Page 100 of Land of Monsters

“Holy. Fuck…” Brexley’s mouth parted, her gaze locking on Raven. “You’ve got to be kidding me?” She gaped at me.

I bristled as a sense of shame clenched my chest. Were they thinking I moved on too quickly from Kek and Lukas? Insulting their memory?

“This wasn’t… planned. It just…” I kept a hold of her hand.

“Which part?” Warwick’s deathly voice rumbled the floor. “Fucking… ormatingwith the princess of the Unified Nations?”

Raven and I went still.

“How do you know?” The urge to put her behind me, even protect her from my family, stepped me forward.

“Which part?” Warwick lifted his chin. “Both are pretty obvious.”

“We’re not blind, Ash. First, her image iseverywhere. The entire UFN is looking for her!” Brexley motioned to her. “And second, I’ve known what the princess looks like since I was eleven. At one time, I knew everything about the royal families. I was tested on it.” It was easy to forget that Brexley was once a sort of princess herself. An adopted daughter of the leader of HDF, she grew up in the world of elites and leaders. Schooled in the art of corruption and power.

“Have we met?” Raven stepped even with me, her gaze going over Brexley.

“No.” Brexley shook her head. “Istvan was a human leader, a puritan. But he was never on the level to be visited by the king and queen.” She shrugged. “But we have met your father. Your family helped us in our fight against Istvan last year, after the king sent Eli and Ember to kill me.”

“What? They tried to kill you?” Raven’s mouth dropped open.

“Clearly they didn’t.”

“Aunt Ember and Uncle Eli don’t miss a target. Ever.”

“It’s a long story.”

“And you would’ve had two fewer relatives if they had fucking touched her,” Warwick grumbled to himself.

“Not helping, Farkas.”

“Not trying to, Kovacs.”

“Ohh, Master Fishy. We’ve missed you guys.” Opie sighed into Brexley, petting her neck.

Chirp!

“You did too!”

Chiiiirrpp!

“What?? Total untruth! I did not miss his weapon of mass destruction!”

Chirp! Chirp!

“And I did not cheat on a grenade launcher with a tree trunk!”

Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

“You’re the one bringing it up! I think it’s you who missed the wolf stick!”

Chirpchirpchirpchirp!Middle fingers whirled in the air like lassos.

“Fuck.” Warwick rubbed his forehead. “I didn’t miss this at all.”

“Oh, come on, big bad wolfy. You know you missed us.” Opie leaped from Brexley’s shoulder to the bed, talking to the big man. “I’ll bet your sausage club member got so cold and lonely without us.”

“How about you shut the fuck up?” Warwick pinched his nose. “Before I snap your bodies in half.”

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