Page 128 of An Invocation of Monsters

I clapped my hands over my ears, squeezing my eyes tightly shut, and turned away as the V’uthli consumed Mary.

Even so, I heard the crunch of bone, her final screams.

The wind died so quickly I almost fell over. I was doubled-up, on my knees, gasping for breath that had been snatched away from me only moments ago.

It took me a long, long minute, but I finally dared to open my eyes.

Silence all around. The stars were winking peacefully overhead.

The storm had vanished, and the V’uthli—my father—was gone.

But the destruction around the stone circle remained. The cliff was still crumbling into the lake. Trees had been ripped up and left gaping holes behind in the earth, and dark stains still covered the circle.

I shakily got to my feet, looking around.

All of this was mine now. Even if I had never wanted to harm anyone, I had made a blood sacrifice by allowing Mary to be taken.

I tried to tell myself it was for good.

She had killed her own sister, her friends. She had killed Kase, Willow, and Joseph. The blood staining this circle was on her hands.

A hoarse sob erupted from me without warning. The image of Kase’s pale face as she held the knife to his throat was burned into my mind.

“Elle.”

I didn’t turn around, another sob wracking my body.

But when I felt my monsters’ hands on me, I didn’t move away.

They were mine. I had given Mary to my father, and now I would guard them for an eternity.

I twisted to hide my face against Toth’s chest.

“I am sorry, Elle,” Toth said, his voice low. “When a time of great change comes to the Void, it is forbidden for us to intervene. Some changes can only be made by mortal hands. You are the child of the former guardian. He would not have allowed you to be harmed.”

I choked on another sob. “I’m not crying for myself. I’m crying for Kase.”

And perhaps for Willow and Joseph, also. They had been murdered for nothing, their lives wasted.

I felt Kiraxis’s claws on my sides.

But, thankfully, my monsters didn’t try to justify their deaths or console me with empty words. They also knew it had all been needless.

They just let me cry until the last tears had run out.

When I’d run dry, I felt a little better.

Not much, but a little.

I wiped my cheeks, winced at the pain in my swollen eye, and pressed my hand to it. The power seemed to flow through me more easily, a river breaking through a dam, and soon the flesh under my palm felt firm and normal. I blinked, but the blood gluing my eye shut was still there, of course.

I settled onto Kiraxis’s lap and pressed a hand to my aching skull next.

The monsters were silent but soothing as I worked on healing myself. By the time I felt functional again, I’d managed to at least box up my emotions for now.

I was not sorry that I had caused Mary’s death, nor that I was now the guardian of these doors.

I was sorry for Kase, but no matter what I told him, he had chosen this path. I only hoped he would be at peace in the next life.

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