Page 25 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Underworld

“I know, and I told them that. It’s not about what she can say, but more what they can observe.”

“She’s not a science experiment.” This is what I wanted,help, but it’s happening so fast and I feel like I can’t keep up.

“I know. Trust me, I made it very clear that the goal needs to be saving Rose. She’s the priority.”

“Why? Why do you care? I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just trying to understand why you’re so invested. I know you mentioned Ellie, but —”

“Ellie is the reason.”

“Yeah, but —”

“Look, I haven’t even had a chance to talk to her about this. I haven’t evensleptyet. I’ve been to the First Realm and back since I last saw you less than twelve hours ago.” I hear him take a deep breath. “It could be a huge coincidence, but faehave long life spans. Much longer than wolves and orcs. It’s very possible that Rose’s fae parent might still be alive. When it comes to people who are mixed fae and human, the parent tends to outlive the offspring, in terms of lifespan. And someone has placed that ward on the house.”

I hadn’t even thought of that. “You think her mum or dad is hanging around?”

“I don’t know, but that’s not why I care, or at least it’s not the core reason. Rose said her father was known as T.J. Copthorne — that was the name of his store, right? Well I know another changeling woman with a father who went by the name TJ.Ellie.TJis the only information my wife has ever had about her father; it was a one-night stand, her human mother didn’t know him well at all. He left no contact details. It could be a coincidence, but if it is, it’s a really fucking big one. Maybe I’m going crazy, because I’ve always thought Ellie looks like her mom, but I swear, every time I look at that photo of him I see my wife in there.”

Holy shit. Holyshit.

“Rose kept doing little things that Ellie does,” he adds. “Little gestures, like playing with the fabric of her clothes when she’s nervous.”

“They have the same smile.”

“They do,” he agrees. “Their expressions — at least some of them — are identical. It’s personal, Zak. My wife is an only child, but I think Rose is her sister. It sounds ridiculous, but what doesn’t these days? I’m a big believer in fate. I have to be, because Ellieismy fated mate, and we have the bites and the bond to proveit. I think I have to believe that the universe is trying to tell us something here.”

“Are you going to tell her?”

“Yes. I’ll leave it up to you to tell Rose, which you can do later,afterwe save her.”

When Evander saidthat a High Witch was coming, I hadn’t expectedthis.

“What the fuck is going on, Zak?” Josh calls out from the front step of our place, his hand shielding his eyes from the late-afternoon sun and his mouth hanging open as he looks over the crowd gathered in Rose’s front yard. There’s medieval-robe-wearing werewolves; a half-fae half-werewolf woman walking around in her fae form with blue skin, long pointed ears, antlers, and unnaturally bright eyes; wolf shifters — Evander’s alpha father and members ofhispack, plus Evander, Seth, and two more of the Lost Moon pack — and at the centre of it all anancient-looking werewolf woman with the meanest resting bitch face I’ve ever seen.The High Witch.All of this is under a dome of gold-tinged glamour that covers the two neighbouring properties and hides it all from the humans on the street — a miscommunication, because I never intended for my flatmates toknow, but it’s too late now.

“Uh, nothing to stress about! Just some magic stuff!”

He’s unimpressed, but my phone buzzes — it’s Leigh from work — and suddenly I can’t give two shits about what Josh is thinking. I’ve got enough crap on my own plate.

“Hey,” I answer. “I am so sorry, I lost track of what day it is, and this is an emergency, and —”

“Zak, it’s fine. Calm down.”

I take a deep breath and exhale in a gust, turning away from Evander’s concerned gaze. I feel so fucking exposed right now — the only orc present, themate of the changeling, as they keep calling me. Everyone has been staring since they arrived half an hour ago.

“I promise I’m never normally this unprofessional, but there’s just a lot going on right now. I can’t even explain it except it’s…” I trail off, unsure of what I should be telling her. I texted her only ten minutes ago, after Seth had joked“Thank god it’s Friday, right?”and I’d had the awful realisation that I’m supposed to be at the club at seven tonight.

“It’s fine. We’ll be totally okay. Loved ones come first. I had no idea you had a girlfriend. I hope she’s okay. Are you guys at hospital right now?”

My text had saidan emergency with my girlfriend, so I can understand the assumption. “Uh, it’s not a health thing per-se, I mean it is, but we’re getting it sorted.”

“No need for explanations. Hey, I know this is bad timing, but I was going to share it with all you boys tonight. I want it to be a unanimous decision; you’re all the talent, after all. We’ve been approached by an entertainment company, they want to put us on the road. Do an international tour. All flights, accommodation, living costs covered, including partners. Increased pay, and travel the world! It would be a year-long contract. I want you to think about it. They’re a legit company, and they reckon the world is ready for non-human male entertainers on the big stage. They want to do a behind the scenes documentary too.”

Fuck wolves and their fucking super-hearing. As soon as Leigh says the wordmale entertainersI swear about 80 percent of them turn to stare at me. I’m not ashamed about what I do, but I don’t like feeling judged either, and I can feel it now. “Can we talk about it later?” I ask. It sounds amazing, but I can’t wrap my head around it at this moment. I can’t focus on anything, can’t seem to take in a deep enough breath, can’t see beyond tonight and the crippling fear ofwhat if they can’t save Rose?and even worse,what if they kill her?

“Sure. Give my love to your girl, I hope everything is okay. I’m here if you need to talk. And take tomorrow night off too, okay? Don’t rush back.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

I slip my phone back into my pocket, the worried golden eyes of Evander’s werewolf mother — looking just as chic as she did inthat photograph from the old article — catching my gaze. “Oh honey, it’s going to be okay,” she reassures me.

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