Bowls scattered, pieces of the gorgeous flowers spit upward in the air, wood soared over her head, but she kept swinging until her arm felt like it might fall off.
“Stop it before it coils, Dominique!You must stop it!”MC commanded.
Coils?
What did that mean?
Does it matter what it means, Dominique?Stop it.
She saw the enormous serpent come toward her, her eyes widening at its teeth when it opened its mouth wide, roaring a high-pitched squeal of rage as she managed to hack off a piece of its tail.
Nina was at the other end of the table in a flash, wrapping her hands around the end of this ghoulish snake, lifting it high in the air, bellowing, “Motherfucker!”and preparing to toss it, when it thrashed against her grip, sending her flying.
“Nina!”Dom screamed, enraged as she saw her new friend land in a heap on the far side of the room.
The flood of fury, the rush of adrenaline she’d only experienced that one time when the women had first come to see her at her townhouse, came on full speed, drenching her with seething rage at seeing Nina crumpled on the floor.
And then the serpent was coming at her once more, roaring, screaming a heinous shriek of irate anguish, slithering, its skin scraping the table.
As it rose up, mottled and green, saliva dripping from its talon-like teeth, Dom ran toward it head-on, with zero time for fear, MC held high in her hands and a battle cry slipping from her lips.
“Thoooor!”
The next flash of a moment was vague, but Dom briefly remembered seeing Harvey leap to the table, his wide body sheltering her from behind, his hands steadying her grip on MC as she took one last whack at the snake, aiming for its bulbous head.
It all happened so fast, the gush of fluid seeping from the serpent when she took a powerful jab at his head, the scream of the people around her, to whom she’d been previously oblivious—and the fact that for the tiniest of seconds, Harvey held MC in his hands.
That, she wasnotoblivious to.
ChapterTwelve
“Dom!” she heard Wanda scream as the snake crumbled, deflating like a balloon.
But she couldn’t move from her place on the table.She heard cheering, the scrambling of feet, but she couldn’t move.
There she stood, amidst the debris of all the beautiful flowers hacked to pieces.Amidst the wooden bowls she’d splintered.
Frozen.
Her eyes wide, her breathing ragged, her beautiful dress torn and hanging off her shoulders.
What ring of Hell was this?
And then she remembered her cranky new friend, crumpled in a heap on the floor, and it infuriated her.“Nina!”
“She’s okay, Dom,” Harvey whispered in her ear, turning her to face him by gripping her shoulders.“Are you all right?”
All right?Was she all right?Was Batman all right after he fought the Joker?Okay, bad example.He’d survived.Was Superman all right after he battled Doomsday?
Oh, wait, no.Because hediedduring that one.
Never mind.All rightwas a vast overstatement.A tiny phrase in comparison to what she was feeling.Sure, she was all right.But was she mentally sound after fighting with a snake?
Maybe not so much.
“Dom?”
She blinked again, gripping his forearms to steady herself, now that the adrenaline was seeping away.It left her feeling like she might collapse.“I’m okay.It’s okay.Everything’s okay,” she assured, though her voice sounded wooden to her ears as she scooped up MC, who she’d dropped after landing the final blow.“What the hell was that?”
