Pain ripped through my buttock. Fabric tore. I shrieked, yanking my legs into the suffocating space.
What sounded like a dark chuckle reached my ears.
Stuffed inside the darkened hole, I panted.
Silence followed.
Did I lose him?
Mold and moss filled my nostrils. The noises outside my sanctuary were muffled. Something skittered over my hand. I squealed, smacked it, and flicked away the centipede.
At the distant sound of bleating nerf, I dared to twist around and poke my head out.
“Sera!” Speck hobbled in my direction, his crutch clamped under his arm. “Are you okay?”
I crawled out of my hole then stood, dusting decaying debris from my skirts. “Is it gone?”
He pointed. “Over there.”
I peered out at what remained of the scattered flock just as the winged beast swooped down, grabbed a bleating nerf, and soared into the sky. Its long tail flicked out as it sailed away, the gesture striking me as rude.
“Oh, Speck. I’m so sorry.” I rubbed my aching posterior.
“It’s okay, Sera. Gods save me, I thought you were a goner. Are you hurt?”
“Nah. Just a couple scratches.” I turned on wobbly legs, heading to the hill to collect my basket.
Speck fell in behind me, then gasped. “Sera. Your skirt.”
“What?” It was then that I noticed the draft sneaking into myknickers. I groped the back of my thigh and froze. Bare skin met my wondering fingers.
“Good Goddess, my ass is hanging out.” Heat rushed to my cheeks. “The bastard bit me!”
Speck covered his mouth, shoulders shaking.
I slung my arm around his scrawny neck, ruffling his hair with my knuckles. He’d have little to laugh about once Master Mortis heard about his missing nerf. Somehow, I had to find a way to explain this. One that would keep Speck out of hot water.
Chapter Two
SERAFINA
“What now? A dragon, you say?”
Fire ignited my butt cheek, my abused flesh stinging. Yaga’s bedside manner was far from gentle. “Ouch. Easy. That’s tender.”
Bent over the aged hag’s worktable, I rested on my forearms. Skirt hiked up, ass in the air, I cringed as my mentor dabbed antiseptic on my bite wound.
“Oh, stop your whining. It’s just a bit of a scrape. No lasting damage done but to your pride.”
“Bastard came out of nowhere. Swooped in and started chasing the flock. I had to do something.”
Sebastian, one of several resident cats, tiptoed across my forearms, dragging his inky tail beneath my nose. At least someone cared. Of all the felines in the manor, he was my favorite. I scratched his lower back in thanks, smiling when he danced a double-step at the attention, sticking his rump in the air.
“And you’re sure it was a dragon. Got a good look at it, did yah? In the dark, no less? While yah were running about,carrying on like a woman possessed instead of gathering the herbs I sent yah to collect.”
“Well. Not agoodlook.”
“Of course, yah didn’t. Cause you’re too damn impulsive. How many times have I warned you about that temper of yours?” Yaga’s aged hand smacked my bottom, and I whirled around with a shriek.
