Branded Read Free Page A

you don’t want to get killed, walk faster. Actually, no.” He stopped. “Don’t walk. You can fly.”
    “What now?” Asher stopped, too, and so did the other two. All eyes were on him. Well, all seeing eyes anyway. Even the lavalight appeared to be looking at him.
    “You’re a dragon, remember?” Blind Guy said.
    “I have a couple scales, that’s all.” Asher glanced at the weird red patches on his skin. “Doesn’t make me a dragon.”
    “You would have to shift.” The way Blind Guy said it, you’d think it was common knowledge.
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The sun was starting to set and an owl hooted in the distance, and Asher wanted to keep going. He shuddered at the thought of spending the night in the forest and not having a shower, or even a mirror, in the morning.
    Blind Guy shook his head at himself, seemingly amused by something. “I’ve definitely been here for too long,” he muttered.
    “Anyway,” Asher said. “I have no wings, and I’m not flying.” He stomped past Blind Guy, trying to make his words final. “I don’t know how to shift or whatever, and I’m not trying, because I’m not a freak.” He went deeper into the forest. He thought he heard streaming water in the distance. If there was a stream, he could wash up. “Where are we even going?”
    “There’s a port town called Long Harbour I’ve been trying to reach,” Blind Guy said. “Their ships go to the other side of the continent. The lavalight says she knows someone in that area who knows a little about our world.”
    “How far is that?” Snakes asked.
    “A couple days by foot.”
    “Days?” Stoner’s eyes widened. “Wow. Where do we get food around here?”
    “I have a bit of food with me.” Blind Guy pointed to a brown leather bag that he'd slung across his right shoulder. “Not enough to last for long but I hope we'll find some village soon.”
    Looking at the bag, Asher wondered what else was in it. “You got any cigarettes?” he asked, feeling around for the lighters in his own pockets.
    “No.”
    “Sucks. You know where to get some?”
    “No.”
    “How about condoms?”
    With his blindfold on, Blind Guy couldn't shoot Asher an annoyed look, but as Asher watched his face, lines creased on his forehead. Asher could get a rise out of him, he knew he could. It was just a matter of time.
    “I don’t think you’re going to need condoms,” Stoner cut in. “And smoking’s bad for you anyway. My mom always says—”
    “You always do what your mom says?” Asher rolled his eyes at the kid. “Grow up.”
    Snakes snorted at him from the side. “Look who's talking.”
    Asher turned to her. What the hell was that supposed to mean? “I'm almost twenty.”
    “Congratulations, now you only need to act it.”
    He narrowed his eyes at her snakes, who stared back at him defiantly. One against five was not fair. The snake in the middle of her head stuck its tongue out at him. Maybe it hissed at him, too, but the sound was inaudible over the roar of the river, which was growing continually louder.
    “Do you hear that?” Stoner sprinted ahead and vanished into the thicket. “Come on, guys,” he shouted. “It’s a waterfall! This is amazing!”
    Catching up to him, the first thing Asher noticed wasn’t the waterfall, but the cliff it thundered down. Stoner stood so close to it that Asher involuntarily pictured him tumbling over the edge, and a feeling of nausea tugged at his stomach. He closed his eyes for a moment. No way was he getting near that thing.
    “There's a bridge here,” Snakes said. Asher’s eyes snapped open at the words, only to narrow as they found the mentioned bridge. It consisted of two large dead trees lying across the gap side by side. No fucking way.
    “I'm not crossing that,” he stated out loud.
    “What,” Stoner said, grinning at him. He jumped up on one of the trees and put his hands on his hips. In Asher's imagination, he was already lying at the