Page 5 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Fire

My soul recognizes her.

Mate. She is my mate.

This cannot be happening. I cannot be mated to a human. Especially one that seems already in a relationship with another.

Fiery feathers wick from my wings. I clap them up before they set fire to the forest. The Forest Guardians would not find humor in unscheduled burns.

I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here, but it was long enough for Vane to not only catch up but also play the mother hen. Again. “What is wrong now?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I snap.

Vane looks at me, then toward the couple. His eyes widen. I follow his gaze and see Kenzan stalking quietly through the underbrush toward the human couple.

I want with all my might to go out there and take my dog and go home. I don’t want to introduce myself or play the doting host. And I certainly don’t want to know why the hell I’m reacting to her as if she’s my soul mate.

Because she is not. That would be a cruel twist of fate.

I want to do all these things and more, but my boots are as rooted to the ground as the centuries’ old trees around me. “Kenzan,” I whisper to my dog, who can clearly hear me. “Come back here. Stay away from them.”

One step forward is all I can manage before my hearts start racing. Gods, I can’t do it. I can’t make myself get closer to them. Not even to save my dog.

Vane pats me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, old friend. I’ll get him back for you. I’ll retrieve him and take him back to your place.”

“You don’t have to—“ I start, but Vane cuts me off with a look.

“I need to escort the new guests to the inn, anyway. This would have been my task, regardless. Go on.”

With a relief I’m ashamed to feel, I stretch out my wings, and lift into the air and streak away toward my island.

One more day. I just need one more day to get my head right, and I’ll be fine. I just need one more day to get used to the idea of humans around me once more without the overwhelming need to hurl myself into the lake.

Remi Storm

Twenty Minutes ago…

“Why dothey call themselves monsters, you think?”

Jonah shrugs. “Probably for the same reason we don’t care about being called human. They probably see nothing wrong with the term.”

“Have you ever met one?”

Jonah shakes his head. “I’m sure there’s a relative somewhere who has, fighting in the wars from back in the day. I’m sure we met some and just did not know. You know they have more advanced stuff than we do. After all, look how all their cities appear all magically.” He waves his hands like he’s performing a magic trick and ends, imitating a fireball erupting. “Like poof, here’s another one.”

“Magic. Or tech so sophisticated it looks like magic.”

Jonah snaps his fingers. “Exactly.”

There are only a handful of monster-controlled cities that have revealed themselves from the mist after the Rift Wars.

I’ve never had the opportunity to visit any of the monster-controlled cities. There’s even one just outside of New York. The portals are invite-only, and the Othersiders are pretty secretive and selective about who they let into their community.

I don’t blame them. There was a lot of bad blood festering from both sides of the rift after the Rift Wars.

“Do you think they cleaned up a little or what?”

“What, like, people expecting company?”

“Yeah. Because look at this place. It’s like immaculate. Beyond perfect.”

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