Page 133 of Monsters in Love

“Sure…just remember.”

“Reply to the messages. Got it,” I replied, and climbed carefully out.

I wasn’t sure there was a term in the dictionary for ‘worse than death’. But if there was, then it’d perfectly describe me. Lia leaned across, peering at me as I closed the door and smiled at her. I slowly walked to the door, fumbling with my key before I shoved it into the lock, opened the door, and stumbled inside.

I headed for the bedroom, dropping my things on the counter as I passed. I just wanted to sleep…

Yeah, sleep was what I needed.

I kicked off my shoes as the bed rumbled and shook. Sirens filtered faintly to my ears as I let myself fall, hitting the mattress hard, and lay there…

I was dying.

The thought hit me hard.

This is what death felt like.

My body shivered…my pulse was like a flutter in my neck.

I knew I was in trouble…knew lying there that I was probably not going to see morning. Not another sunset. Not another night. Something warm and slick slipped from the corner of my eye as the bed shook again.

Get up…

A voice inside my head commanded.

Get up, my plaything…

I cracked open my eyes and pushed upward on shaking arms. The sheets, already sodden from my sweat, stuck to my skin. Still, I had to move. That undeniable command pounded through my head, forcing me from the bedroom. I stumbled to the living room and the glass wall that looked out to the city. There, I lifted my gaze to the skyline.

Shadows descended like a tsunami against the towering glass buildings surrounding my small house. The floor trembled and the walls shook as I stared at what had to be the aftershocks of the tremor. The sound of breaking glass sounded like a roar. I couldn’t move as an unseen wave of darkness slammed into the buildings, descending on me like death itself.

I stumbled backwards as daytime turned to night. That roar…grew louder until it was all I could hear. I wrenched my arm upwards, protecting my face as that darkness slammed into my house with aboom, shattering the glass in front of me.

Night plunged into my world.

Night stopped in front of me.

Five hulking, savage wolves stopped dead in my living room, leaving nothing but utter destruction in their wake. The wind blasted through what they'd left of my living room wall, swirling my hair. Sirens blasted like a needle inside my head. I winced as parts of the towering buildings fell in the distance. The sound was like the wake of a nuclear impact. An impact that stood in front of me with glowing eyes. Shards of glass fell from thick, midnight fur as the creatures sucked in massive breaths. I lifted my gaze, shaking as a wave of icy shudders ripped through me.

One beast took a slow step closer. The sheer size of him seemed to grow, swallowing my living room in a murky midnight blur.

Fear tore through me as I trembled, holding my hands pathetically in front of me. “D-don’t k-kill m-me…”

“You…” the beast growled, his voice husky and raw.

Heat ripped through me like a blade, carving through the shudders as he took a step closer, then rose on his hind legs. I trembled in his presence, staggering backwards until I hit the kitchen counter. TheWolfstrode forward, black nostrils flaring with every breath as he scented the air.

And me.

He lashed out, grabbing me around my neck. Calloused fingers grazed my skin, rough and worn, ending in razor-sharp claws that pressed gently against the back of my neck. This monster could kill me in an instant and not even flinch.

“You’re already sick,” he murmured, red flames burning in his eyes.

He lowered his head. The brush of his thick fur felt coarse against my skin before the long, wet slide of his tongue followed. I shivered in the wake of that thick muscle sliding along my throat, and my pulse skipped a beat…then raced erratically to catch up.

A growl reverberated like thunder in the back of his throat. “We found you.” He closed his eyes. “Just in time, then.” He pulled away, opening those pitiless eyes that looked like the pits of Hell. “You…belong with us.”

In the wake of his words, my phone on the counter let out abeep.I didn’t need to look at the screen to know who it was. In the back of my mind, I replayed my fear…I wouldn’t see another sunset…or my best friend, ever again.

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