Page 16 of An Invocation of Monsters

Then I understood. It was a laugh.

He flexed his wings, no longer torn and ragged. The tattered edges were now solid and feathery, with hints of gilded scales.

Then he touched his hands. The blood came away, revealing smooth, dark skin beneath. “I am… I am whole again.”

He looked up at me, those scarlet eyes burning.

A soft, feather-light hand brushed my cheek.

“Elle,” he whispered.

My heart thumped unevenly. His incense smell was intoxicating, and I was all too aware of the feathery smoothness, like a butterfly’s wing, of his skin against mine.

Then his wings flicked out, and the monster vanished into the night, leaving me alone under the trees like the dregs of a dream.

5

Toth

Word spread throughout the Void like ripples on water.

The air was as still and thick as syrup as the power coagulated around the house by the lake. The trees were silent, listening to the whispers of the other world.

The breach torn open by the Hunter hummed, waiting.

Waiting for her. The maiden of the blood.

I glided silently over the forest, a dark watcher. She was far below me, glowing like a beacon. Under the moonlight, her scarlet hair gleamed like dark flames.

Her scent still lingered in my nose, refusing to be washed away by the atmosphere no matter how many breaths I took. Her name that rolled off the tongue: Elle.

I wanted to erase her from my skin.

Erase her scent, erase her from my mind entirely.

Because no matter how soft she was, how she glowed under the moon, she was still one of them, living under the Hunter’s roof, eating their food, sleeping in their beds.

But… she’d laid hands on me and healed the destruction the Hunter’s traps had wrought.

Even the Void trembled as she drew close, recognizing her as kin.

Ducking lower, just brushing the treetops, I watched as she moved like a sleepwalker towards the house.

I’d missed this, the open clarity of the sky, the tangle of dark thoughts falling free and leaving me clear to perceive. And it was all thanks to one simple touch, the kindness of a stranger who had no reason to trust me… but she’d chosen to do so regardless.

I had been an idiot to fall for the Hunter’s trap. It was only because I was earthbound, starving.

I had been fortunate that this woman had come to find me.

As she walked along the trail leading to the lake’s edge, two dim orbs glowed at the bottom of the lake, imperceptible to human eyes. The Elder Klee who ruled the lake felt her presence, sensing her from below, his rage growing that he couldn’t taste her in the water.

I bared my fangs, mentally broadcasting my desire for him to stay away from her. She had touched me, was now my mystery to solve.

Could a woman who would free me really belong to them?

Elle started as she passed the lake, pausing as a few angry waves crashed against the shore. Tension was written in the taut line of her shoulders.

She could have no idea of the creature that watched her from its depths.

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