Page 16 of Monster's Mistake

Nati turns, her attention on me and not the outside.

“I had to understand what was going on inside me and the cravings I had, they made me different to everyone around me, and a lot of them thought I was abnormal because of it.”

“Or that you’d eat them.”

I snort. “Or that.”

“What? No comment about how you’d eat me?” she jokes.

I suppress a groan. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

She shrugs. “It only seems fair with the number of jokes you’ve made about me turning you into stone.” Her lips quirk up into a smile, betraying her amusement. “I suppose it would probably make me scream,” she muses.

I swallow hard, trying to get the image she’s conjuring out of my mind.

“What? No comeback?” She leans against the wall and studies me. “I rarely manage to actually think of these.”

I step closer, placing a hand on the wall beside her so there isn’t much space between us. “You’re playing with fire, Nati.”

“I thought I’d be playing with stone.” Her amusement is clear on her face, like she’s getting some satisfaction from turning this around on me.

I clear my throat and pull back, worrying that if I don’t, I’m going to snap and she’s going to find out exactly how much I want her.

“I’m sorry,” Nati says, her voice laced with something that sounds like pain.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I respond, my voice hoarse and full of need.

“I made you uncomfortable.”

“You were doing nothing I haven’t done to you,” I point out. “Though I also realise that was out of line.”

“It’s fine.” The way she says it makes me think it isn’t.

I look out at the sky, disappointed to discover that clouds cover most of the stars. “I should have known better. I don’t want people to think of me in terms of me being a ghoul, but that’s exactly what I did to you. About being a gorgon, I mean.”

A hiss sounds from within her hair, but it doesn’tseemto be as hostile as it has been in the past.

“So I’m sorry. Genuinely. I should never have made jokes like that.”

“Thank you,” she says softly.

I give her a weak smile.

“For what it’s worth, I didn’t even know you were a ghoul until about a week ago. And it doesn’t change anything about the way I feel about you.”

“And how is that?”

“That you’re infuriating when you make some of your jokes, but when you’re not trying too hard, you’re actually kind of funny,” she admits.

I chuckle. “You really think I’m funny?”

“In a dorky way,” she responds. “But I don’t mind that. There’s something about you that makes me want to spend time with you, even if I don’t know why.”

“It’s because you’re my fated mate,” I respond.

She meets my gaze and I can see a sense of hesitancy in them. “So you said.”

“Don’t you feel it?”

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