Page 110 of Their Pretty Little Monster

But I doubt she’s hearing me as she spots the black jar in my hand, hard to miss since it’s as thick as my fist.

“What the hell’s that?” she demands. “I told you before, I hate surprises, especially your kind, but you keep bringing them out.”

“I would never hurt you.” I laugh, a dark sound that reverberates around us. “You need to trust me.”

“You’re making that really hard,” she retorts, wriggling on top of me, sending jolts of electricity through my body.

Having her tight around my cock, her breasts against my chest, I’m exactly where I intended to be.

I lift the jar. “I told you earlier, I’m going to prove that we’re true mates.”

“Why am I going to hate this?” she mutters, suspicion in her eyes.

I uncork the black jar and pour its contents over both of us at once.

Pink mist billows out, infused with a spark of magic from one of the market vendors. The mist flutters rapidly toward our faces, swarming our senses.

She whines, batting at it with a hand, but it’s too late. I inhale deeply, letting the magic fill my lungs.

“Just take it in… don’t fight the inevitable.”

“It’s that stupid ritual mist again,” she gasps, but before she can argue, the concentrated dose blurs her vision as it does mine. She blinks, shaking her head, the mist taking its toll on her.

The room spins, our breaths mingling in the enchanted haze.

Our world fades to black. The last thought that flickers through my mind is that this is everything I’ve ever dreamed of—to finally find my true mate.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

SAGE

I’m standing on the shores of a rocky beach, a sheer cliff looming at my back. The sky above is a twist of deep, bruise-like purples, but my attention is caught on our vessel, Howler—the massive, round, glass-like orb—engulfed in flames.

Fire licks at the sky, and thick black smoke darkens overhead, turning the sea into a dark, churning mass that reflects the chaos above.

My heart lurches, breath trapped in my throat. Tears sting my eyes, streaming down my face as I watch the inferno consume the vessel.

Shaking hard, I push toward the lapping icy water, the urgency to find my three monsters, to ensure they aren’t on their vessel, eating me alive.

A whimper falls from my lips…

Yet, I know this is a vision; I’m aware of it, just as I’d experienced with the last two. Except this one is different… I’ve never been so scared.

The pain is sharp, a knife twisting in my chest.

“Sage,” a raspy voice echoes from somewhere nearby, the sound almost swallowed by the roar of the flames and the crashing waves.

I turn to Nyko, who’s suddenly at my side, eyes wide, the reflection of the flames in his glassy eyes, and it grips my heart.

“Fuck, fuck!”

He’s rushing into the water from the shore, desperate in his movements, heading for Howler.

I dart after him, snatching his hand, stopping him with a strength I didn’t know I had.

“It’s just a vision,” I choke out. “We can’t change anything here.”

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