Page 81 of Beauty's Monstrous Demons

Most scholarship students receive an allowance of sorts for the odds and ends of their life so they don’t have to worry about money.

“Well, why not?” I ask, annoyed. My feelings are giving me whiplash and my stomach cramps as I think about Lorelei’s busy life.

I knew she was leaving campus a few nights a week and returned home late. I just was unsure as to why.

“It wasn’t in the budget,” Phenex says. “You feel compelled to be around Lorelei, is that right?”

“Yes, it’s fucking obnoxious,” I admit. “I’ve been stealing articles of her clothing, and now that she’s moved out, I can’t do that anymore.”

"You've been… Fuck, Bast,” he says. “Maybe she doesn’t need you as a mate. Samael should just snap your neck and call it a day.”

“It’s much harder to do that than you’d think,” I say immediately. Maybe I am a psychopath with flair.

Huh, who would have thought?

“Yes, you do have a rather thick neck,” Phenex mutters. “How is your history knowledge?”

“I’m not someone who likes to live in the past,” I say. “Music, theater, and its culture is where I spent most of my efforts.”

“That’s understandable, but even you can’t be so dense as to not remember omegas,” he says, his voice barely audible.

There’s a monster fighting with his girlfriend, as we walk past, and I almost miss his words.

Focusing for a moment on the couple, I yell, “Take it somewhere else! I don’t fucking care what your issue is, the school doesn’t need to know what a jealous fucker you are.”

The reptile shifter’s skin turns several colors before he stalks away. The girl is in tears as she goes the opposite direction and I growl under my breath. I hope she refuses to take him back. Asshole.

“What was that?” Phenex asks as I give him my attention again.

“Nothing, it pisses me off when people air out their bullshit,” I explain. “To answer your question, yes I remember them.”

If he’s practically whispering the word “omegas” then I’m not repeating it.

“One of the ways that monsters know their mate is through their scent,” he explains. “They become completely attached and obsessed. The issue is that since Lorelei is the last of this group of people, she’s addicting to those who aren’t her mate as well. The difference is the connection the monster feels.”

“I called her a witch,” I grunt. “I would rather blame magic on this than have her be that.”

There’s only so many ways that we can dance around this. He’s leading me to the history building, which probably will make our conversation a whole lot less cagey if there are less ears around us.

“She’s not a witch, but Lorelei does need to be protected,” Phenex says. “Making her aroused in a theater full of monsters is not the best way to do that. She came home with shredded panties.”

“Is that why she was wearing three pairs of them?” I mutter. “Look, this sounds like overkill, but she just told me that she’s almost had monsters force themselves on her.”

“Groups of monsters,” he corrects. “If this is your version of flirting, it kind of sucks.”

Snorting, I shake my head in derision.

“This can’t be a real thing. They’re all dead,” I hiss. “I have shit to do.”

Shifting direction, I walk away from Phenex, ignoring him even as he shouts my name. This can’t be real.

It simply can’t.

Two weeks later

LORELEI

Looking down at my dress as I put it on, I grin at how perfect it is. I haven’t even had a chance to try the dress on, but I should have known that Phenex would somehow get my size right.

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