Page 81 of Enticing Monsters

He uses the pad of his middle finger to push his glasses back into place.

“No.” Cadmus’s lips firm as he looks in both directions. “Thunder.”

“Thunder?” Tristan and I exclaim simultaneously.

A tendril of fear manifests in my chest and coils around my heart.

At the same moment, the ground gives another deafening shake, and water explodes from it like a geyser. It’s the strangest thing to see—almost as if it’s rainingbackwards.Millions of water droplets rush up towards the sky in a steady stream.

In less than a second, I’m soaked to the bone. A shiver reverberates through me as the temperature drops about twenty degrees in a span of seconds.

“Hurry!” Cadmus bellows. “Before it begins to lightning too.”

Oh…

Oh fuck.

We don’t need any more convincing.

Tristan helps Kian stand at the same time I reach for Foster. Then, the four of us take off after Cadmus, the strange rain pelting my feet and thighs. It’spainful. Each slice of the water against my bare flesh resembles the swipe of a knife.

Cadmus halts abruptly, and I nearly run into his broad back. He holds his arm out, indicating for us to stop, just as a white light shoots through the ground in a zigzag shape, illuminating the forest. Dry leaves and fallen logs immediately burst into flames.

Fuck. Fuck.

Fuck!

“This way!” Cadmus steers us to the right, and we run as fast as we can.

Foster’s grip is brutal as he drags me after him, forcing my tiny legs to keep up. I’m suddenly grateful for the gymnastics classes my parents put me in when I was younger—their attempt to make me agile, nimble, and quick.

I’d be dead if it wasn’t for them.

A line of square buildings comes into view, each dwarfed by a mushroom-like roof. Cadmus pauses at the very first house and pulls open the door. We all spill inside in a tangle of limbs and curses.

I immediately focus on the floor, half expecting for the rain to shoot through the boards. Or for lightning to burn the house down, reducing it to nothing but ashes.

Cadmus follows the direction of my gaze and runs a hand through his dark hair, the wet strands kissing the angles of his face. “These houses are safe. All buildings in Faerie were designed to withstand these types of storms. The floors are imbued with very strong magic, as are the walls.”

I try to take comfort in his words, but my fear remains, regardless. The rain sounds like a million drums pounding against the walls and roof of the building. How can such a dilapidated building hold out against a storm likethat?

As the basilisk shifter moves towards a fireplace—fortunately surrounded by old logs—I take a moment to study my surroundings.

The house is tinier than the one I entered with Xander. There appears to be a kitchen that bleeds into a living room, both of them constructed entirely out of wood. Wood walls. Wood ceiling. Wood furniture. There are two doors against the far wall, and I suspect one leads to a bathroom and the other a bedroom.

With a skilled expertise that suggests this isn’t his first rodeo, Cadmus stokes a fire to life. Heat instantly engulfs the room, and I feel some of the muscles in my shoulders loosening. I didn’t realize how cold I’ve become until face-to-face with blessed fire.

The strange fae doesn’t turn his attention away from the flickering flames as he addresses us, his voice sibilant and soft. “You guys should check the bedroom for any clothes left behind. Get dry. These storms usually last a few hours, so we’ll have time to decompress and unwind.”

His yellow eyes slide to me, and my breath hitches.

I can't help but remember his earlier words to me.

The same words I’ve been trying to forget.

“You, Serafina, are the next ruler of Faerie, and you may just be the one who can save us all.”

That’s fucking insanity. I don’t know the first thing about this world or ruling it. This isn’t like some silly fantasy book where the inexperienced, naïve girl suddenly becomes the supreme ruler over an entire species overnight.

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