Page 33 of An Inheritance of Monsters

“The Void,” she said, her voice breaking. “Is this real? I can accept monsters inmyworld, but this… this is something else.”

I didn’t understand.

I was real; the Elder Ones were real. Those of us who had not yet ascended to the Beyond all knew this world was here.

It is real. I extended a hand, resting it on hers.I am real. You are not dreaming when you see us.

She flexed her fingers around mine, examining the webbing between my fingers. If not for the translucent webs and my claws, our hands would look much alike.

I tugged her, pulling her back into the water where I could hold her closer.

Juno knelt next to me, still gripping my hand. Peachy strands of hair stuck to her shoulders, glimmering with bioluminescence.

She was still clearly broadcasting her desire. Maybe I was taking too long to reciprocate, and she was too shy to go any further.

I let the blues and greens of my photophores pulse out of existence and the pink emerged, shaded with scarlet at the edges.

Juno leaned in closer, watching the colors shift. Her hand rested on my chest, and I leaned back against the grotto’s edge, my tentacles wrapping around her.

She resisted for a moment, and I thought this was it. I had finally frightened her away, like most of the humans who came near the house.

All it took was a brief glimpse of a Void denizen, and they could never look directly at dark corners again.

But Juno relaxed, curling against me, low enough in the water that her brilliant display of hair floated around her. “So this is your home, then. Do you ever come to the manor? Like Rask and Voraal?”

I touched her hand, fascinated by the blue veins in her wrist.Sometimes. But humans are nervous little creatures.

She made a face I wanted to mimic, but it was… not quite possible. While we were similar in many ways, my face could not quite create those same expressions.

I let a pulse of yellow flicker through my rings, showing her my amusement.

She watched them with fascination. “Yes, many of them are. Does my bathtub drop into the same place every time?”

I nodded, letting her reach up to touch my head. The rings began to glow a deeper pink as she delicately caressed my skin.

Many of the doorways are linked, I explained, shivering as her fingers trailed over a tentacle.But some are unpredictable.

“Interesting,” she murmured. “And… how did you know where I was? How did you find me?”

The answer seemed obvious to me.

She had stepped foot on Duskwood Island, and for a moment, the swirling sky above had paused. The Void had sensed her, and every Elder creature who had felt it was drawn to the bright spark of light she emitted.

Of course I had found her. Her call had drifted through the Sea like a song, every drop she touched containing her essence.

You called for me. I watched her face as she frowned, making another expression I couldn’t imitate.I heard your name and answered.

The way her full lips turned down was fascinating. I supposed my mouth was similar, but beneath the tentacles I used for hunting and feeding, she would not be able to see it.

“On the spirit box,” she breathed. The luminescence of the cavern reflected in her eyes as she stared at me. “So when I call… it comes here, to the Void. Does everyone’s voice come through?”

There was a hint of apprehension in her voice.

No, I only heard you. A pulse of anxious green came through my photophores.Does that displease you?

Juno thought, nibbling her lower lip. A tremor of heat went through me at the sight, my breeding tentacles already stiffening.

It was getting harder and harder to ignore that she’d been bathing, and had come through the door naked.

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