Page 71 of My Monster's Keeper
They haven’t scented the blood in the water. Yet.
“Oh!”
I tuck my shoulders and freeze.
“Oh, Becky, this is just sad,” Frost says with thick pity in his voice.
Wait? Sad? I whip my head around. “What do you mean, sad?”
“It’s a silicone tentacle.”
“What are you talking about?” Stix grumbles.
Frost hands him the phone without ever taking his eyes from me.
“A kraken is not an appropriate mate!” Frost says with absolute authority.
Puppy screeches to a halt and backpedals over to Stix, leaning over his shoulder. The hiss is something I feel rather than hear.
Oh, my monsters are displeased.
“It’s a toy,” I protest and then wonder why I am even engaging in this argument.
“Of a fish!” Stix wrinkles his nose and shifts shape, advancing on me, all long limbs and legs. He grips my jaw and bends over so he’s at eye level with me.
“No, my love. Just no.”
“But-”
“No fish!” Puppy thunders.
I glance at Wilder, but he just shrugs.
“Fish is not going to be your thing.”
“It’s just a toy!” I almost wail.
“If you want a toy to bring you pleasure, I will find you something more appropriate,” Stix says and lets me go.
Frost hands me back my phone and leaves a skin thick layer of ice on my hand.
He waves his hand, and when he lifts it up, an ice penis sits in my palm, heavy and scarily real. It glitters and is strangely beautiful.
I stare at it in amazement. “I didn’t know you could do that. What else can you do?”
I ignore them and cradle my ice dick as I carefully place it in the tiny freezer. It’s not that I have plans later, but I might.
Either way, it’s mine now.
“Let’s go,” Wilder says in a strangled voice.
I nod and lead them down onto the street. I notice Frost watching a homeless woman and move to stand beside him.
“You do not take care of your elderly?”
“Some people take care of others, but not everyone does or agrees with it.”
He frowns. “What makes this world better than any other?”
