Page 81 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
‘And he found it, didn’t he?’
‘That wasn’t supposed to happen.’ A softness lay in his voice that I wouldn’t allow to distract me. ‘If you think I’d let him—’
‘Well, you did,’ I snapped, not quite able to pull in a measured breath as my voice broke.
He froze at the words, as if they’d physically struck him. His fury guttered out as quickly as the fire. Something else burning in his eyes.
‘You think I enjoyed any moment of letting him hurt you like that?’ Those words were quiet with regret.
‘It wouldn’t be the first time someone has.’ My breath trembled slightly. A deep pain blossoming in my chest because I didn’t know the truth. ‘Only I didn’t trust them so foolishly.’
I pressed my palm against his wet chest, hoping to push him away, to free myself, but he captured it, keeping it trapped against the hard texture of him, forcing me to remain. To look at him.
His breath brushed my lips with how close we were standing, two hot-headed fools half panting. I wanted to push him away, to shake him and pull truths from his lips, and I knew he wanted the same from me. Could see it in the sorrowful soft grey of his eyes.
‘Kat,’ he whispered making my name sound like a plea. His free hand moving the hair behind my ear, his eyes at my temple, where the worst of my pain was at present. His jaw tightening, eyes darkening to nothing but black.
‘Now isn’t this scandalous !’ came a cheery male voice.
I stumbled away from Emrys, almost crashing into William as I turned to see a tall, attractive man, shirt partially unbuttoned, but still dressed in evening attire, leaning against the wall next to the closed door. He had tanned skin, dark auburn hair swept back from his perfect face, his strange amber eyes filled with mischief. Like he’d been there the whole time as a witness and loved every minute of it.
‘Who—’ I began but a strange sensation brushed over my skin, stopping me. The furniture in the room seemed to creak as if a storm had come rumbling from above.
‘Emrys,’ William half groaned in warning. Emrys’s eyes were jet black, and his lips slightly curled in fury. In the space of a heartbeat, he had lunged to pin the stranger against the wall, his shirt straining with the ferocity of it. The impact rattled the wall-mounted cabinet above, vulgar fey trophies tumbling to the ground.
‘Emrys !’ William cried, almost falling over his chair in his haste to stop the brawl. He tried to lurch forward, but bowed over in pain as he gripped at his side.
‘William !’ I caught him, supporting his weight as he panted for breath.
Emrys and the new arrival didn’t notice.
‘You’ve picked the wrong evening to anger me, Thean,’ Emrys warned, a vulgar and feral nature to his tone.
‘You wouldn’t hit a woman, would you, Emrys?’ the man taunted, his smile sharp, revealing fanged teeth.
Then he wasn’t a man. He shifted effortlessly, in the space of a moment, into a woman with the same wicked grin, one too familiar to me. That red hair now long and cascading over their shoulders, and the shirt that Emrys bunched in his fists almost revealed breasts where the fabric had been torn. Those dark marks, too, I’d seen before on their skin.
‘You,’ I breathed.
Emrys went completely still. A tension rolling off him that should have made me regret the words as he pulled back slowly from the stranger.
‘You? How do you know them?’ William asked, his eyes darted to my face.
‘They … she … I …’ I stumbled over my words. Not knowing which pronoun was appropriate to use.
‘Call me whatever you like, darling. I’m too old to care.’ The stranger half purred, mirth practically gleaming in their gaze.
‘They were outside the healing house, by the woods,’ I continued, confused by the creature’s impossible appearance and Emrys animosity towards the being.
‘I needed to catch your attention somehow.’ They grinned wickedly, pressing two palms to Emrys’s chest, pushing him back easily. Their grin did not diminish as those bright amber eyes flickered to me once more. ‘Maybe I need to get some bigger ears. You seem quite … enthralled with them, my lord.’
I felt William’s attention come back to my face, and it took everything to control my reaction, to keep my gaze forward.
‘What are you doing here, Thean?’ William asked, standing upright with my help.
‘You’re looking well, dear William,’ she said, and The creature called Thean grinned suggestively at the boy.
‘Don’t talk to him.’ Emrys’ hands formed fists once more. Ready to attack again.
