Page 18 of Monsters of Midlife

“Holy fuck.” I stumbled to my feet, difficult to keep my balance on the wobbly floor. I fell into the couch before I righted myself. Gripping the couch, I managed to move across the room.

“Get out!” I couldn’t tell who or what was shouting at me; it could’ve been a voice in my own head, but I knew it was right. I needed to leave the house immediately. The way the ceiling was wobbling, it was going to go at any second. I glanced into the kitchen, considering making a move toward the table, but just then, the ceiling beam fell, crushing the table beneath it.

“Holy shit!” I whipped around to the front door dashing for safety. It was clear there was not going to be any safety in the house. Just as I got to the hallway the wall buckled as the ground shot up and a massive rock came pushing up into the center of my living room. A huge gaping cavern opened, and the floor tilted. My furniture slowly began sliding in. I dashed for the front door, just grabbing the handle of it as the floor gave way beneath me and slid into the dark recesses of the yawning hole.

“Fuck!” I screamed as I grabbed the doorknob hanging at a horizontal angle over the hole that had erupted in the earth beneath my house. I swung my other hand up, clinging to the brass handle desperately, but my hands were clammy. There was no way I was going to be able to sustain this. I looked down into the gaping, dark hole. Falling would mean certain death.

The muscles in my arms shook as I gritted my teeth and gripped the door. “Help!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, but there was no way it would be heard over the grumbling of the moving earth. This wasn’t just an earthquake; it sounded like the ground was hungry for me, like it wanted to devour me and eat me whole. I shut my eyes tightly, not daring to look down into the blackness beneath me. My hands were slick with sweat, sliding down the brass doorknob. My grip weakened until only four fingers held me to the door.

It was hopeless.

The wall crashed, splintering above me, knocking my grip loose.

I tumbled, screaming into the blackness.

My arms were yanked back with a firm grip on both my wrists in one massive hand. Ryder was there, holding me in his impossible grip over the cavern.

“God dammit, Caroline,” he grunted as he pulled me up and put me down on the ground, immediately releasing my hands.

I looked from him to the big gaping hole my house was falling into. My gaze whipped back at him. “Let me take a wild guess. You have something to do with this,” I yelled.

And then I saw that look I used to see all the time when we were married, where there was just a moment’s hesitation before he answered me, and in that moment, I knew he was making a conscious decision lie to me.

I turned and started walking away.

“The same old fucking Ryder,” I said. “You need to have a lie on your tongue or else you’re not talking.”

He reached out and grabbed my wrist in his massive hand and pulled me back to him, crushing me in his arms as he looked down at me.

“Are you okay?” he asked roughly.

I struggled to get free from him. I didn’t need sympathy or his pity now. I didn’t need him to have a free grope either if that’s what he was trying to do. I just needed to get away from him and find out what the fuck happened to my house.

I looked up into Ryder’s eyes and realized with sudden clarity as he looked down at me, he had absolutely no intention of letting me go.

Chapter 13

RYDER

She was there. She was safe. She was alive. They knew who she was. They had found her. They had tried to get her. I was going to kill Set. I was going to ring every goddamn ounce of blood out of his godforsaken body.

Anger thrummed through my body, setting my back on edge. Caroline was human. The fall into Undirheim would’ve killed her. Her body would be gone and her spirit, her essence, the thing that made her uniquely her, would be lost to the River Styx. As a demigod, it would be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before I saw her again.

My arms tightened around her body. She seemed so small and frail. I knew as a human she was perfectly capable and brilliant and strong but compared to me she was as fragile as a morning blossom. Deep anger welled inside me. I wanted to lash out at anyone who wasn’t her. I encircled her like a metal cage, protecting her and stopping anything from getting anywhere close to her. I was here to protect her, whether we were together or not.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said gruffly, turning to the side but still keeping one arm encircling her shoulders.

I moved her toward the waiting limo. I had left the club so fast I hadn’t even brought Ratchet with me. So, he was bound to show up. The silent alarm that triggered any time I was near danger would definitely alert him; in fact, he should probably already be here. I glanced around.

“I’m not going with you,” Caroline said.

I turned and looked at her as she slipped out from under my arm, standing facing me with her hands on her hips.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, anger so close to the surface. I knew there was a chance it could spill out onto Caroline. I took a slow and steady breath, trying to calm my agitation, but I knew it would only do so much.

“You can’t just come back into my life and rescue me from, from whatever that is,” she stammered, her arm flailing towards the gaping hole.

“Get in the car,” I growled.

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