Chapter Five
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Jasmine
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Ihave no idea whereI'm running.Actually, I do.I'm running away.Far, far away from the orcs, who I'm still not sure are real.
Oh no, my white leather designer boots were not made for mad dashes through the wild, trying to escape my thoughts—or the orcs, depending on my reality.
I stumble over the ground like I'm drunk, tripping over rocks and fallen branches, my only light a bright white moon slowly being engulfed by darkness.
Shit.I run faster.If I can get onto the road, I can flag a car down.That's all I need to do.Although I'm not sure if I'm going in the right direction.Panic makes me wail.Why is this happening to me?
The worst part of my evening is that it's not a dream.Oh no, this is happening right here and now.The best part is that the three green, seven-foot, ripped-to-the-heavens beings in my house haven't caught me yet.
Oh, sorry, they took offense when I called them aliens.They're orcs—O.R.C.S., which stands for Other Really Curious Specimens.It fits.
I risk turning around to see if they're following and sigh in relief.They don't even know I've left.They think I'm still changing into something more suitable for being kidnapped.
Good.Please let there be a road in my immediate future.
Curiously, I remember what they told me.What a tale.I'd be as big a nut job as them if I believed it.But seriously, am I going to die if they don't take me back and make me fat with their seed?
Also, excuse me.Do they have any idea how many donuts I deprive myself of just to fit into my damn jeans?But that's beside the point.If their shoe size matches their anatomy, their cocks are not going to fit in my mouth.What am I saying?I'm not putting their cocks in my mouth.
"Focus, Jasmine," I whisper.Focus on running.I do...until, out of nowhere, I'm scooped into the air and tossed over one side of a massive shoulder, moving at full speed.
No.
This can't be happening to me.And isn't it a little much?It's bad enough I'm hiding from some mafia king whose hit list I'm on for no reason whatsoever, but now I'm being kidnapped by orcs?
Banging my fists against Marquis' back—the brute who swiped me off my feet—trying to sink my teeth into his flesh and screaming my lungs out doesn't help one bit.
I'm dizzy from the speed at which he's running.I'm sure I'm actually flying through the air.
They take turns carrying me, passing me from one shoulder to the next when the terrain changes, as if I weigh nothing.It feels even less when they toss me—practically toss me—into the air across deep ravines in the mountains, confident the other will catch me.
Are they just insane or fucking insane?I could have died ten times in the last ten minutes.I don't even know where I am anymore.
They whiz through the forest surrounding the house, up the mountain as lithely as leopards, and down the other side.
I catch a glimpse of the moon.Less than half of it is visible now.And then everything changes.It feels as if we move through a sheet of rain without getting wet.I struggle to breathe for a moment before I regulate myself.Was that a portal?
Nothing here looks familiar.They suddenly slow their pace to a walk, talking animatedly to each other in their language, now seemingly happy.
We passed through a portal into another dimension.The drop in temperature is so stark that my teeth start to chatter.
While I'm still tossed over Alexander's shoulder this time, a thick, heavy fur coat is draped over me, and instant heat radiates into my pores.
