Page 113 of Their Pretty Little Monster

“If we’re proactive, we have a chance to create peace in the future. But nothing is a guarantee.”

He studies me for a long pause, his hands against me giving a slight shake.

“I’ll support you… do anything to keep you safe, but we don’t rush into this. We have time.”

“I know,” I concede. “But after that vision…” I swallow hard, still feeling the sickness in my gut to think of the Howler being destroyed. “I feel we may not have that much time.”

He isn’t okay; it’s easy to see the frantic look on his frowning expression. I’ve observed more sides of Nyko recently, but this one makes him appear unraveled. It reminds me of my arrival in Blight. My panic, fear, and the unknown all terrifying me.

“If we wait, we’re at his mercy,” I whisper in the silent room. “This way, we at least have a chance to fight back on our terms.”

He’s silent for a while, his grip on me tightening.

“We do this, we do it together, plus we need Wolfe’s and Killian’s agreement.”

“Of course.” I nod again, feeling a surge of determination tangled with trepidation.

Leaning closer, I meet his lips, and he kisses me softer this time but with a passion I hadn’t expected from him. This isn’t hunger or desperation but one of affection, and it tugs at my heart.

The reality of what I’ve proposed sinks in.

I have no idea how a passionate night ended up with us making plans to face my father—a plan that might very well end in our deaths—but the more I think about it, the more I feel this is the right way to go.

Chapter

Thirty

SAGE

Iwoke up alone.

Instead of Nyko, I found two guards outside my door, insisting they couldn’t leave my side at Nyko’s instructions as he had to attend an urgent meeting. After the events last night, I must have fallen asleep on top of Nyko, yet I woke up curled up in bed, finding he’d cleaned me up, seeing there was no gooey mess between my thighs. Nothing stops him from doing as he sees fit, and I can’t even hate him for it. He’s my true mate.

Especially not after our vision that’s still sitting on my mind heavily.

My stomach’s growling again, starved for food, and that’s my first port of call this morning.

After showering and dressing, the guards take me to a new location to try, as per instructions from Nyko. The moment I enter the hall, I know I’m going to like the place, mostly from the heavenly baked smells, even if the decor is a mix of the monstrous and the charming. Dark, gnarled wood forms the tables and chairs while luminescent vines cast an eerie glow over everything. I spot an empty table and meander through the busy room. The smells intensify with spices and something musky, making my mouth water and my stomach churn.

I spot Joa sitting alone at a table, the girl I met during my first ritual, and she’s waving me over with a bright smile.

“Join me,” she calls out.

“Morning,” I greet her, sliding into the seat across from her, glad to be with someone else and not have just all these eyes on me from around the room. The guards hover nearby, but I ignore them.

“Morning yourself,” she chirps, sipping from a metal goblet filled with a deep red juice. Her yellow eyes sparkle from her grin, and aside from her serpent-like gaze and pale-yellow scales that run up her arm and more along her neck, she doesn’t have any other monstrous features. “I’ve ordered too much food for me and my two sisters, but they’ve both gone into work early. So, you can help me eat this.”

“I’m starving, so yes, please.” The table is filled with plates of food, and my attention is shifting past the strange, transparent, jelly-like bowls with tiny bones sticking out of them to the baked goods.

She glances at the guards at the wall farther behind us. “What’s going on?”

“Wolfe’s a bit protective.” I don’t expand as I don’t know who’s listening. “Anyway, how did you do after the Veil Ritual?” I ask, tearing off a piece of what looks like a pancake but has an odd, mushy filling. It’s sweet, and I decide not to question what it is.

Joa shrugs. “It didn’t exactly work out. One of the Shadowfen chased me, and we spent the most incredible two days and nights together.” She sighs, stirring her spoon in a bowl of green porridge. “Then I discovered he already has a wife and three children.”

“Oh, shit! What an asshole.”

She’s nodding, one side of her mouth pinching. “So, I did what I could. I tracked him down and stabbed him in the chest. Now he’s in the infirmary recovering. I regret not stabbing him a few more times.”

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