Page 64 of Ensnared

Glory be.

Sammy’s clomping down the stairs, “Hey, Fluff. Where are you, Fluff?”

She turns toward him, but doesn’t move an inch.

“You need to take her out,” I say.

“I’ll do it,” Jade says. “She won’t go with him, not when there’s food to beg for.”

“We can just open the back door,” Coral says, her voice full of irritation. “You guys always make everything so much harder than it needs to be.”

“And who keeps cooking bacon?” Jade asks. “Every single time you eat that, a pig has to die.”

I stuff mine in my mouth as quickly as I can, just like Dad always did at home. Gideon’s doing the same thing. We both smile as innocently as possible.

“What’s wrong with pigs dying?” Axel asks, eyeing his huge pile of bacon. “That’s their purpose in life—to feed us.”

“Their purpose is to die?” Jade pauses, three steps from the ground floor. “So you think that all animals are born just so we can eat them?”

I shake my head at him and mouth the words, don’t bother.

“Animals eat other animals,” Axel says. “Lions and dogs and other predators all consume the flesh of other animals. It’s the way of life.”

“It’s the way of death,” Jade says.

“But if the predators didn’t eat them,” Axel says, “the deer and squirrels and rabbits would overrun the earth.”

“So?” Jade puts one hand on her hip.

“Then they’d slowly starve,” he says, “and so would the rest of you. Isn’t it better that they’re born, they grow up and live nice lives, and then die so that the population is balanced?”

“Murderers always have some justification for murder that makes them sound better.” She huffs. “I don’t buy it.”

“Your sister ate bacon, too,” Axel says. “Why isn’t she getting a lecture?”

“Elizabeth! Did you really?” Jade spins around to face me. “Mom would be horrified.”

“Mom’s been here for weeks and hasn’t even looked for us,” I say without thinking. I snap my mouth shut, but it’s too late. I can’t snatch the words back.

“She’s ensnared,” Jade says.

“So is Liz,” Sammy’s voice is tiny. “But she’s here.”

“She got ensnared by a nice dragon, though,” Coral says. “Maybe Mom didn’t.”

Nice.

Coral just called Axel nice.

Axel doesn’t even look upset by it. The Prince of the Earth Blessed who has been heading their defense operations, commanding his dragon troops to throw up earthen walls and slay any humans who attack, was just described as nice because he’s taken in four pet humans and a yappy dog.

I shovel eggs into my mouth until they’re gone, and then I stand up. “Well, I’ve eaten. Dead pig carcass and everything. May I be excused now?” If Gideon can’t manage to stay alive while I’m gone, well, that’s his own fault.

“I’ll come.” Gideon stands too. Somehow, he managed to clear his entire plate in the same amount of time it took me to eat my one large spoonful of eggs.

“Be back by dinner,” Axel says. “I need to hear a report on how the humans are doing. You’re currently managing one tenth the number of any other ensnared.”

I snag my visor off the mantel and drop it into place. “Fine.”