Shattered by Mari Mancusi Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mari Mancusi
her a sweet look. “You were saying?”
“Back up a minute,” her friend demanded. “Start from the beginning. And don’t you dare leave anything out.”
And so Scarlet did, though she conveniently forgot to mention the whole “how she ended up in the woods in the first place” part, of course. Rebekah was a good friend. But she lived on the proverbial right side of the tracks, and the only family issues she had to deal with was Daddy having the nerve to deny her a new car for her super sweet sixteen and her brother refusing to let her drive his old beater. In other words, she wouldn’t understand.
Besides, how could she explain the rest? The whole dragon thing was about as unbelievable as you could get in the first place. Then you add supernatural healing through some kind of weird dragon blood transfusion to the mix? She was pretty sure Rebekah would be speed-dialing the men in white coats before she could even finish her tale.
She glanced involuntarily down at her arm. At the smooth, unbroken skin. In fact, if anything, it actually looked better now than before she’d cut herself on the broken glass. She felt better too. After getting Mom’s call that it was safe to come home around two a.m., she’d expected to be exhausted when her alarm went off the next morning. Instead, she felt great. Completely awesome, in fact. As if she were highly caffeinated but without all the jitters.
Coincidental? Or did the dragon blood have something to do with that too?
She realized Rebekah was still staring at her.
“What?” she asked, feeling a little sheepish.
“You saw a dragon,” her friend stated. “A real-life dragon.”
“Yes.”
“And you put it on YouTube.”
“As you do.”
“And now that shiz has gone viral?”
Scarlet’s eyes fell to the counter. Ten million, six hundred thousand, five hundred and thirty-three views. “See for yourself.”
Rebekah squealed. Literally squealed. “Dude! Do you know what this means?” she cried, jumping up and down. The librarian shot her another look, her finger to her mouth in an overly exaggerated shush gesture. Rebekah dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “We’re going to be freaking rich!”
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “Rich? What do you mean rich?”
“Um, hello? Have you been living under a social media rock, Scarlet-in-the-conservatory?” Rebekah put her hands on her hips indignantly. “Do you know how much money you can make selling the rights to viral videos these days? I mean, two-day-old babies are scoring complete college tuitions from their parents uploading their pathetic adventures in pukeland. And this is a hundred times cooler. A thousand!” She reached down to hit play on the video again. “Is this the entire clip? Is there something else you cut out that maybe we can sell to the networks? Like, as an exclusive or something?”
Scarlet shook her head. “This is all I’ve got. The dragon was only there for a minute. Then it flew away.”
“Right.” Disappointment flashed across her friend’s face for a second then she quickly recovered as she watched the dragon spread its wings again. “Well, do you think we could find it again? We could get more video and then auction it off to the highest bidder.”
Scarlet hesitated, gnawing at her lower lip. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said at last. After all, the dragon had saved her life. She didn’t deserve to be exploited. Exposed. “I mean, let sleeping dragons lie and all that.” She started to close the window.
“Let sleeping dragons pay for my new car, more like!” Rebekah interjected. “Come on, Scarlet-in-the-billiard-room. We could be talking thousands of dollars here. Maybe even millions. Are you so rich that you don’t need a payday like that?”
Scarlet’s hand froze on the mouse.
“Millions?” she repeated hesitantly.
Her mind flashed to the night before: her mother walking back into the trailer to face the monster. Putting her life at
“Back up a minute,” her friend demanded. “Start from the beginning. And don’t you dare leave anything out.”
And so Scarlet did, though she conveniently forgot to mention the whole “how she ended up in the woods in the first place” part, of course. Rebekah was a good friend. But she lived on the proverbial right side of the tracks, and the only family issues she had to deal with was Daddy having the nerve to deny her a new car for her super sweet sixteen and her brother refusing to let her drive his old beater. In other words, she wouldn’t understand.
Besides, how could she explain the rest? The whole dragon thing was about as unbelievable as you could get in the first place. Then you add supernatural healing through some kind of weird dragon blood transfusion to the mix? She was pretty sure Rebekah would be speed-dialing the men in white coats before she could even finish her tale.
She glanced involuntarily down at her arm. At the smooth, unbroken skin. In fact, if anything, it actually looked better now than before she’d cut herself on the broken glass. She felt better too. After getting Mom’s call that it was safe to come home around two a.m., she’d expected to be exhausted when her alarm went off the next morning. Instead, she felt great. Completely awesome, in fact. As if she were highly caffeinated but without all the jitters.
Coincidental? Or did the dragon blood have something to do with that too?
She realized Rebekah was still staring at her.
“What?” she asked, feeling a little sheepish.
“You saw a dragon,” her friend stated. “A real-life dragon.”
“Yes.”
“And you put it on YouTube.”
“As you do.”
“And now that shiz has gone viral?”
Scarlet’s eyes fell to the counter. Ten million, six hundred thousand, five hundred and thirty-three views. “See for yourself.”
Rebekah squealed. Literally squealed. “Dude! Do you know what this means?” she cried, jumping up and down. The librarian shot her another look, her finger to her mouth in an overly exaggerated shush gesture. Rebekah dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “We’re going to be freaking rich!”
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “Rich? What do you mean rich?”
“Um, hello? Have you been living under a social media rock, Scarlet-in-the-conservatory?” Rebekah put her hands on her hips indignantly. “Do you know how much money you can make selling the rights to viral videos these days? I mean, two-day-old babies are scoring complete college tuitions from their parents uploading their pathetic adventures in pukeland. And this is a hundred times cooler. A thousand!” She reached down to hit play on the video again. “Is this the entire clip? Is there something else you cut out that maybe we can sell to the networks? Like, as an exclusive or something?”
Scarlet shook her head. “This is all I’ve got. The dragon was only there for a minute. Then it flew away.”
“Right.” Disappointment flashed across her friend’s face for a second then she quickly recovered as she watched the dragon spread its wings again. “Well, do you think we could find it again? We could get more video and then auction it off to the highest bidder.”
Scarlet hesitated, gnawing at her lower lip. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said at last. After all, the dragon had saved her life. She didn’t deserve to be exploited. Exposed. “I mean, let sleeping dragons lie and all that.” She started to close the window.
“Let sleeping dragons pay for my new car, more like!” Rebekah interjected. “Come on, Scarlet-in-the-billiard-room. We could be talking thousands of dollars here. Maybe even millions. Are you so rich that you don’t need a payday like that?”
Scarlet’s hand froze on the mouse.
“Millions?” she repeated hesitantly.
Her mind flashed to the night before: her mother walking back into the trailer to face the monster. Putting her life at