Page 102 of Starry with a Chance of Nightshade

Her green eyes widened. “Stratton?”

There was so much he wanted to say. So much he wanted to ask, but all of that faded away as he acted from his gut, grabbing her and kissing her. The need to assure himself she was okay was too great to resist. He broke the kiss quickly and turned, kicking another monster far from them.

This one landed on the ground, and Austin was there speedily with a lighter in hand. He flipped it open and bent, lighting the monster’s clothing on fire. The creature ignited rapidly, as if it was made of fuel, not random body parts.

Austin backed away fast and spun, dodging a blow from another. He laughed and punched it in the face. “Nice try, asshat!”

“Get down!” shouted Astria from behind Stratton.

He listened and ducked as she swiped the staff above his head, connecting with a monster that was to his left.

Astria then ran and jumped right over Stratton, clearing his entire height with ease before landing on her feet and ramming the staff through the monster’s head.

Marcy clapped from the sidelines. “Good show! I love your technique, Astria! Right through the eye. Impressive!”

Astria mumbled a “thank you,” followed by something that sounded a lot like “batshit crazy” before turning and whistling. “Torid, we have a runner!”

The dog took off after a monster that was booking it in the other direction, running faster than Stratton had ever seen one move. The dog jumped on it from behind, taking it down much like he’d done to Stratton moments before. But, unlike with Stratton, the dog then proceeded to tear the monster apart and eat it.

With a shake of his head, Stratton focused on Astria and the monster that was coming at her from behind. He charged, took hold of it, and body slammed the thing before pummeling it in the head and face.

There was a flash of light above him, and he found himself being hit from the side. He was knocked off the monster a second before lightning struck. He was left on his back with Astria on him, worry in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her lips close to his.

He couldn’t seem to stop himself as he went for her mouth, wanting to feel her lips on his.

She put her finger to his mouth. “Hold that thought.”

The damn woman was up and off him in the blink of an eye before slamming into a creature and knocking it toward the burning mass of them.

Stratton came up hastily, snaking an arm around her, keeping her from falling into the fire as well.

The monster wasn’t so lucky.

He whipped Astria around to face him. He touched her shoulders. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she said. “Are you?”

He tried to kiss her again.

Elis eased up next to him. “Not to interrupt your attempts at turning this into a make-out session, but we should probably take this party elsewhere. The rest of the monsters scattered. I’ll call Bram and get everyone searching for them.”

Stratton glanced around, realizing the remaining monsters were all either totally burned away or nearly done. He gasped. “No. Leave one!”

“Dude, that ship has done sailed,” said Austin as he put his lighter in his front pocket. “They’re overcooked.”

Stratton closed his eyes, knowing he’d have to face Drest and tell him that he’d failed. That he’d not captured one for interrogation.

“That was so fun to watch,” said Marcy, walking over to one of the piles of dead burning monsters. She bent and carefully pulled a hand out of the mix. She then whistled for Torid, who ran right for her. “Who is a good boy? That’s right. You are. And you get a treat. Fetch.”

“No,” said Austin. “She wouldn’t dare feed that to the—”

Marcy tossed the hand, and the dog ran for it, catching it and eating it in a few short bites.

“Aww, come on. She did it!” Austin touched his stomach, the color leeching from his face. “Nasty.”

Marcy bent and began pulling other small parts from off the monsters.

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