Page 35 of Held By a Monster

I was a little shocked too. River was a woman. I’m not sure why I thought these supernaturals would be cave dweller alpha misogynists, but I had. She was gorgeous, but clearly capable of holding her own. One look and I knew she was a badass. I instantly wanted to be her when I grew up.

She gave me a wink when she caught me staring and I damn near swooned.

She walked right over to our end of the table and sat down next to Kragen. “Wow, you guys really are impressive.” She leaned around him and stuck her hand out to me. “River. I’m a black bear shifter and I try to keep these guys civil, but it’s not easy.”

I reached to shake her hand and heard one of the others mumble.

“Did he just say you like popping eyeballs?”

She shrugged. “Never said I liked it, and Wasp isn’t one to talk since he’s a serious firebug with an explosions fetish.”

“What?” My eyes darted around the room, trying to remember which one was Wasp.

Kragen interrupted my musings when he leaned forward. “It’s good both full teams are here.” He tapped a claw against the table and winced at the small divot he left behind. “We find we need more assistance than originally anticipated. They kept us largely ignorant of the outside world during our captivity, and we are struggling to navigate it. We’d also like to know more about Society to help us integrate, if possible.”

One of the new men sat in the middle of the table and pulled out a laptop. Almost as tall as a wyrfang, he was lean, but clearly strong. A tattoo of thick swirling lines snaked up his arm and disappeared beneath the hem of his shirt sleeve.

His eyes seemed haunted, his movements slow and graceful. All except for his fingers, which were flying over the keys of the laptop.

“Zeus tasked me with finding BioSynth. They’re good at hiding their tracks,” he looked up with a grin, “but I’m better. I’ll find them.”

“In the meantime…” Zeus turned to the door and waved yet another person into the room. “I’d like to introduce you to Amelie Dumont.”

A tiny woman walked in, followed by a chicken almost half her size. Her jaw dropped and she came to an abrupt halt.

The chicken ran into her legs, hopped back, and squawked “Fuck!” loud enough for everyone in the room to wince.

Amelie spun around and shook her finger at the bird. “I’ve told you not to follow so close. Serves you right.” As she turned back to face the room, the chicken snaked its head back and forth and snapped its beak, clearly imitating her. “I saw that. Behave or I’m plucking out all your feathers.”

Snickers erupted around the room when the chicken gasped.

Amelie directed a serene smile at us, clearly done arguing with poultry. “Please, call me Bacon. Everyone else does. My irritating companion is Meanosaurus.”

“Your ancestors were paupers, while I am descended from great beasts!”

“You are a long way from the dinosaurs, Meanosaurus.”

The chicken snorted but fell silent.

I surveyed the beasts around me and they all had identical confused expressions. I imagine the scene that just played out made as much sense to them as it did to me. Unless they had talking chickens in the lab. I was about to ask when Zeus took my attention.

“I asked Amelie to come because she’s closely related to a council historian, and well suited to answer your questions about Society.”

“Hold on to your butts.” She threw her long, straight hair over her shoulder and tugged on a strap which brought a cross body bag around her hip. Her entire arm, up to the shoulder, disappeared inside the bag. It wasn’t deep enough to hold her entire arm, but I’d just seen a chicken talk, so at this point I figured anything was possible.

Her arm reemerged with a stack of six binders in various colors balanced perfectly on her palm. She set the edge of the lowest one on the table and pushed them. They separated, spun in circles, and then slid down the table to rest in a neat line in front of us.

Drym leaned into my ear and whispered, “Why does she want us to hold our butts?”

“She’s quoting a movie. It just means to get prepared.”

His cold nose trailed up my neck, and I shivered.

“Well, that’s not fair.” River crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I’ve been looking for my mate for years and these guys haven’t been out of the lab for what? A month? And one of them’s already found theirs.”

She winked at me to let me know she was teasing, but I saw the envy in her eyes.

Bacon cleared her throat and sat on the tabletop, crossing her legs and leaning on one hand. “What you have in front of you is a primer of sorts. Most of Society history is verbal—handed down through the generations via stories. For obvious reasons, our predecessors didn’t like leaving a paper trail. I’ve been slowly compiling a database of sorts, and I’ve hit the highlights for you. Each of the six binders covers a different species group. I expect you’ll have questions once you’ve read them. My email is listed in the front of each one.

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