Page 98 of An Invocation of Monsters

Imaginary Juno raised an eyebrow and smirked, but she didn’t answer.

Something else did.

I moved at lightning speed, jumping to my feet after I heard the first scrape. Prowling through my bedroom, I went to investigate, one hand on the Leatherman in my pocket.

The scraping sound was coming from the door to my quarters.

I crept closer, my bare feet silent on the wood floors, and counted to three before flinging the door open.

My mouth dropped open in surprise.

Kase knelt in front of my door. Fresh wildflowers had been pushed up against it, and he had lit a tealight candle.

As I watched, he genuflected at my feet, muttering under his breath.

It took me a moment to find words. The shock was actually palpable. “What the actual fuck are you doing?”

Kase looked up at me from his prostrate position. “Lady of the Open Door, our gratitude is beyond words—”

My god. This poor kid had sainted me.

“Nope.” I held up a hand. “No. Absolutely not. You’re not going to give me a weird nickname and do some weird worship ceremony in front of my room. This is not happening.”

He bowed his head down again, muttering things that involved ‘Lady’ and ‘Void’ and ‘blessings’.

“I swear to God, if you don’t move your ass, I’ll move it for you.” My hands were shaking.

This is why I didn’t like to demonstrate what I could do.

Because the odds were likely to fall in two directions: A) I’d end up in a lab or B) I’d end up with a teenage cult member turning my only exit into a shrine.

I wished I had my gloves. I didn’t want to touch him, even though I fully meant it when I said I’d bodily remove him, if it meant making actual contact.

“Kase, I’m not kidding. I do not want this.” I stressed the words, gripping the door jamb to stop myself from curling my hands into fists. “If you’re going to do it, do it somewhere else.”

He looked up at me once more, eyes feverish and glazed, and finally blew out his candle and crept away.

“Yes, my Lady,” he whispered as he went.

I slumped against the door, the acrid scent of smoke tickling my nose.

This place was a madhouse. It had been a mistake to come here.

But no. If I hadn’t come, I never would’ve met my monsters. They were worth dealing with these nutjobs.

I rubbed my eyes again, the beginnings of a solid headache creeping up on me.

Providence.

It all had to be providence.

Fuck this. It was nap time. I locked the door and disappeared into my room, where I collapsed into the bed and pulled the covers over my head to block out the sun.

* * *

I woke up when it was full dark, and I knew, with every hair quivering on my body, that I was not alone.

It was not a monster in my room. My lizard brain had woken up first, screaming the alarm in the back of my head.

---