Page 42 of Land of Monsters

“No, but I remember when you begged for these fingers, which can spread magic in the tiniest of holes and crevices, to assist your needs.” He wiggled his hands.

“I’m regretting all my life choices right now,” I grumbled, slipping the backpack off my shoulder. “I also asked for you to find Raven. And since you’rewearingher shirt, I need you to track her scent so you can locate her once you’re inside.”

“Wh-what? I’m sorry, did you say track her scent?” Opie exclaimed. “I’m not a dog!”

“Do you find someone by their smell?”

“Well, yeah…” He crossed his arms. “But I’m more like a sommelier!” He whiffed his hand at his nose. “Detecting the subtle hints of their bodily juices.”

“Oh gods. Please shut up.” I turned my attention to Dzsinn, his eyes still greedily watching the imp. My manner shifted, my voice low. “Just know they belong to Brexley, and if anything happens to them, you do anything to either, it won’t just be me you will deal with.The Wolfwill come for you too.”

I saw the most subtle gulp before he nodded.

“I understand.” I could see truth in his eyes. “Besides, sub-fae, in my experience, can be some of the best moles.”

“Dogs, now moles?” Opie huffed, stomping his foot on my shoulder. “Do I look like a furry animal with a big nose to you?”

“I’m not gonna answer that,” I replied, placing Opie on the ground. “Remember what I told you?”

“Yes.” Opie nodded with a huff. “Don’t be myself.”

“That’s not what I said.” I ground my teeth. “I said don’t do anything crazy. We need just a small distraction, nothing that tells the entire castle we are here. Stick to the plan and get back to us. Do not deviate. Got it?”

Another huff.

“Got it?”

“Yes.”

Chirp!Bitzy flipped me off. I was gonna take it as a yes too.

I gulped, emotion gripping my chest, realizing everything at stake. “And please stay safe.”

Opie peered up at me. “You too, Master Ash. Otherwise, I will have failed Master Fishy, and the big guy will be so mad at me.”

Chirp!I translated her middle finger as words of love, but more likely, it was, “Don’t die, asshole, because I won’t get those mushrooms you promised me!”

Without another word, the brownie and imp disappeared into the darkness, heading for the group of soldiers guarding the back gate. The plan was simple: if they drew the guards’ focus enough, we could slip by unnoticed.

“You trust them to pull this off?” Dzsinn asked, gripping a gun in his hand.

“I trust them to cause mayhem.” I tucked further into my hood, pulling my weapon from the back of my pants. In my mind, I envisioned the map we had studied the night before, the blueprint of the castle, the markings that noted a tunnel built just under the building in the back entrance where the guards stood now. Most likely designed for the rulers of the castle to escape if they were invaded. “Let’s go.”

Sonya and Iain would be expecting me; they’d be waiting for me to come for her and be on alert for any sign I was trying to get in. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen. Slip in with the help of a genie without detection.

Jumping across a frozen creek bed, we crept closer to the back gate. The way the men weren’t chatting or moving around prickled at my gut. The way they stood seemed unnatural, robotic, and a few of them twitched, as if something under their skin was starting to consume them.

I couldn’t deny Sonya had the formula and was changing these human men, following in Istvan’s footsteps. I had seen it too many times in Verhaza: guards losing themselves bit by bit, day by day. As if their systems first went into shock, shutting down, going unemotional, before the fae essence started to change their chromosomes, turning them into beasts. Most humans couldn’t adapt to the change, their brains pretty much melting and dying in the most painful way. Human bodies were not meant to encase magic like ours.

My working theory was if you did survive, like Hanna, it was because somewhere in your bloodline, you had fae DNA.

“Where the fuck are they?” Dzsinn muttered to me as time ticked by, every second adding to the tension, the fear this would all fall apart before it even started.

“I don’t know.”

Right as I spoke, a hissed crackle filled the air. Dread dropped in my stomach. Peering around a tree, my eyes caught a burning rag dangling from the old jeep’s gas tank. Even a hint of gasoline or fumes left inside would be enough.

“Oh fuc—”

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