Page 26 of An Inheritance of Monsters

A twist of heat blazed to life in my stomach, and I swallowed hard. The monster was still again, his hands almost painfully tight on my shoulders.

I wondered if he felt the same excitement.

Because my body was reacting to him, my heart racing without fear, a slow, painful pulse building in my core.

I wanted to touch all of him, all thoughts of new worlds and discovery suddenly seeming distant. My nails were digging into his forearms, as though to stop me from reaching down and seeing if he would respond…

I shouldn’t. He hadn’t touched me that way, and if I ruined this… I stepped back, releasing him and clenching my hands at my sides, where they couldn’t destroy this tenuous bridge between us.

He exhaled another growl, this one short and sharp, and I felt the shadows move.

Something shifted on the floor by my feet—my backpack. I heard it sliding away, the nylon making a horribleshhhhsound as it was pulled across the floor.

Then the monster’s claws wrapped around my wrist. “Come. I will return you to your kind.”

I didn’t really want to be returned. I wanted to stay right here with him in the dark.

But his shadows had withdrawn. Perhaps he didn’t feel that way, and I’d just embarrassed myself with my sudden flood of desire.

He could see in the dark. He would’ve heard my heart racing.

Maybe he would never come out again after this. The thought was unbearable.

My words seemed to be stuck in my throat as the monster led me back towards the main library—and, true to his word, he did not release me. Those claws were gentle but firm around my hand, leading me through the darkness.

Even though I couldn’t see, I trusted he would bring me back.

I had no reason to believe him, but still… something about these monsters made mewantto believe.

I was just able to see a glimmer of amber light ahead. We were almost there, and I wasn’t letting him go without an answer.

“What is your name?” I blurted out, gripping his claws a little tighter.

The voice that came from the shadows was wary. “Voraal.”

God, I’d really embarrassed myself if he was that watchful about giving out his name.

But now I knew what to call him… all three of them.

Zirin. Rask. Voraal.

“Thank you,” I whispered, and suddenly the claws were smoke in my hands, the shadows retreating. A puddle of amber light lay just around the next corner.

I turned back, but he was impossible to see—a shadow hiding within shadows.

“Will you come see me again?”

The shadows shifted. I caught the faintest glimpse of two star-like pinpricks. “You want me to come back?”

Unless I was imagining things, he sounded… hopeful? Maybe even surprised.

I just nodded.

Voraal’s form was just visible, if I looked from the corner of my eye. An enormous man, now towering towards the ceiling… “I’ll be back for you.”

A thrill snaked through me. “And I’ll be waiting.”

Those eyes flared white-hot.

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