Worse…I want to do it again and kill anyone who touches her.
Oh, this is bad.
Chapter 18
Mei
“We don’t need to do this,” I protest and pull back against Leaf.
“Your clothes burned,” Leaf says with exasperation. “You need new ones.”
“No, I can just wear rags. I’m fine. Leaf, there are people, they will see. Let’s go back home, to our cave.”
Leaf laughs, but he’s got my wrist in a tight hold, and he’s not letting go. The city is filled with the sounds of cars, people, and machinery. There are so many smells that I can’t sort them. It’s like the town, only a hundred times worse.
I can’t see, hear, or feel anything. It’s just noise.
My panic builds and builds until I’m ready to scream, but then there’s a touch at my shoulder.
“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Canto whispers in my ear.
The words bring a stillness inside me, a warmth that shouldn’t be there. I inhale his scent, and everything is suddenly okay. The world comes into focus, slowing down. I can hear people, horns. I smell cars and food.
“Don’t lose me here,” I plead.
“We won’t.”
I stop fighting Leaf, and he drags me into a shop. All around us, people fall silent, and I edge closer to the massive dragon, baring my teeth, ready to fight whoever and whatever comes at me.
“She needs clothes!” Leaf says loudly.
“No, sweetheart, she needs a miracle,” a voice says in a slow drawl. “Luckily for you, you came to the right place.”
“But all of you need to go,” another female says sternly.
“No!” I snap and grab at Leaf.
“Oh, you’re keeping your emotional support giant? Fine, but one. The rest can go elsewhere while we make magic. I don’t need a gaggle of people watching while we work.”
She’s got a tart voice, but there’s kindness about her, and she smells like treacle. I’m scared. She sounds so thrilled. There is a deep enthusiasm in her voice that is making me twitchy.
Leaf draws me closer to her.
“Is that your natural hair? It’s beautiful, once the salt’s washed out, and we put a mask on it, it will be fine. I just need to take this off.”
She reaches for my mask.
I try to back away from her, but she keeps coming.
“No, it’s…no.” I say helplessly.
“Oh, um. Okay. May I?” she asks.
She takes my hand and draws it up to her face. I feel the knotted tissue and immediately know it was fire that did this to her.
“Own your scars. They are part of your story, part of what makes you you. There is only me here, and I won’t judge you. I can make your emotional support human look away if you are worried.”
My fingers fall away from her, and I wait, thinking it over. The idea of having nothing over my eyes terrifies me almost as much as having Deux close.
