Page 31 of An Inheritance of Monsters

I pulled out my phone next, showing them the path, along with the snapshots of the idol, the hills… and the ghost.

In several of the pictures, there was a distinctly blurry white smudge. I internally cheered—one point for Juno on Haunted Island—and Crispy murmured his approval, flipping through the burst of photos.

Neither Eloise nor Sierra would be allowed to ruin my day, or the single month that I had left on this seabound rock.

I was absolutely damnsure of that as I threw myself into work.

Chapter9

Zirin

The woman on the other side of the water was angry, scrubbing her hands through her hair and swearing under her breath as she showered.

I’d waited for what felt like eons for this, for Juno to come back to the water. I had seen her from the sink, from a pond on the other island, from the sea—but there had always been someone with her.

One of them was the human woman whose aura felt like rot and decay. I avoided that one’s drains, and couldn’t dare to take Juno into the sea while she was near her.

But Juno had finally been left alone, and now she was in the water.

Back inmyelement.

Droplets scattered into the Void, splashing into the sea around me. The soft currents around my tentacles tasted of her as the water slipped through the cracks in the world, from the black door floating above the sea.

It was simple to reach through, following the flow of the water.

My form breached the other world, sliding over slick porcelain, tentacles searching across hard surfaces for…

There. The smooth warmth of skin.

Her muttered outpouring of anger stopped, cut short with a soft gasp of, “Oh.”

I looked up at her, the portal fully open. My tentacles slid up her legs, getting a firm grip as I held out a hand.

Come with me. I sent the words pulsing straight into her mind.

Juno’s hair was plastered to her face, her gray eyes wide as she looked into the darkness now roiling around her feet, sucking her in inch by inch.

She bit her lip, but finally reached out and took my hand.

I pulled her down, straight into the Sea of the Void.

The portal snapped shut as we sank beneath the surface, thick spumes of bubbles swirling around us.

“Zirin!” she tried to say, and nothing but a large air bubble popped out of her mouth. I read her lips, drawing on everything I’d learned from my time watching humans from drain pipes, showers, bathroom sinks, ponds…

I’d spent much time watching humans. Actually getting to talk to one was a rare novelty.

But she would drown if I wasn’t careful to watch over every aspect of her fragile mortal body.

One of my tentacles slid to the surface, scooping a new bubble of air and bringing it beneath to feed to her.

Juno allowed me to do it, her hands on the tentacle I’d wrapped around her waist. Her soft fingers tickled my sensitive appendages, sending little shocks through me.

I wondered if I tickled her. Sending out several smaller tentacles, I drew her closer, letting them trail over her throat and shoulders.

She wriggled in my grasp, trying to wave one away, but the viscous liquid of the Sea of the Void made her movements slow.

But there was a smile on her face, her colors showing brightly, although she didn’t have photophores in her skin like I did.

---