Page 214 of Monsters in Love

It was all taking too long.

I’d given my notice. I’d tried to continue with the daily grind, returning to work only to leave immediately. No one else was home yet anyway, and the skeleton crew in the office had everything under control. I could not handle it. My skin practically itched to leave this place, and it felt like every moment I was away from Kavi and The Nest, I was losing something. Even if I couldn’t put my finger on what, exactly.

It had only been three days and I didn’t think I could wait any longer. In fact, I was packing my main bag when a jolt shot through me. My heart literally ached, and I clutched my chest, trying to take deep breaths and failing miserably.

My arm and shoulder didn’t hurt. I wasn’t having any other heart attack symptoms, and I was hopefully far too young and healthy for that anyway. So what the hell was going on with me?

My heart felt like it was throbbing instead of beating, but I managed to slow my breathing enough to think.

But it wasn’t thinking that I needed to do right now. It was feeling, and Ifeltlike there was something wrong with Kavi. The lethargy that had been weighing me down with each day I was away from him vanished, and I finished throwing items in my bag, zipped it closed and grabbed my keys.

I had to go.Now.

There was no time to waste. I wouldn’t call Nico and wait for someone to pick me up. The urgency was overwhelming as I threw my bag into the back seat of my car and slid behind the wheel, punching The Nest into my map app and leaving the directions up to my phone, which right now was much more capable of rational thought than I was.

I raced out of town and down the highway, and it struck me that I had no regrets right now. Kavi needed me; I knew it. And that was all that mattered. He was all that mattered. I had to work hard to keep to the speed limit or as close as possible. Being pulled over would only delay me and I didn’t think I could cope with that right now.

By the time I finally arrived, that ache in my chest was all I could feel, and the voice of the map woman was driving me absolutely nuts. I pulled into the long driveway for The Nest and followed it to the main retreat, then kept going past the sign that said, ‘Private. Do not enter.’ I didn't want to see any of my co-workers, didn’t want to see anyone but Nico and for him to give me the antidote and let me back into the labyrinth.

I needed Kavi.

Kavi needed me.

Blood whooshing in my ears, I got out of the car and didn’t even bother to shut the door. I ran across the lawn and pounded on the main door.

It took a minute, but then a red headed woman opened the door and looked at me curiously.

“Wait. Tamara?” Her brow creased in confusion. “How did you get here?” She looked out the door and spotted my car. “Are you okay?”

“Kavi. I need to see him.”

“I-”

I didn’t wait, just pushed inside the house and heard her close the door behind me.

“Can you let me in? I can feel… something. I just-” My hand went to my chest again, the ache worse, the lethargy creeping back into my body now that I was here. I scanned the room, trying to find something that I recognised, some way down. “I need the antidote. Now.” I spun to look at the woman, who appeared quite concerned about the state of me.

“Sure, yeah. Come on.” She shook her head and focused on what I’d asked, leading me through to another room and then opening a small drawer that contained a bunch of vials like the one Nico had made me take. She selected one with a red liquid inside, and I wasted no time snapping off the lid and downing it. The small burn that traced my throat all the way to my belly felt like an assurance that things would be okay.

“Now, let me into the labyrinth,” I said, tossing the vial into a waste bin.

“Are you sure you want that?” The woman planted her hands on her waist, and raised an eyebrow.

“Look, I assume you’re Nico’s human lover. Well, I’m Kavi’s. This is what I want.Heis what I want. Now open the damn door.”

She quickly moved to another door, and when I followed, I could see that this was the place Nico had brought me to. The double doors were there, waiting. I rushed across the room and tried the handle, but it was locked.

“Hold on,” the woman said, grabbing some keys and inserting the right one into the door. As soon as she slid it open, I was through and rushing for the stairs. Whatever words she might have spoken lost to me as I plunged into the gloom of the labyrinth.

The air was immediately cooler here, closer. But it wasn’t claustrophobic for me now. It felt like home.

It struck me then that I actually had no idea how to make my way back to him. I’d been lost in the labyrinth when we met. He’d carried me back to his rooms; I’d been too focused on his arms holding me against his muscled chest to notice which turns we were making.

I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, “Kavi!” and then waited.

Nothing but the sound of my own voice echoed back to me.

“Kavi!” I set off down the hallway, feeling like this was familiar enough, but then a sharp jolt tore through my chest, and Iknewit wasn’t the right direction. I spun and ran back the other way, trusting my instincts, that tug in my body that told me when I was right or wrong until I finally laid eyes on the door to his chambers.

---