Page 23 of Monstrous

No big deal, right?

Hysterical laughter bubbles up inside of me the further we distance ourselves from the apartment. Why not? Why not believe in all of these impossible things, because it sure as hell makes it easier to try and figure out what comes next.

First revelation: my drawings summon creatures that children fear under their bed. And that’s all well and good, but—

Second revelation: those demons want to have sex with me, and I want to have sex with them.

Followed closely by the third revelation: I must have drawn Darkness to Walker in the first place, which means his death is certainly my fault.

Thus, the hysterical laughter.

And now I’m being hauled down the streets of the place I’ve lived my entire life at two o’clock in the morning wearing a new pair of fuzzy pajama pants and a fresh shirt. No bra.

We’re running for our lives.

If I thought my life was never going to be the same…the universe sure showed me.

Finally, Zane slows to a walk and we duck into a side alley so he can catch his breath. He gently sets me down on my feet but I stumble back a step, wobbly and uneasy. His hands are on my shoulders instantly to steady me.

Are you all right, Mari?

He slides those hands down to my arms and squeezes. Keeping me in place. Grounding me.

I glance up at him as his features return to the face I alternately want to see and dread, because Walker stares down at me. Realization hits me hard. He’d died in an alley like this. A freak accident, a single change in direction to get to the park faster, and look where we ended up?

Now it feels like we’ve come full circle, and for what? Darkness is still out there and still wreaking havoc on my psyche.

Zane raises his eyebrow, and although it’s odd to see Walker without the glasses, I can’t stop myself from reaching out and touching his face to smooth the gesture.

“Why him?” I ask. “Why is Walker my greatest fear? Why is he the face you want to show me?”

Zane sighs, the sound ending on a low grumble at the back of his throat.It’s a long story, Marianna. One we don’t have time to get into right now.

“Make time.” I drop my hand to his chest. Now I’m the one with clear demands. I feel his heartbeat against my palm. “I want answers.”

You remember the night where everything changed? Zane takes a step closer and wraps me up in his arms. Instead of breaking away and pushing forward with my desire for answers, I lean into the embrace. Feeling like he needs the contact just as much as I do.

“I remember too clearly,” I say. “They say houses are haunted. Well, people can be, too.”

Your drawings drew us to you, as Arc said. Your sigils were beacons to us, bringing us out of the pitch and endless nothingness and into this plane of existence. You remember the ones? The things you used to sketch?

“They’re nothing but doodles.”

Not to us, Zane says softly.To us they are bright burning lights in an endless expanse. That’s what you are to us, too. Your power is your craft and your goodness. We found you during your first encounter with Darkness. When it tried to capture your light and ended up taking your fiancé instead.

I shudder at the statement. I always felt in my heart Walker hadn’t been the target that night. But try explaining a vague feeling with no roots to the police. They had barely believed me anyway.

Darkness is stalking you, Mari. He rose from the abyss at the same time we did, and he smells your lifeforce like a bloodhound that won’t be deterred. The three of us are the only ones that stand between you and the same fate your fiancé met. Zane squeezes me once before releasing, although he doesn’t fully relax.

“I don’t want to die,” I admit.

Of course not. We are here to keep you alive. We are here to protect you whenever the night falls and Darkness grows strong. We will teach you how to defend yourself with your essence…and how to grow its power with pleasure… But thank you for finally letting us in. I know it took a lot for you to do.

The sweetness of the moment takes me aback. It’s unexpected in the right ways, a gift I thought was lost to me forever. And one that makes me feel like shit.

“So itismy fault,” I say under my breath, purposely ignoring his insinuation that I have power. And I can grow my power with sex.

Because it’s just another thing that doesn’t make sense about my life. It sounds impossible.

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