“Bastard!”

He flicked her again.

“Ow! Stop it!”

The other lizard-men laughed as their friend did it again—so Annwyl caught his tongue with both her hands, ignoring the burning pain in her fingers and the palms of her hands. And she pulled.

Eyes wide in panic, he slapped at his friends with his clawed hands and several grabbed hold of him to keep him away from the bars while the others took hold of his tongue, trying to get it back. One or two even used their own tongues to hit her in the face and neck, trying to get her to release him. But Annwyl was angry now. She didn’t really feel pain when she was angry.

So she held on and kept pulling.

Together, the lizard-men dragged Annwyl across the cell floor, using their friend’s poor tongue. But when Annwyl neared the door, she raised her legs and planted her feet against the metal bars. Secure, she began to wind the lizard’s tongue around one arm like a lengthy rope. She wound and wound until he was pressed up on the other side of the bars.

The other lizard-men growled and barked and bared their fangs at her. She still didn’t understand their words, but she sensed they were telling her to let their friend go.

She didn’t.

Instead, Annwyl dropped her legs to the ground and, taking one big step back, turned and yanked. She let out a triumphant scream when she knew she’d torn the tongue from the bastard’s snout.

Slowly she faced her shocked captors and told them, “I. Said. Stop. That.” She tossed the insanely long tongue into a corner on the far side of the room. “Now you know I meant it.”

Blood pouring from his snout, the tongueless lizard grabbed at the bars of the door and Annwyl met him on the other side.

While she screamed and he roared, they reached through the bars and battered each other with punches until the lizard-man’s friends pried him away from her cell.

Annwyl, still caught up in her anger, continued to scream and reach through the bars for her prey. She was so lost in what she was doing, she had no idea how long she kept it up and no idea how long the lizard-men had been gone.

Finally, though, her anger left her. That’s when she yelled, “And if I don’t get any food, I’m going to eat his tongue!”

No one replied, so she released her grip on the bars and dropped back down. She hadn’t even realized she’d been a good three or four feet off the ground, but that’s how it was when her anger got the best of her. It wasn’t her fault. It was their fault for making her so angry. Those lizard-people.

She would not take responsibility for any of this. Just like always.

Letting out a breath, she put her hands on her hips and took a quick look around to see if there was a way out of here. That’s when she noticed the captive men in cells across from her.