Page 90 of Our Little Monster
Oh, she definitely knows.
Bastian, Nox, and Thorne all placed their orders, and Mickey went on her way. I looked down over all the memories in front of me, really the only things I had left of my parents other than my dad’s cabin and car.
“You were adorable,” Nox said, pointing to the photo of me slurping down a large shake and giving my dad a thumbs up as he took the photo of me after my first hunt.
“Am I not adorable now?” I cocked my head to the side.
“Now you’re an adorably wicked little monster,” Nox chuckled, leaning forward on the table, and I couldn’t hide my blush.
“Who’s this?” Bastian wondered, pointing to a polaroid of me, my mom, Sam, and Brielle on a girls only hunt.
I smiled fondly at the memory. “That’s my cousin Sam, my friend Brielle, my mom, and me. We had to pretty much cheat death the entire time because a taxidermist was hexing animal parts and Sam got cursed with bad luck for touching a stuffed rabbit’s foot sitting in his office because she thought it was cute.”
At this, we all laughed. Looking back now, it was hilarious. In the moment? Definitely not a good time.
Nox picked up a brown napkin and pen and started doodling on it. A few minutes later, he lifted it and turned it around to show me. It was three stick figures with smiles and fangs all standing in the middle of a big heart. I cackled, and so did Bastian and Thorne.
“Don’t mind if I add to the memories, do you?” he asked with a grin as he shoved his doodle under the glass next to all the other mementos. The one my dad drew last year snagged my eyes, but I pushed the ache aside.
“What’s the craziest hunt you’ve ever been on?” Thorne asked, and I didn’t think I could pick just one.
“Well, the one where I made a deal with a crossroads Demon was pretty crazy, or the one where we found out Big Foot was definitely real, or how about the Ghouls bashing in their heads after they’ve taken the form of your dead grandma always makes you feel a little crazy. Oh, although I think the Bogeyman was one of the creepiest.”
“No crazy Vampire stories?” Bastian asked with a side smile.
“Demons, Vampires, and Werewolves are a part of thebasicpackage of the supernatural world,” I snarked, and Nox threw a hand over his heart.
“Ouch.” He pouted.
“Buuut, I will say that taking on a quest for vengeance and stumbling across three Vampires who I fell for wasn’t on my bingo card,” I said it without thinking at the same moment Mickey walked up to the table balancing plates on her arms.
“Here’s your steak and eggs.” She slid the first plate in front of me, then handed out each of their plates before asking us if we needed anything else, and I only shook my head.
Fuck… I just admitted it out loud… I had fallen for them.
I hadn’t said theloveword, but it was close enough.
Nobody said anything for a long moment that felt like an eternity, and then Thorne spoke up before Mickey could scurry off.
“Could we have some to-go boxes please?” Bastian asked.
“Uh… yeah, of course. Is something wrong?” Mickey’s brows furrowed.
“No, not at all. Everything’sperfect,” Bastian assured, eyeing me as he said that last word, his throat bobbing.
I didn’t dare look at Nox or Thorne, too afraid what their expressions would be.
Mickey walked off and came right back, handing us the boxes a second later before Thorne and Nox boxed up our piping hot food. Mickey left us to it then.
Nox nudged me out of the booth from his spot next to me as Bastian and Thorne got to their feet.
We readied to walk toward the door. I glanced towards the bar, and a man held my gaze with unsettling intensity. That grin of his, it twisted up the corners of his lips, sending shivers crawling up my spine.
Recognition sparked between us. He was there—the night my dad died—he was one of them.
The guys caught the change in the air, the shift in my stance.
They saw him too. Their eyes narrowed, muscles tensing.
