Page 53 of Becoming Monsterous

Angus fills it in for me just as I start to realize. "If I die, he'll get them through his conduit."

And I know just who his conduit is.

Aaron. My cheating long distance ex-boyfriend who tried to sacrifice me on an altar so he could summon Aphrodite.

He got Medusa's spirit and my triumvirate instead, but unfortunately they weren't able to splash his guts on the walls.

That's going to be my job now.

Delicately bending down, I sweep my clothes up off the ground and pull them on. A plan forms in my mind, slow and steady.

"Being the goddess of love involves more power than I realized," I muse aloud, searching my internal inventory for what I know now. "I can sway others to my will, sure, and I can see love. But I can also see visions of my loved ones... or those I loved in the past."

It doesn't take long for Morpheus to catch up. "You can see Aaron."

"Yes." I wince a little. "As much as I hate to admit it, I loved him once. In a puppy dog kind of way, but it was love."

Turning to Aleron, I ask him, "Do you think you can bring me to wherever he is?"

"Only if we plan on gutting him."

"I have a better idea," I tell Aleron, reaching up to pet the head of one of my snakes. "Why make it easy and fast for him, after all?"

He tortured me.

Payback is only fair.

Chapter35

Ellie

Ididn't realize that doing the bidding of some piece of shit summoner with a homicidal wish didn't come with any benefits.

You'd think that Aaron would've gottensomesort of payoff in exchange for selling his soul. But as I step through the garbage-filled, roast-infested, foul-smelling living room of his one-bedroom apartment, I find absolutely nothing appealing about the life he's started to live now.

"Your ex is a pig," Aleron comments as he kicks aside an empty pizza box, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "I'm shocked you ever didanythingsexual with him. His personal hygiene can't be very good if this is how he lives."

I sigh at that. "I was a teenage girl—technically,I still am, even though my mind holds the memories of two immortal women now. I put up with a lot of things from Aaron that I shouldn't have."

At my words, the pile of trash on the sofa moves.

Jumping in alarm, I grab for the dagger at my hip—a girl Aleron insisted we pick up before we came here—and pivot to face the trash. My snakes rise up in alarm and hiss. Beside me, Aleron growls, his fingers extending into black claws.

The pile of trash falls off the sofa, and underneath it is the cutest boy from Hagerstown High School.

Aaron Sanders has dusty blond hair and dashing good lucks. A strong jaw, blue eyes, a perfect smile with a dimple on one side, and a body built by years of sports and swimming.

ExceptthisAaron Sanders isn't what I remember. He has a sparse five o'clock shadow that would make a terrible beard. His hair is greasy and grown out, curling against his dirty collar and falling in front of his ears. There are dark spots under his eyes, and pimples dotting his cheeks and neck, like he hasn't washed himself properly in months.

I would never have kissed this boy, much less let him push my head down towards his crotch.Especiallyafter gym practice and before his shower—something that I'm realizing now wasn't an anomaly but a sign of how disgusting he was under all the fake niceness and bullshit charm.

"Ellie." His blue eyes widen comically. "Is that really you? Jesus, you look—holy fuckshitshitshitplease don't kill me!"

This last part is directed towards Aleron, who glowers at him and hisses like a feral cat.

Feeling a little bold, I let my snakes out.

And Aaron practically shrinks into his dirty ass sofa.

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