Page 46 of Monster's Pretty Bride

“I was wondering when you’d wake up.”

I don’t give them a chance to say anything else.

I move to kill.

21

ERYSS

The room explodes.

One second, Naranus is standing beside me, poised like a storm waiting to break. The next, he’s lunging forward, claws drawn, ready to tear the intruder apart.

No. The voice is too familiar, and their figures, despite being covered, are something I won’t forget. I need to confirm!

I throw myself between them, hands raised, screaming his name. “Stop!”

He’s mid-swing when my voice cuts through him.

His momentum halts, but barely. His claws graze my shoulder, the heat of his fury pulsing against my skin. His golden eyes burn, wild, flickering between me and the shadowed figure before us.

The figure moves.

Two figures. Two women.

The light shifts, and I see them clearly.

My chest clenches.

“Eryss?”

I barely hear the whispered name before I stumble forward.

Amelia and Catalina.

They’re my sisters.

Not by blood, but by bond. By the sisterhood forged in the cages of our youth, in the whispered rebellions beneath the moon, in the shared secrets and silent vows to never let the world break us apart.

They found me.

My pulse hammers in disbelief as Amelia steps forward, her dark curls half-wild, eyes scanning me from head to toe, looking for injuries, looking for proof that I’m still whole. Catalina, the quieter one, stands beside her, her gaze sharp, calculating.

“What—” My voice is raw, strangled. “What are you doing here?”

“We’ve been searching for you,” Amelia breathes, her hands gripping my arms. “You vanished from the stronghold. No word. No signs. Catalina’s been…” She hesitates, glancing at the woman beside her. “She’s been worried.”

I turn to Catalina, whose silver-blue eyes hold something unreadable. Unlike Amelia, she doesn’t rush to touch me.

She watches.

She always watches first.

Her voice comes, quiet but firm. “Do you need us?”

I freeze.

It’s a question loaded with meaning. Do I need them to help me finish what I started? To do what I haven’t been able to do myself?

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