Page 235 of Monsters in Love

“Let me down. I want to see.” I squirm from his tight grip on me.

Xakiras doesn’t immediately let me down; instead one of his hands comes up and holds my chin in place so I’m forced to give him eye contact. “Echo, do not stray too far from me. The Krel may be nearby; they enjoy the thrill of luring their prey into a false sense of security.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Xakiras. I’m going to be safe. I’m not a baby.” I narrow my eyes at him, hating the way he thinks he can just tell me what to do.

He gives me a smirk, jerking my chin forward until I’m in front of his face. The gust of his breath tickles my lips. “Kukali,do not tempt me in punishing that sweet body of yours for misbehaving. I have kept myself from touching you since we woke, but do not think I will not choke you while I fuck you senseless, just to prove who controls whom.”

My body tingles at the promise, and I swallow loud enough that I hear my throat bob. I force myself to only lick my lips and nod. “That sounds less like a punishment and more like fun to me.”

Xakiras smiles. “You may think that, but my stamina will outlast yours. How many times might I bring you to bliss before you beg me to stop?”

A throbbing in my core has my breath hitching. “Later, after we’ve looked around.”

“Mm…yes, later.”

Finally he sets me on my feet, and already I feel woozy and weak. I want so badly the “punishment” he promised me, but he’s right; I should stay close to him. The Krel were huge, much larger than Xakiras is, and he’s seven feet tall and full of muscle.

I think I recall them as being taller than that, and they have a thick exoskeleton that would be hard to shatter without a weapon. They also have strange spears with the same fire from the caves.

Was that the magick Xakiras mentioned?

As we move through the camp through the broken and ripped tents, I see blood everywhere on the ground. The bright green grass that glitters as I step is covered in it, but there are no bodies.

“Where are the bodies?” We have barely walked through the main stretch of camp, but there isn’t a solitary shred of evidence that anyone died here other than the blood on the ground.

I stop walking as Xakiras does. One of his hands reaches down to grab hold of mine. “Echo, they were consumed.”

My heart halts as I gasp. “No, they wouldn’t have done that.”

No, no, no.

Xakiras squeezes my hand, and it pulls me back to the moment as tears leak down my cheeks. I want to float away to a place far from here, but he’s there keeping me on the ground.

“Echo?” His voice is so tender and so full of grief for me, and he pulls me closer to his side. “I will keep you safe.”

My shoulders shake with sobs, and I turn around just to bury my head in his chest, knowing and trusting he’s telling the truth. He would keep me safe.

“Why, why would they do that?”

Xakiras grips me tightly, running his hands through my hair. “Both the Sagath and Krel are predators. They are unable to feel true remorse for their actions and are unintelligent, acting only on their urges.”

I sob harder, holding on to him like he is my lifeline in this world. I suppose he is, and for once the fears of what might come when I tell the Imperium what happened here settles like a weight in my chest.

Just how much should I actually share?

Echo sobs for a long while, held to my chest while I whisper pretty little lies that might make us both feel safer. I know there will be no peace when theKugitauriand caliphate know of the brutality here. We have been without war for so long, but things will only get worse now.

“Echo, we should continue searching the camp. Will you be alright?” I pet her hair, and she sniffles and nods.

“I’ll be okay. I need to find the comms unit.” Her voice is so strained and tight, and it hurts my heart to know her coming here might have been the best thing to happen to me, yet it is the worst to happen to her.

Her arms untwine from my waist, and she peels herself away from me, using the side of her arm to wipe the mucus from her nostrils. Echo’s face is red and splotchy, and yet there is a tiny fake smile she puts on her face just for me.

We move through the camp again, her hand tightly gripped in mine until we find a large tent that is falling on one side. It smells like decay, though I know the bodies have long since been disposed of.

“This is the one. I’m going to go inside. Will you follow me?” Echo looks at me, appearing so small, holding her arms around her chest, protecting her vital organs.

I grip her hand. “Of course I will. I will always take care of you, Echo; you are mine, remember?”

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