Page 113 of An Invocation of Monsters

My touch healed because I was not entirely human.

The journal slid off my lap, hitting the floor with a heavy thud. I felt sick now that I had picked apart some of the tangled threads that bound all these people together.

These four students had been the perfect storm to breach another world, a mix of greed, obsession, and ruthlessness colliding into a terrible singularity.

None of this had been done for good. Not even for curiosity.

They’d just wanted to enter another world and take everything they could from it.

I stared down at the journal on the floor, and had a quick, clear realization that pierced my muddled thoughts.

Willow really hadn’t wanted me to feel better at all.

35

Kiraxis

My nest was in disarray. My horde would be ashamed if they saw what I brought my mate home to.

I shook out the blankets and refolded them, carefully tucking and pulling until the nest looked perfect.

Then I stacked pillows around it in a ring.

I sat back on my haunches and examined it.

It needed to be prettier.

I picked up one of the wildflowers I’d picked for my Elle, and put it on one of the pillows. I kept going until the circle of pillows was covered in fresh flowers.

There. She would like that.

I sat back again, rolling my shoulders. I did not like the sensation in the Void. There was a pressure in the air that had been building, and now it felt like it had reached a popping point, like a bubble ready to burst.

Something was coming, but I didn’t know what it was.

I would speak to the guardian and the Klee. They would know if a battle was coming. I would have to be prepared to defend my Elle.

I turned to slouch towards the cavern entrance, and had barely taken five steps when I heard a soft whump from behind me.

I spun around, and saw a cloud of petals slowly drifting to the floor. My carefully-arranged nest was in disarray.

And Elle was in the middle of it, her face drawn and paler than usual. She fought free of the blanket and stood up, gripping the hem of her shirt and twisting it in her hands.

“Kiraxis,” she said, taking an uncertain step towards me.

“My Elle?” I was confused by her strange demeanor. “Are you hurt? What has happened?”

She shook her head, releasing the shirt to brush a hand through her hair. There was something like shock in her eyes. “I’m not hurt, but… I need everyone.”

“Good. You can come with me. I was going to seek them out.” I approached carefully, and to my relief, she lifted her arms to wrap around my neck when I picked her up.

So it was not something I had done. But my worry refused to abate, gnawing at me.

I carried her out under open skies. Surely she would feel better with the strength of the horde around her.

By the time we made it to the lake’s edge, Toth had drifted down from the sky, a dark shadow. His wings were vibrating with agitation.

So he felt it, too.

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