Page 21 of Monster Mistake

She knew they needed to have more conversations, too. They had so many logistics to figure out. She could assume they were going to live in his cottage because her place sucked in comparison, but it wasn’t a sure thing. Should she take his last name? Hell, did he evenhavea last name? That was something they’d never discussed. What about kids? Did he want kids? She wasn’t even sure ifshewanted kids.

These were all things they needed to talk about. Being in love was great, but it wasn’t always enough to keep a couple together. Her parents were proof of that.

But all these things could wait. They especially weren’t worth waking him up for. Poor guy needed his rest after a hard (and she did meanhard) night’s work.

The only thing that truly mattered now was that she knew what they had together was worth saving. And one of the biggest things she had in common with Khill? Tenacity. Now that they had each other, neither one of them would be letting go without abigfight.

Thoughts of how their last fight had ended made her consider crawling back into bed with him.

But alas, the clinic awaited. And Van Gogh was due for his antibiotic. She’d just sneak over there, take care of the animals, and might even be able to get back into bed before Khill woke up. It was a solid plan.

Too bad her plans always seemed to have a way of falling tofuck.

Because she’d no sooner finished at the clinic and set foot outside before an unyielding hand clamped a sweet-smelling rag over her mouth and nose and she found herself yanked back against an even more unyielding body.

“I tried to tell you it was fate,” her much larger attacker hissed in her ear. “You wouldn’t listen. But you willnow.”

Justine realized a couple of things simultaneously at that point. First of all, the sweet-smelling rag was most likely coated with chloroform, which was why she was getting so, so tired all of a sudden. Secondly, if she survived this, she was definitely going to have to think up an alibi for Khill, because he was going to destroy this asshole when he found her.

Finally—and this onereallychapped her ass—she owed her ex an apology. She’d assumed he’d been the freak who’d been sending her flowers and weird music snippets about fate. But she’d been wrong.

Because while she didn’t recognize this guy’s voice, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it wasn’t Jake.

Just. Fucking. Great.

Which was her last thought before she slipped into the darkness.

CHAPTER 14

Waking up alone suckedass.

Which was a weird feeling for Khill, because he’d been waking up alone for thirty-eight years and had never really thought much about it. But now that he’d gone to sleep with Justine at his side (OK, more like on top of him), waking up without her was like a blast of arctic air blowing across his heart.

For the amount of time it took him to get out of bed, brush his teeth, and pull on pants and yesterday’s T-shirt, Khill told himself that Justine leaving without waking him up to say goodbye didn’t mean anything. Hell, married people went out all the time without telling their partner where they were going…right?

Well, there was one way to find out for sure.

Khill grabbed his phone and dialed his married friend, Riordan. He supposed “friend” might be a strong word. More like a semi-friendly acquaintance who also managed his investments. But that wasn’t the point.

Riordan was a giant, red-skinned, horned demon from a dimension worse than any Khill had ever seen. He came tothisdimension looking for a mate and found one in Roxie—a woman who was only slightly less terrifying than her husband. Of course, their path to happiness wasn’t smooth. It involved kidnapping, arson, and the murder of Khill’s cousin (long story…and the cousin was a total asshole who deserved what he got. He wasnotmissed). But Khill had helped Riordan track Roxie down when she was in danger (because demons apparently had shit tracking skills), and they’d been friends-adjacent ever since.

He didn’t even wait for Riordan to offer a greeting before he blurted, “Does Roxie ever leave the house without saying goodbye?”

There was a loaded pause on Riordan’s end of the line before he said, “I realize we’re both monsters and not from this dimension, but I believe the customary greeting here ishello.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. “I don’t have time for customary greetings, you dick. I need to know if human women regularly leave the house without telling their monster husbands goodbye.”

Another pause. “I am, of course, dying to know where this conversation is going, so I’ll humor you. No, Khill, my wife doesn’t usually leave without saying goodbye. Unless I’m asleep, or something.”

Ah ha! Hehadbeen asleep. See, there was a perfectly good?—

“In which case she leaves me a note,” Riordan went on.

Khill glanced around frantically. Fuck! There was no note. “Why the fuck did she leave without saying anything?”

He hadn’t really been expecting an answer from Riordan for that one. He’d mostly just been thinking out loud. But Riordan must not have realized that, because he said, “And somehow I have the feeling this isn’t really about me and Roxie. Want to give me a clue about what’s going on? I haven’t talked to you in a while.”

Khill blurted out the entire story without taking so much as a breath. Vegas, the drinking, the wedding, the aborted annulment…he spilled it all. He only spared Riordan details of the previous night. Those belonged to him and Justine alone.

---