Page 21 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Underworld

“Is this what she looked like last week?” Ellie asks.

I nod, grinding my teeth. “Yeah. What does this mean?”

“It means she has fae heritage. The same type of fae as me, if the antlers are similar.”

“I swear, it’s like someone copy-pasted those from her head onto yours. But what does thismean?Fae have been taking people, right? I tried to find some of the stuff that was on the news a couple of years ago but I couldn’t.”

“You won’t find anything.” Evander’s tone is absolute, his jaw clenched. “The fae seem to have a way of making these things disappear from public memory.”

“Well, shit, that’s scary.”

The couple nod in agreement, their voices blending together as she says, “Yep,” while he answers with a very serious, “Yes.”

“Rose has no memory.” That statement has Ellie looking even more worried. “I mean, she remembers her life before she… died, or whatever happened. She says her last memory is of mushrooms surrounding her in her garden. She has no memory of wherever she’s been. She doesn’t know where she goes when she fades away, but the other night she said it felt like it wasunder.”

Ellie shakes her head, blinking back tears, and Evander’s arm settles around her, pulling her closer against his side.

“I think Rose has been taken by the fae,” he says, and I nod.

Evander’s expression is grim. Ellie looks shell-shocked. I feel both sick and full of adrenaline at the same time.They might actually help us.

“Please —”

“Van’s mother is a witch. A powerful one, with connections,” Ellie cuts in.

“I can’t promise anything yet,” Evander counters. “I need to see this for myself, before I ask anyone else to get involved.”

An apologetic earlygoodbye to Zara with a promise to explain later, a phone call to swap my car ferry ticket from tomorrow morning to this evening, and an awkward explanation to the millionaire couple thatno, I don’t need to cancel accommodation on the island because I wasn’t staying anywhere anyway — I was going to park up at a beach and sleep in my ute overnight because the $160 return ferry ticket was all I could afford — and our two vehicles are pulling onto the huge red boat bound for Auckland City. I watch the other passengers eye up Evander’s fancy car as he’s directed to park behind me underneath the upper deck, one woman blatantly tapping her husband on the shoulder and saying “Look!”

Evander and his brother Seth climb out, and I join them. The resemblance between the two is ridiculous; Seth is an inch shorter and his hair is more brown than black, but it’s otherwise as if someone cloned Evander and made a younger version. If someone were casting a film, either one of them could be the leading man for sure.

Their wide-blown pupils shine yellow-green under the overhead lights, a clear reminder that they are wolves. All three of us are still dressed for the wedding, and between us we attract even more attention from the human passengers onboard.

“It’s fucking freezing out here,” I say, ignoring the stares. My breath fogs in the air.

Evander nods, gesturing to the stairs. “Let’s go up and find a seat inside. I need a coffee.”

With drinks and food acquired — Evander offered to pay for mine and as much as I’m embarrassed, I didn’t say no — we take our seats in one of the large-species-inclusive booths in the back corner.

“I really appreciate this,” I reiterate, looking between both brothers. “I wasn’t expecting to find anyone that had any idea of what’s going on, and I definitely didn’t expect you guys to help immediately.”

Evander takes a sip of his drink, his eyes serious. “Let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson before; when it comes to matters regarding fae, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and that means not wasting time and hoping that things will just work out. The Unseelie are a serious threat, especially to changelings like Ellie.”

“That’s why we left her at home with the rest of the pack,” Seth adds. He grins at his brother. “I think you pissed her off.”

“Hm,” Evander grumbles, his lips momentarily pressing into a thin line as he stares down at his coffee cup. “Tell me something I don’t know. I can sense it through the bond. Believe me, she’s making it known.” He looks up, his gold eyes intense as he meets my gaze. “She’s scared for me; Ellie thinks I should involve my mother right now, but I need to see this for myself before I take this further.”

I still don’t fully understand why this guy would drop everything to help Rose and I, though I’m not going to complain about it.

“Ellie has had a few near-misses,” he says, as if reading my mind. “She’s supposed to be safe already, but I’m overly cautious about things. She wants to be here with us even though she’s afraid, because she’s my mate and we do things as a team, but I’m not bringing her near any source of danger, not when fae are involved, not until I know more. It’s worth a grumpy mate to know that she’s safe.”

“Rose isn’t dangerous,” I say. “I haven’t felt in danger at her house.”

“I believe you,” Evander says. “But I don’t think any of these kidnapped changelings ever felt in danger. They thought they were safe, until suddenly they weren’t. A lot of the evidence has been erased in the last two years but I’ve been paying attention to it all.” He leans back in his seat. “It’s not her that I’m worried about. It’sthem. If she’s travelling between realms, I’m not taking unnecessary risks.”

“I thought you needed a portal to travel between realms.”

“And I thought ghosts weren’t real. Something isn’t adding up here.”

---