The snake writhed in pain. Even without human consciousness, it had always been gentle, never striking at people.
Martha, emboldened, picked up a nail-studded stick and beat the snake again and again until blood seeped between its scales.
“No!” I cried.
Grace had been weakened after protecting Richard and Ethan. If she were injured again, this sleep wouldn’t last just ten years—it could be forever. The high priest had told us to protect the snake at all costs. If it died, Grace would vanish from this world as well.
I threw myself over the snake, shielding it with my body. Nails drove into my back, tearing flesh. Blood poured from my mouth, staining its scales red.
The snake looked at me with sorrow, then shot forward, wrapping itself around Martha’s wrist to stop her from striking again.
“Damn snake, get off me!” Martha roared.
She seized its tail, swinging it violently, smashing it to the ground over and over. Blood streaks marked the floor.
Still, it fought to hold her wrist, determined to protect me.
Chloe sneered, “You like tying things up? Let’s see how you like this.”
She wound the snake around the nail-studded stick, driving the spikes through its body.
The snake let out a low whimper, a tear of blood sliding from its eye as it looked at me.
“Stop! Don’t hurt it! Mom…” I screamed.
Chloe’s eyes gleamed with cruelty. She twisted the snake’s body into a grotesque knot and tied it to the stick.
“Two filthy creatures. Disgusting.”
At that moment, my phone buzzed violently.
By now, Richard and Ethan’s flight should have landed. They had told me to care for the snake, that important guests were bringing rare medicinal herbs to prepare for Grace’s awakening.
Before I could answer, Chloe snatched the phone, her lips curling into a sneer when she saw the caller ID: “Precious One.”
“See, Mom? I told you she’s just a gold-digger,” she mocked.
“Who knows how many old men she’s slept with. Filthy slut.”
Martha frowned. “Chloe, stop for now. They’ll be back any minute. Today’s some big occasion, and I was told to tidy the house for important guests…”
“So many people have come, and I hear they’re bringing treasures worth a fortune!”
Chloe Brown looked at me like I was nothing but filth.
“If you want to stay alive, you’d better learn your place.”
Her eyes brimmed with threats.
Martha Brown frowned. “Chloe, maybe we should drag this slut out first.”