Page 111 of An Inheritance of Monsters

Rask and Zirin were the ones who washed me in the sea, gently caring for me in the way I loved so much.

I didn’t want to leave the Void, but I was starting to remember that there were things and people out in the human world.

It would be morning there. I needed to eat, to dress, to do normal human things.

How tedious.

I sighed and kissed Zirin, holding him close. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Be careful. He glanced up at the crimson sky. You cannot be here when it arrives.

Rask had to pry me from his tentacles. He carried me back to his cave, purring as he brought me up to my room from under the bed.

And recoiled immediately. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows.

“Get back under!” I said, yanking the curtains shut. Rask retreated, his eyes peering out at me and slitted against even the faint light.

“I will miss you, my Juno. Talk to the humans quickly and be done with them.”

I knelt next to my bed and reached under to take his hand. “I wish I could stay with you.”

He squeezed my hand gently. “Soon you will. Soon, the humans will not matter.”

I withdrew. “Go back to the Void, Rask. As soon as it’s dark, I’ll try to come back.”

It was a sign of how much the monsters despised the sun that he made no argument. He kissed my hand, his fangs scraping the back of it, before he retreated and the door to the Void closed.

I showered and found new clothes, somehow feeling refreshed despite my workout. I’d go get a cup of coffee or two, then wait out the daylight hours with some research before I flung myself right back into the abyss.

But when I entered the kitchen, which was lit with an odd, pink light, three pairs of eyes, ranging from furious to concerned, stared at me. Sierra, Carson, and Jack were arrayed around the table, half-empty mugs in front of them, flashlights scattered.

Sierra drew a deep breath, her face flushing.

“Where the absolutefuckhave you been?” she spat.

Chapter32

Juno

The force of their anger took me aback.

“What do you mean?”

I started a mental tally. Ever since Eloise’s death, and my confession to my monsters, and Porter disappearing into the Void…

Well, I felt like this place was warping me. I no longer had any sense of night or day, let alone what month it was.

I’d gone to sleep in Rask’s arms, woken up to be ravaged by the monsters… and had come right back.

It was still storming, though the storm clouds were now tinted in that same unnerving pink hue I’d seen upon walking in. For all I knew, it was the same day, except they didn’t seem to think so.

“You’ve been gone for three days!” Sierra snapped, pointing a finger in my face.

I blinked. “What? No, I haven’t.”

How long had I slept in Rask’s cavern? I knew I was worn down, but not tothatextent…

Wait. How long had we fucked? The monsters could warp space and mass… did that include time as well?

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