Page 68 of Charming Her Monsters

“Ha ha,” I grumble. “I’d expect you’d like me to be more thoughtful instead of just reacting.”

“Just messing with you.” Maxum pats me on the shoulder. “I suppose I’m anxious about leaving Jade behind. I want her by our side at all times.”

“I know what you mean.” After taking a moment to get my beasts under control, I say, “I was wondering why Floofer would take off now. He could have stayed hidden under our noses, but he didn’t.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We have been so preoccupied with Jade, he could have stayed where he was. Even Calder was mostly oblivious to anything wrong.” He comes to a stop and turns to me. “So, what do you think made him run now?”

“Maybe he wanted to get away from Jadebecauseshe is coming into her power. What if he knows what sort of magic the pendant was blocking? What if he’s afraid?”

“Could be that.” Maxum nods. “It could also be that someone out there, who Floofer answers to, would want to know Jade’s pendant is gone.”

We stare at each other for a moment, wondering what power our witch holds in her luscious body. Then Maxum huffs and returns to his long strides toward what looks to be an abandoned building.

He knocks on a large metal door. A minute later, I hear light footsteps down a metal staircase.

The door swings open, and a petite human woman stands with her hands on her hips, looking fierce and a bit miffed. She has the side of her head shaved and the rest of her straight shoulder-length hair has been dyed a rainbow of colors.

“Mal, still losing fart fights with a unicorn, I see,” Maxum jokes, pointing to her unusual hair.

She cocks a pierced brow at him, breaks the stern glare, and snorts out a laugh. “Yep. Maybe if you taught me some of yourElvenfighting moves, I’d have a chance.”

“Wrong again.” He chuckles, then explains to me, “She’s trying to guess what sort of supe I am. She’s not particularly good at this game of hers.”

I’m amused that she hasn’t figured out he’s a demon. I thought his obsidian black eyes and the red tattoos that sometimes peek out of his shirt at his neck and wrists would be a blatant clue.

“Bet I can guess this guy’s deal,” Mal challenges, eyeing me.

“Are we actually wagering?” Maxum asks. “If so… when you lose, I get to pick your next hairstyle.”

“I don’t think it’s worth it.” Mal smirks. “Unless I get to pick out yours.”

“Deal.” Maxum waves his hand over at me. “Make your guess.”

I’m about to bust up that this woman has made a deal with a devil.

Mal steps closer and studies my eyes. Likely, she is wondering what my amber-colored eyes could mean.

My appearance is similar to most wolf shifters—tall, muscular, dark hair, unusually pale blue or golden brown eyes, with warm-toned skin. While I’m not considered particularly beautiful in the supernatural world, I am appealing to humans. However, the only human’s attraction that has ever mattered is Jade’s.

She might guess just from my standard looks, but who knows how many interactions this woman has with the supernatural world and all their species and halflings.

“A demon,” she guesses with a shrug.

Maxum looks downright offended, and I burst out into laughter.

“Dammit,” Mal hisses and waves us inside. As she locks the door behind us and asks, “So how bad is my new hairstyle going to be?”

“Mohawk, so shave the other side, but keep the length and color. I want to see it straight up and in stiff spikes.”

“Well, I planned on shaving the other side, anyway.” Mal chuckles and climbs the stairs ahead of us.

Maxum gives me a wink behind her back. He knew she planned on doing that. “Hmm, maybe I’ll change my mind. Shave it all off? But carve ‘I lost’ into the stubble?”

“Hilarious.” Then she stops and spins to look at him, almost eye to eye, even though she is a few steps higher. “You wouldn’t make me do that, would you?”

Maxum shrugs. “I get bored.”

The door opens up to a stereotypical warehouse apartment. It’s spacious and sparsely decorated. There’s a living room area and a huge computer station outpost. I don’t know that much about computer technology, but I know enough to get by. There are stacks of hard drives and laptops. A wall of screens tower over a massively long desk. Half of the screens are turned off, but I see a few are displaying the security feed from around the building.

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