Page 33 of Monsters of Mayhem

“She’s in love with me?” I muttered the words again under my breath but I had to shake them loose from my head. It wasn’t really going to get us anywhere right now. However, the idea Caroline had loved me and still loved me, was something I hadn’t dared hope for before.

It had been impossible to think about. She was the only woman I had ever loved. The only person I had ever hoped for in my life. I thought she was completely done with me, but if she was still in love with me then maybe there was hope? I pushed the feeling aside. Hope wasn’t a thing I needed right now. What I needed was clarity and focus. I needed to make sure I was staying on point and on my game. Not getting all moony over Caroline.

I shoved the feelings deep down inside me and swore I wouldn’t deal with them until after we were sure she was safe. Judging by what we were up against, and the lack of knowledge of it, it was going to be a hell of a fight.

“Do you love her?” Laney asked.

My head spun to look at her. No one had ever asked me such a direct question before, especially about my romantic feelings for anyone. Of course, I hadn’t told anybody what they were at all, so it was little wonder no one knew.

“Of course, I do,” I insisted. “Why the hell do you think we’re trying so hard to save her?”

“No, I mean do you really love her,” Laney said. “You married her and then you left her. Is it because of all this monster crap? Because I’m not taking you anywhere near her unless you tell me the truth right now and I’ll know if you’re lying because I can tell when a man’s lying.”

I took a deep breath. Being vulnerable wasn’t exactly my strong suit, but I understood what Laney was asking. Laney was saying if I didn’t tell her the truth and if I didn’t truly love Caroline well, she wasn’t going to do anything to help us.

“Is this something we can deal with later?” I queried, running a hand through my hair.

“Oh, hell no,” Laney said. “I’ve watched my best friend cry day in and day out over you. If we’re going to have any sort of a hope of moving forward in this rescue operation and protect Caroline, I need to know exactly where you stand. I mean it’s fine if you don’t love her then just tell me. I’ll still help her save the world with you, but I want to know where you stand. She’s never going to ask you because she’s too set on the fact that you don’t love her. I don’t necessarily think that’s the case, so right now you take your stand and make your peace and tell me the truth so I know exactly what’s going on here.”

Her hands were on her hips as I stared down at her.

“You’d make a hell of a monster,” I said with a smile on my face.

“She’d make a hell of an anything,” Ratchet agreed with a nod.

“I love Caroline,” I ground the words out. “With all my heart.”

Laney looked at me as if she was discerning exactly what I was saying and making sure I was telling the truth. “That was pretty believable,” she finally said, then she paused for a moment and looked at Ratchet. “Do monsters have hearts? I mean they say they do, right?”

“They’re biological creatures,” Ratchet shrugged. “Of course, they have hearts.”

“I’m standing right here,” I said. “I have the capacity to love somebody infinitely. If that’s your question Laney, then yes, the answer is yes. I love Caroline, but you can’t tell her.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Caroline said. “So, you want to love her, but not love her. That’s messed up.”

“Look, the problem here is not my relationship with Caroline,” I said. “The problem we’re dealing with is that monsters are coming to attack your best friend and they’re going to kill her if they find out where she is. I had her being watched by the satyrs but she’s so damn stubborn she wouldn’t stay put. She escaped and now she’s missing and vulnerable to any attack.”

Laney‘s face went serious as she stared at me.

“Okay,” she said. “I get it. I see it. You love her, but you don’t want to deal with it right now.”

“I think we have other things we need to deal with first,” I said. It was a concession, but I had to make it and I needed her to listen to me. “Where is she?”

“Are these men bothering you?” A policeman came around the corner and we suddenly realized how the two of us were basically cornering Laney.

“No, they’re fine,” Laney said.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Ratchet pointed out.

“Let’s go,” I said, waiting for the police officer to move around the side of the building. I looked down at Laney. “This is going to be a little shocking, but just deal with it.”

“This oughta be good,” Laney muttered, “but just so you know, I’m not easily shocked.”

Her eyes widened, though, and her jaw dropped as I transformed into my monster self.

She looked around as my long black-haired body emerged even larger than I already was. Wings formed out of my back.

“Holy fuck,” she said, looking around. “This is the guy you hang out with?” she asked Ratchet. “Did you ever consider your friends might be a little bit…”

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