“Do you hear that?” Lady Laura asked.
“Hear what?”
“Shh!” she scorned me while holding a wriggling Master Liam. “That!”
With furrowed brows, I lean in, summoning my ears to listen beyond The Wiggles playing in the living room. For a couple of breaths, I heard nothing but the //annoying// baby songs, but then…
I heard it…
A HISS.
“Is that a snake?” Laura’s eyes bulged.
“Laura, we live in one of the most densely populated parts of England. There are no snakes here other than the people.”
“Then what the hell is it?”
We both twist our heads in all directions to locate this elusive hiss. A large part of me feared we might have a burst pipe, given it was a failed pipe that almost flooded our house last year if I hadn’t cut off the mains in time.
So, naturally, my heart palpitated.
“Omg, it’s my flask!” Laura yelled, pointing to her bright pink coffee canteen.
“Your what?” I craned my body around and studied the container with the scrutiny of a judge who had missed breakfast.
As I cautiously step closer, the hiss becomes more pronounced. I squint and notice a brown, sugary liquid bubbling beneath the lid that looks like…
“Coke?” I ask. “Is that what you’ve got in there?”
“Ahhhhhhhhhh! That’s what it is,” she replies with a smile, readjusting Liam with a laboured breath. “It must be the fizz.”
“Why the hell are you putting Coke in a coffee flask, though?” I cock a brow.
“Well, for one — to keep it cold,” she snaps back. “And what am I supposed to do when I’ve got a one-year-old who wants to grab and throw everything in sight? It’s the only way to protect my drinks.”
I mean…
I guess she had a point.
🤷
Either way, we both breathed a sigh of relief that neither of us had to wrangle with a snake, but that doesn’t mean your Overlord & Saviour didn’t have a moment of genuine concern that there might have been a creature lurking in that cup.
Had the noise been a piercing screech of a Skarlox, or the snapping pincer of a Stingtail, or the demonic roar of a Shadowleaper…
I might have wet the bed for several of the nights following.
Luckily, these beasts are contained safely in the pages of The Great Betrayal, but that doesn’t mean they won’t leap out at you when you or Darius least expect it. So, if you’re a fan of otherworldly creatures that hiss, roar, and shriek among other terrifying noises, then you’ll find there is plenty to be found in this sequel.
Just don’t put fizzy drinks in your flasks.
It might genuinely cause a heart attack while you’re reading one of said scenes.
To grab a digital copy, go here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/The-Great-Betrayal
DJJW