Page 56 of A Very Monstrous Desire

Theo looked up into the moonlit eyes of the monster who he had not even known existed a handful of days ago. “Do I want you to because you have made me feel that way?” he asked.

The monster tilted his head slightly. “Perhaps.”

“If I was apart from you would that feeling fade?”

“In time.”

“How long?” Theo demanded.

“Longer than you would like.”

Theo nodded and stretched himself out before starting the walk back in the direction they had originally been going. Considering how forcefully he’d fallen onto that floor, Theo thought he would be hurting a lot more. Maybe it was the medicinal soap!

“It feels like since I was conscripted to the MDF that everything has been forced on me,” he said after a moment.

The monster growled. “I would never force myself on you.”

“You forced these feelings on me,” Theo said.

“That is not how my people think of it, Theo.”

His would, Theo knew that. They would say that the monster had imposed this on him, these feelings, this attraction, this bond. That it was just like what the rages did when their sorrow called out, the principle was the same.

And yet, Theo felt what he felt.

It was a tangible thing.

And he didn’t want to resist it.

If they survived this fight, what would that mean? Theo would find out soon enough, he realised, as they couldn’t be more than ten minutes from the rip now. The rage had moved them closer.

“Come on, Baku,” he finally said. “We have a job to do.”

“A queen to kill?”

“Yes,” Theo agreed. “And some worlds to save.”

Chapter

Twenty-Five

They made it to the rip just as darkness fell in the forest. In some ways that worked in their favour because there were very few munching monsters on this side of the rip. Baku suggested they had scuttled off once they realised the rages would soon emerge. It also worked against them because it was going to be much harder to see where the queen was and get to her within the fifteen minutes. At least that was what Theo thought but when he said as much to Baku, the monster shook his head.

“We will know where she is.”

“How?” Theo asked.

“The serum makes it so.”

“Because it makes us part them?”

“We will be on the same frequency.”

“So like them,” Theo insisted because if there was one thing Theo didn’t like about his monster it was how solemn he sounded when admitting to things Theo did not want to hear. But during the long walk, even before the rage had captured him, Theo had come to terms with what was about to happen and if he hadn’t then, absolutely he had once free of the rages.

It was do or die time now.

They crouched down behind a massive bush with those same flowers that the butterfly had been eating. The flowers were cooing slightly now rather than screaming.

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