Page 60 of An Invocation of Monsters

“Well, here’s the thing. I don’t know what a V’uthli is, which means there probably isn’t one around. You don’t need to be this or that to become the guardian of a place. You just need to be there, doing the job.” I looked around at the peaceful temple. “Right now it seems to me like you’re doing a damn fine job. I’d rather have you here than whatever a V’uthli is.”

The Zizhatl was gazing at me with adoring eyes. I blinked.

“Haven’t you ever had a pep talk before?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Toth said, his hands covering mine and holding them against his face. “But if you desire me to be the guardian of these doors, I will lay my life down for them and for you, Elle.”

“You don’t have to go that far,” I said hastily. “It’s just… what you’ve been doing already. And I’ll help, if it means keeping the Wendigo Society out of here. I’ve never exactly gotten a straight answer on what they want from this place, anyway.”

“They will never have what they desire,” Toth said fiercely. “But you will, Elle. I will trust in the Void, that it has brought you here for us. I will be yours, your guardian, your mate. I accept this gift.”

My heart hammered against my ribs, every cell in my body aware of how close he was. To have a monster put all of his trust in me… he was showing me his worst vulnerability, that he feared never being enough to protect them.

I hoped he trusted in my belief in him.

“Yes.” I smiled up at him, letting my thumb brush his lower lip. “Well, that’s settled, then. I name you the guardian of Deepwater.”

Something tugged inside me, like a rubber band snapping and breaking from the tension, pulling a gasp from me.

There was a rumble in the ground underfoot at the same time, a sensation of the air pressure squeezing in around us.

I felt all of the Void peer inward, gazing at me, the abyss taking my measure.

It hadn’t just been words. I had spoken, and the Void had judged it to be so.

How? But my mind emptied of all thought as the monster before me tucked his wings around us, shutting out the world.

“Elle,” Toth whispered.

Then he leaned in, soft, feather-light lips brushing mine.

19

Elle

At first his touch was tentative, as though he expected me to pull away.

But I did not want this monster to pull away. He could be harsh, but from the first moment I’d met him, even in the extremity of fear, I’d been more than just a little intrigued by him.

I ran my hands over his wide chest and thick shoulders, marveling at the silky feel of his skin. It wasn’t like human skin; there was an almost feathery texture covering his body, a sheen like that of a butterfly’s wings.

I tilted my head, closing my eyes as I rose on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him harder.

Toth groaned low in his throat, claws tightening on my waist.

“Elle,” he said, his voice low and guttural. “You… you want this? I am, after all, a monster…”

I opened my eyes into the narrowest slits. “Toth. I want you to kiss me. And I want to see where it goes from there.”

He exhaled, almost surprised by the admission.

But then he kissed me again, his tongue flicking out to trace my lower lip before he gently bit down on it.

I gasped against his mouth, but his fangs didn’t break the skin. Once my mouth had fully opened for him, his tongue slid against mine.

He tasted like he smelled: of spices and incense, something far more ancient and strange than any human.

I felt his cock twitch between us, hardening and nudging against my stomach. There was something just as soft as his first feather-light touch that brushed against me.

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