Page 73 of Enticing Monsters

“Nerd,” Kian fake-coughs from beside him, and I swear the tips of Tristan’s ears tint pink.

“Comic book?” Cadmus appears even more confused.

“When were you last on Earth?” I query, wanting to ask him about the television I thought I saw but biting my tongue.

Not important.

Cadmus doesn’t even hesitate before he answers with a curt, “Never.” At my look of disbelief, he elaborates. “None of us have ever been to Earth before. Maybe some of the elders have, but…” He absently scratches at his jawline, where the beginning of a beard resides. “We haven’t traveled through a portal in over one hundred years. Most of the time, people come and visit us.”

People? Like…my adoptive parents?

The queen?

V?

The latter wouldn’t surprise me in the least. My psychotic prince seems awfully comfortable in this world. At least until…

My throat closes.

V, hang in there. I’ll be home soon.

“So what happened, exactly?” Foster interjects, steering the conversation back in the right direction. “With the virus, I mean.”

“I wasn’t around when it all began.” Cadmus blows out a breath and finally steps away from the table. He crosses the room and perches on the edge of his cot, staring blankly at his outstretched hands. Even his fingernails are slightly sharper than normal, appearing almost like talons. “Fae may live longer than humans, but we’re not immortal.

“My great-grandma told me about life here, though. She described it as an ethereal paradise I can’t even begin to imagine. Not now.

“We were ruled by a gracious king.” He pauses then, as if trying to remember something, before snapping his fingers together. “King Loren. My gram said he was beloved by all of his people.” He rolls his eyes. “It makes you wonder if he was truly as great a ruler as the elders would want you to believe. After all, it was under his reign that the world fucking ended. But back then, our leaders weren’t chosen based on their bloodlines. It wasn’t hereditary. It was believed that the gods and goddesses themselves chose the ruler when he or she was just a baby. That baby would train under the current ruler until he or she came of age.”

“How would they know who the ruler was?” Foster pipes up, frowning.

“There were signs.” Cadmus waves away Foster’s question with a flippant flick of his wrist. “Anyway, Loren was the current ruler when the world went to shit. He and his wives?—”

“Wives?” This time, it’s Kian who interrupts, disbelief lacing his tone.

I’m surprised. Polyamory may not be accepted in the human world, but it’s basicallyexpectedin the fae one. Wolves—if they don’t find their fated mates—remain together as one big pack-slash-orgy. Succubi and incubi are known to have a handful of committed lovers. Hell, even unicorns take multiple romantic partners.

Cadmus’s eyes flick his way before lowering back to his hand. “Yes. The rulers were known to have large harems of lovers and mates, mainly to have a balance in power. They usually ruled the land as a team, hence the need for multiple voices and opinions.”

Something about his statement strikes me as odd, yet I can’t put my finger on why that is. Instead, I lean forward, eagerly awaiting the rest of his story.

“Legend has it that one of Loren’s wives—who often goes by a different name in history books—became jealous. Bitter. Cruel. She didn’t like the attention he was bestowing on his other mates and sought to rectify that…no matter the consequences.” He bites down on his lower lip, frowning. “I don’t know if this is just a rumor or if it’s the truth, but they say that she went crazy and murdered all of the other wives.”

I suck in a sharp breath as pain slashes at my chest.

The thought of something happening to my mates…

No. I can’t even think about it.

How could someone do that? Even V, the most possessive and psychotic asshole I know, would never think of harming my other guys. He cares for them as brothers—even if he won’t ever admit it—and he loves me enough not to do anything that would hurt me.

Bile tears at my throat with acid-tipped fingers, but I swallow it down.

Tristan has gone very pale beside me. “What happened then?”

Cadmus shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head simultaneously. “Here is where the records vary, depending on who you speak to or what you read. Some claim that Loren went insane and spent the rest of his days hiding in his castle. Others say he became her puppet, willingly following her around like a besotted pup…at least until his final days. Nobody knows for sure, but what we do know is that Queen Leah rose to power swiftly and brutally, killing anyone who dared to oppose her.”

Killing anyone…?

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