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“Hey, now. There’s no need to yell at her. The poor woman doesn’t even have a name.”
Giulia snarled at me, then turned back to the woman I loved. “I’m sorry it has to end this way. I can’t see any way around it. Not when I have to keep looking up Portuguese words.”
My lady glared at Giulia. I was in awe of her commanding presence, even in the face of death. “Isso não é difícil. Vou para casa com ele e de repente falo inglês. Será hilário para os leitores que ela o tenha entendido o tempo todo.” This is not hard. I go home with him and suddenly speak English. It’ll be hilarious to the readers that she understood him the whole time.
Giulia seemed to consider whatever she said, then shrugged. “I suppose that could work.”
“What could work?” I asked urgently.
As Giulia turned to me, jungle lady jumped up, thrusting her arms around Giulia’s neck and pulled the rope around her wrists tight to Giulia’s throat. Letting out a jungle roar, she grabbed her jaw and twisted hard, killing Giulia instantly.
Giulia collapsed on the ground, her eyes staring off into the vast space around us. Huffing, my jungle lady got to her feet and blew her hair out of her face. “É assim que você faz as coisas por aqui.” That’s how you get shit done around here.
“What did she say?” Gabe asked in awe.
“She said she was fueled by her love for me. She couldn’t possibly live without me.”
“That’s a lot longer than what she said.”
“What do you know?” I shot back. “Don’t try to ruin our love.”
“Espero que nos livros dela vocês não sejam tão inúteis quanto aqui.” I hope in her books you aren’t all as useless as you are out here.
“Don’t worry, baby. Just wait until you see me in action in her books. I’m a killer behind a keyboard,” I grinned at her, pulling her into my arms for a big kiss.
“Um… not to put a damper on this happy reunion, but if Giulia is dead, how is she going to finish your story?” Jackson asked.
I frowned at that. I hadn’t considered that we might be stuck in this alternate realm.
“Never fear,” Giulia said, standing up as she brushed off her clothes. “My demise has been greatly exaggerated.”
I stepped in front of jungle lady, refusing to let Giulia near her. “If you want her, you’ll have to go through me.”
I let my anger wash over me as I prepared to go toe to toe with Giulia. I would die for this woman, though I was shitting my pants as I thought about how quickly that could happen. But I was a Reed Security warrior, and I would not let down my fellow characters.
Giulia held up her hands. “Truce.”
“What?” I asked, expecting a death blow.
“I have been beaten by my own characters.” Groaning, she tossed her head back, yelling to the skies. “A character that I didn’t even want in the books! I know when enough is enough.”
I was still struggling to wrap my head around this. It was over? Things were going to go back to normal? “So, that’s really it?”
“Yes. You can have your jungle woman. I’ll even name her. God knows the readers won’t like it if I keep calling her jungle woman.”
Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. We had Plaid Man. Everyone seemed to love that.”
“So, what’s her name?” I asked, feeling hope rising in my chest.
“You’ll have to wait until I write it,” she grinned at me. “But if you fuck with me again, I won’t hesitate to kill everyone off. And you’ll be the first one I’m coming for.”
“You won’t hear another peep from me,” I promised. “I’ll be the best book character you’ve ever had.”
“Good. Then I’d better get back to writing.” She snapped her fingers and vanished into thin air. I spun in a circle looking for her, sure she was going to appear again and chop off my head. “She’s really gone.”
“And we’re all still here alive and well,” Jackson added.
“Except me,” Cap said from the ground. “Remember me? The guy you decapitated?”