Page 21 of An Invocation of Monsters

“They are more than wings. They are my weapon,” he said gruffly. “To peer at them for too long would ensnare your mind, and weaken your body. If I were to flap them once with intent, I could start a wind that would become a deadly storm.”

I was put in mind of the Butterfly Effect, and wondered if the person who’d coined it had possibly come across such a being as Toth.

“And if I were to flutter them further, I could bend space around me, open a window through time.” I thought I saw him smile grimly in the corner of my eye. “The Hunter wishes us to be powerless against it.”

“I’m sorry,” I said honestly. “To be hunted for something you can do… I know how that feels.”

“Do you?” Toth tilted his head.

I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was because he’d shared something that was clearly so intimate and personal to him, but I wanted to reciprocate.

So I told him about my hands. About healing everyone around me. About how Miss Prynne had been willing to drag herself over broken glass for more.

And how if anyone knew, there would be an army of Miss Prynnes tearing themselves apart to get to me.

“So…” I licked my dry lips. “I do know. If I could give this power away, I would.”

The monster had lapsed into a considering silence. Finally he said, “We have more in common than I would have believed. But we cannot give it away. We are born as we are, and we must live with it.”

The minute that came after that could almost be described as companionable. I was content to fill up my SD card, enjoying the dappled sun, but there was one thing he’d said that had been preying on my mind.

“Toth…”

“Yes.”

“There’s one more thing I want to know. When you said blood, did you mean…”

The shadow in the corner of my eye tilted his head. “I meant blood.”

“As in, human blood?” My voice squeaked, giving away a little of the fear I’d been trying to hide.

There was a faint sound like a sigh. I couldn’t help but feel I’d disappointed him. “We are monsters, Elle. We feast on blood, we despise the light. What do you expect of us?”

A shiver ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.

We.

We are monsters.

Were there more like him out there? Or… other monsters, even deadlier ones, hiding in the shadows?

Was he the exception or the norm for his kind?

“I’m not sure what to expect anymore,” I whispered, my mouth dry, but when I looked back at the church, the shadow was gone.

I hadn’t heard him leave.

It took me less time to return to the Lodge, since I jogged the entire way. I refused to break into a full-out run. Predators liked it when their prey ran.

I told myself I was just jogging to stay warm, but deep down I knew the truth.

And I wondered if this was the truth my mother had always hidden from me.

I was so intent on getting inside and checking the images on my card to see if Toth appeared on any of them that I almost bulldozed right into Kase.

“Whoa there,” he said, holding his hands up in a friendly fashion. “Hey, are you okay?”

I realized I was staring at him wildly, and made an effort to tone down my expression to something more neutral.

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