Page 39 of An Invocation of Monsters

I couldn’t help but smile up at him. “You really are amazing.”

He preened, and I finally peeled my hand from the monster’s shoulder. If I kept touching him, eventually Horny Elle would overpower Rational Elle, and that was just asking for trouble.

If I did touch these monsters, or do more, I didn’t want to regret it later. I wanted to go in feeling like a whole person, not a freak who should be shut away for life.

I took another drink, just to give myself a moment for my mind to stop spinning, but now the room was spinning, too.

“I can’t believe you’re real,” I muttered, bracing myself on the mantel instead of on Kiraxis.

The wine had to go. I was exhausted and had taken in too much—the Void this morning, the box of my mother’s belongings, trying to figure out who Sophie was.

It was all too much.

“I cannot believe you are real,” he said, completely serious. “You are too perfect for a human being.”

He plucked the wine bottle from my hands as I tried to put it on the table and almost dropped it.

Oh, no. I was truly shit-faced.

“That’s a very flattering assessment of me, and entirely untrue.” I slurred a good half of the words. “Because… I am drunk.”

I wanted to ask him more questions—was he the monster Tater was making offerings to?—but my jaw cracked with a massive yawn before I could mangle another sentence.

Kiraxis was immediately at attention. “You are tired. I will guard you while you sleep.” He led me towards the bedroom.

“Are you always in here?” I was torn between hitting a brick wall of tiredness, and drunken vertigo. I flopped on my bed, bracing one foot on the floor.

“Usually. I sometimes leave to receive offerings from the loud little man, but your scent drew me here. I will make sure the Hunter does not come for you.”

I closed my eyes, relief that one question was answered. If Tater knew the monsters were here, did that mean he’d been initiated into the Wendigo Society?

The Mlul’dra snorted, prowling around my bed as I pulled the covers over myself. I needed sleep if I was going to do more research tomorrow.

“Sleep, little mate. You are safe with me.”

I smiled, watching the massive shadow prowl the dark.

12

Elle

I knew I was dreaming, but it felt real.

I felt a chill wind on my face, the rustle of tree tops under my fingertips. I felt the clear, cold singing of the sky, the whisper of the earth beneath.

I rode alongside Toth, a ghost in the air, fluttering at the silky edges of his wings.

He dipped below, darting into the trees with a grace that belied his size.

We perched together in a tree, eyeing the dark forest below. I settled on a thick branch, under the cover of his wings.

It felt safe there. No one could touch me in his presence.

Below us, a white shape moved through the wood.

I caught a glimpse of antlers, empty eye sockets. An emaciated but powerful body beneath a funereal shroud.

Their hands held chalk and blood. They patterned the forest floor, circles entwined with circles, laying traps for the monsters.

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