me and the foot of the stairs. The back door of The Lily Pad was locked. You couldn’t pass from the back to the front without going through the shop. Those big, dark eyes were locked on me.
“Hey, Esmerelda,” I said in the gentlest voice I could muster as my heart pounded in fear. “What are you doing here?”
She was four feet away.
Llamas don’t eat people, I repeated in my mind.
I knew now I should’ve dashed to the stairs and up to my apartment the second I’d spotted her.
As she closed the distance, I felt for my phone even as I knew I’d left it upstairs on purpose. One of the things Jolene wanted me to work on was simply being with myself, no device, no way to block out my thoughts, so that’s what I’d intended.
I hadn’t planned on a llama assault.
Did llamas eat people? She looked hungry.
I curled into myself as she came right up to the swing. When she slowly eased her head toward mine, I buried my face in my arms like a little kid pulling the blankets over their head when they were scared. If you couldn’t see it, you’d be okay, right?
Except that didn’t hold true when you caught the faint animal smell and heard her snuffing and breathing. Up close.
Would a llama bite hurt?
Not as badly as a snake bite, I would bet, trying to find comfort in…anything as I felt her snout right next to my head.
Then at my neck.
I let out a whimpery sound without opening my mouth as she nuzzled me. Gently.
Was she luring me in for the kill, or was she in fact a mild-mannered beast with no evil intentions?
I wasn’t willing to show my face and find out.
And then she let out a creepy low hum that made me wonder if she was offering up a llama prayer before she sacrificed me for her people.
“Help!” I called weakly, still not lifting my head.
“There she is!” A hushed male voice reached me from the alley, shooting my alarm level up for different reasons.
Since some men were known to be even more dangerous than llamas, I forced my head up so I could see what new danger was heading my way.
“Magnolia?” a second male voice said in a loud whisper.
A familiar voice.
“Luke? What are you?—”
Before I could say more, Ben Holloway was on the other side of the llama and had a harness on her. Luke wasn’t far behind.
Esmerelda let out an irritated grunt.
“Got you, girl,” Ben said to the animal.
I expelled a shaky breath.
“Come here, Esmerelda,” Ben said. “Give Magnolia room to breathe.
