Page 17 of Wishing Upon a Monster
Olan’s throat made a grinding noise, and I pulled back only to have him whisper in my ear, the heat of his breath sending delightful shivers up my spine,“She smells of sulfur, I believe she is of Disian descent.Demons do not bother me, it would be the pot calling the kettle black," he chuckles, switching to speaking telepathically,"but she has misrepresented herself. She is wearing a glamour. I wonder what else she is hiding.”
Feeling foolish, because why whisper when you had telepathy, I opened a small area in my crown, directing my thoughts towards Olan.
“You are feeling like you did in the meeting?”I hazarded,“I don’t believe they mean to separate us.”
Olan held me tighter to his frame, and I felt the almost overwhelming need to cuddle into him to make him feel better.
“Do you think they will hurt you? I won’t let––”Feelings of inadequacy surfaced momentarily. These are Magic Users. What could I, as a Talentless, hope to do against them?
“Min søde skat, you are a fierce warrior. I have no doubt you could defend me against your kin well. It is not all up to just you any longer. We will face this threat together,”He assured me, nuzzling my temple.
My stomach gave a lazy flip, but maybe that was because the van passed through the gates to the ECCM, and I felt the wards wash over me. I saw a broken-down factory, as did most magicless beings. As the vehicle approached, I felt the wrongness of being here, the need to flee intensifying, terror trying to grip me.
“Aurora, what is wrong?”He asked, obviously feeling my anxiety rise and pulling me up so I could burrow my face in the crook of his neck.
I must have made a sound, something to alert the enforcer in the front seat.
“Those assholes knew we were coming today. I’m so sorry, Mrs. Aurum.” She cursed.
I took deep breaths of Olan’s fall scent as he stroked my hair.
“I will destroy the charm,”his voice rang angrily in my head.
I shook my head. I had forgotten how intense the wards for the ECCM and the branches were. No one wanted the magical world to be revealed on accident. But they’d miscalculated the anger of the god whose arms I currently shivered in.
“It will pass,” I croaked, “Just a few more feet.” I took a deep breath.
And just as fast as it came, the feeling dissipated.
8
Olan
My wife trembled in my arms like a newborn calf, and a rage I had not felt in centuries rose within me. To invite us, no demand for us to bring ourselves before their council and then attack my mate’s mind?!
Min lille skattrembledin my arms while the demon stopped the vehicle. With a wave of my hand, the doors blew off the van.
“Oh, Dis,” The demon said, wrestling with her seatbelt, “Olan, please, sir, it was an oversight, a stupid, fucking oversight, but––”
I cared not for what the demon had to say as I swiftly carriedmin skattowards this foolish Council. They wished to incite fear? They wished to forget that my precious Aurora was coming?
It was a mistake they would soon not forget. I called upon my shadows, pulling them from every overhang, every ridge of stone, and I sent them upwards, dismantling their fool enchantments. All would be revealed, all would know they would not trifle withmin skat,my gods-sent Aurora.
Alarms blared, and men and women poured out of the building, but with a wave, my shadows had them all bound and trembling, gasping, and feeling as she did.
“OLAN!”
I heard a buzz, a faint, sweet sound light upon my cheek, delicate flesh pressing into my own. But my vengeance would not hear it. I would not hear it.
I cut off the offending humans’ air, letting them gasp and writhe. Darkness wrapped around the building, ready to level it down to its foundations, before the golden face of my wife surged forward, her lips crashing into mine.
Time ceased to be. Her lips were warm and searching, and they pulled me from my retributive haze. My hand, which had directed the shadows, fell, releasing the humans and sending the shadows swarming us instead. I groaned, for such a sweet bounty was foreign to me, and I hungered for more. I took. Iplunderedher ripe lips, nipping and sipping as if she were a delicacy I would never have the chance to savor again.
But as with all things, the end came sooner than one would like, andminAurora pulled back, her breaths heaving, her thighs clamped around my chest. She stared into my eyes as if she had not considered the consequences of her actions. I could feel the consequences, stiff and aching, having risen to the occasion.
“I am okay,” she said, still breathing deeply. “We are okay. They were stupid and made a mistake, and it won’t happen again.”
My eyes searched hers, afraid to see regret and disgust, but all I spied was concern and flushed cheeks, swollen lips, and perhaps... the kindling needed to start a fire between us.
