Page 166 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Underworld

“Stay away from my mate.”

“Gods save us from possessive monsters. You spend years as the most ruthless Render among reapers and now you think you getto walk into the land of the living and simply claim your happily ever after with the human whose life you spared?”

I growl because I can’t kill him without setting Hayden down, and I won’t risk that. Not until he understands the danger he has put her in. “I thought you guaranteed the safety of your matches. Isn’t that part of the contract you dealing demons force upon them?”

His wings flare. I’ve hit a demonic nerve. Good. “The terms of the bargain,” he says, “guarantee she will come to no harm by your hand…er, shadow tentacle things.”

“I’ll never hurt her. She’s my fated mate.”

“I know. I confirmed it before bringing her here.”

“Then you should’ve known I’d be outraged at you for putting her life in jeopardy.”

“I have plans for this house, so I did what was necessary to ensure you get rid of the revenants.” He sweeps his claws toward Hayden. “She arrived damaged.”

“She’snotdamaged.”

“Whatever you call her current condition, it’s obviously excluded from our contract. Like I said, humans.” He lifts his shoulders in a shrug and his wings follow. “Weak.”

“May you be so lucky that the Fates match you with a human who is half as strong as my Hayden.”

“I would put up with a frail match for the exponential level up in magic the mating would give me.”

“It’s not always about power, my prince. Sometimes, it’s about love.” Obsession. Addiction.

He scoffs, his royal persona firmly in place from the tilt of his pointed chin to the spread of his wings. “If we’re done here?—”

“Your machinations gave her this migraine so the least you could do is magic us a healing potion from your realm. One crafted by your alchemist dwarf. Just make sure it’s from her first aid stack and not the explosive one.”

“Fine. Want a sedative added?”

I glance at Hayden, wrapped in my darkness with only the purple of my magic skimming over her brown skin and dark hair as if it reaches for her as much as I have this last decade. Now, she’s mine. Mine to hold. Mine to possess. Mine to care for. “A sedative would be good. Rest will help her headache.”

The demon teleports away, and I’m left with my love.

With one shadow, I ease open the side door of her van. At least she hasn’t changed this setup since I visited her here a week ago. Or was it months ago? Time passes so differently in the realms I wander between—looking for her. Pulling the bed into the center for a comfortable enough nest to allow her to sleep, I lay her on the mattress, putting away her protective sunglasses. She won’t need those as long as I’m around.

Theodopolis appears in the open doorway. A small blue bottle stands out starkly against his red palm.

“Thank your alchemist for me,” I tell him, easing Hayden into a sitting position. Her head turns to rest against my darkness, and her instinctive need to seek comfort from me makes me want to curl around her.

I don’t resist the temptation to stroke a shadow along her cheek before turning to the task at hand. I sweep lower, to trace overher mouth. A thirst more tangible than being trapped for an eternity in a desert dimension takes hold of me, and I long for this woman. She is even softer in reality than in her dream state. “Open for me, Hayden. Take your medicine.”

Her eyelashes flutter. She doesn’t open her eyes, but she parts her lips on a heavy sigh. “Okay, Shadow Daddy.”

The name she calls me in her dreams sends a jolt of lust and something heavier through me. Love, I know it. I’ve known it for years of watching her, stalking her, haunting her. “That’s my good girl. Rest now.”

Hayden snuggles closer, allowing sleep to take over.

Excellent. The healing can begin.

“Well, then,” Theodopolis drawls. For fuck’s sake, the demon’s still here. I’d hoped he might’ve teleported off to wherever pissy demon princes go. “I’ll leave you to wooing your mate. It seems you might not need the full month.”

I take one last chance to remind him of the danger he has put her in. “If the revenants hurt her because you forced her here, I’ll?—”

“I know, rip me apart. I’ve dealt with enough overprotective mates to quote all the threats by now.”

Gods save me from asshole demons. I settle with Hayden against the lumpy mattress, deciding I’ll hold her all night to keep her safe and comfortable. She smells better than ambrosia nectar from the Valley of the Gods.

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