Page 38 of Our Little Monster
I had no reason to believe him. No reason to believe any of them.
They had saved me, tended to my wounds, and fed me, but those were all just common courtesy things… No need for trust here. No, they would need to do more than just that.
But for some reason, all I saw shining in his soft eyes was sincerity, and it made me look away from him.
I had never looked beyond the monsters I hunted. I never thought about them for more than what they were, monsters, at least not since my dad died. But in the short time I’ve known these three, the more I’ve learned that they may just have warm undead hearts after all.
I cleared my throat, not wanting to think about it anymore as I scooped the first big spoonful of stew into my mouth and it exploded with flavor. Thorne noticed my wide eyes and chuckled under his breath.
“This is the best thing I think I’ve ever eaten,” I said honestly, taken back by how good it was. “Granted, I spent most of my life living on diner food and gas station snacks, so I’m not sure if that’s much of an accomplishment.”
He threw his head back in genuine laughter, a sound so rich and unguarded, it pierced through the armor I had meticulously built around my dead heart.
It should have irritated me, that laugh. It should have been a reminder of all the reasons why we were more enemies than anything else. But as the sound filled the room, wrapping around me like a blanket, I couldn't deny the warmth that spread through my chest.
His laughter had revealed a glimpse of thepersonbeneath the surface, not monster,person.
One that seemed so disarmingly sincere that it made me want to laugh along and forget about the true monster that lurked under his skin.
Did I even remember how to laugh?
I couldn't. Especially not with him. Not when my heart was still tangled in a web of distrust and fury. I realized in that moment there was more to him than I had allowed myself to see in any monster, and that was dangerous.
I knew it would hurt me when I shoved a stake through his chest.
So, I shoved it down, down, down just like I did with everything else and held onto my defenses, raising the walls around my cold heart higher.
“Well, I’ll take it as one anyway,” he said, and I stopped chewing.
“You? You made this?” I looked down at the bowl and then back at him in astonishment.
He grinned. “Yeah, I love to cook. I’m pretty much the designated chef in this house.”
For fuck’s sake, I don’t want to know about the things you love.
It only makes things that much more complicated.
“But… you guys don’t eat people food, you eat people,” I said, and he laughed a little harder than last time.
“Firstly, no, we don’teat people,we drink blood to sustain us. I can’t remember the last time any of us drained someone dry.”
“Same thing,” I huffed, taking another bite.
“I beg to differ. We only take what we need and then compel them to forget before we let them go, but more often than not we go to the blood bank. And as long as we do that, we can still enjoy people food. Well, uh, food, not the people part.”
I couldn’t stop the slightest curve of my lips as he tried to correct himself.
The pain that pulsed through my body wasn’t as bad as it was when I woke up, so I knew the pain meds had started working.
“So, you guys eat dinner every night like somefamily?” I asked.
“Not every night, but we try to, and yeah, we are a family. Nox and I were best friends when we were human. We were out together the night we both got turned. Bastian found us when we were close to death and changed us. He took us under his wing, and we’ve pretty much been together ever since.
“Eventually, we started introducing ourselves as the Davorin brothers since Bastian is the oldest. So yeah, we are afamily.” He said the last word mockingly like I did.
I didn’t want to get to know them, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking more questions as I took a few more bites of stew.
“How old were you when you were turned?”
