Page 20 of Claimed By Her Monsters
Freaky
“What?” I squeak, springing off the couch like I’ve been stung by a wasp. Except this isn’t a regular wasp. It’s one with fangs, claws, and the ability to vanish into thin air. My back hits the far wall, hands spread like I can hold them back with panic alone.
Mick lifts his palms. “Easy, honey. No one’s gonna hurt you.” His grin is gone, but the heat in his eyes isn’t. If anything, it’s worse now. Hunger tangled with fear, mixed with excitement until all the emotions merge, become indistinguishable from one another.
Alister rises slowly, a snake uncurling, a predator waking. His gaze cuts to Mick. “You hadnoright to tell her. Not like that,” Alister points my way. “Madison decides how much, how fast.”
Mick bristles, shoulders squaring. “She needs to know. Look at her. She’s crackling with it already.”
“Enough,” Alister snaps. The word slices the air. His presence is commanding, and for one terrifying second I swear the firelight bends toward him like it’s alive and eager to do his bidding.
My chest heaves. I can barely breathe.
Caspian hovers by the corner of the couch, calm as ever, though his eyes glow faintly, eerie in the dim light. “Maddie,” he says softly, like he’s talking to a spooked animal, “it’s not as bad as it sounds. Initiation is meant to anchor you. Without it, you’ll tear yourself apart.”
I press tighter against the wall, shaking my head hard enough to make my vision blur. Thunder roars outside, one boom after another. “No. Nope. Not happening. I’m not—” My laugh comes out high and hysterical. “I’m not signing up for some freaky monster gang-bang. You’ve all officially lost your goddamn minds.”
Alister’s eyes flick to me then, softer, but the hunger and frustration in them are unmistakable. His voice lowers. “We’ll never force you, but I'm scared of what will happen if you don’t.”
He strides across the room. Plants himself in front of me and faces the other men, a wall of malice and muscle. There’s a hiss to his voice when he tells them, “I’ll do it. You two stay away.”
“Can’t.” Caspian leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. In a way, his calm is worse than Mick’s mania, worse than Alister’s restrained fury. “She’s too powerful. It’ll take all three of us to contain her.”
A frustrated growl rips out of Alister’s throat. Hands behind his back, he paces back and forth in a tight line. I catch the glint of sharp teeth in his mouth. “There has to be another way,” he snarls.
“There’s not,” Mick says, stripped of levity. “Listen to the house, the storm.”
He’s right. The storm crashes down with a deafening boom, the whole house rattling like it’s about to split in two. Plaster dust rains from the ceiling, coating my hair, my lashes. The chandelier swings like a noose. My heart spikes higher with every flash of lightning.
Even Caspian, stoic, unshakable Caspian, looks stricken. “She has to awaken before the end of her nineteenth birthday. The gate closes at midnight.” His voice cracks low as he rasps, “We’re running out of time.”
Chapter Sixteen
Do It
“No.” The word tears out of me, ragged. “I won’t do it.” The darkened lightbulbs explode with a sharp pop, every single one of them in the room. Glass rains from the chandelier and from the lamps on the end tables. Wind howls through the hallways of the old house, rattling every windowpane and door.
“Maddie—” Caspian starts, but his voice drowns beneath the storm clawing at the walls.
I clutch my head, nails digging into my scalp. My chest feels like it’s splitting apart. The fire leaps higher, spitting sparks, heat pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat. I stagger back a step, but the wall catches me, traps me.
“Stop it!” I scream, though I don’t know if I mean them, the storm, or myself.
Alister is suddenly in front of me, fangs bared, eyes burning in the firelight. He doesn’t touch me yet, but his presence cages me in. “Madison,” he says, voice low, “breathe.”
“Iambreathing.” The words come out a sob, a snarl, both at once. My vision fractures, doubling. Energy surges through me, too big for my body, like I’ll shatter if anyone lays a hand on me.
The storm outside answers with another crash. Lightning flashes in the window. It rips open the sky.
Mick curses, sweat gleaming on his brow. He grips the back of his neck like he’s restraining himself from lunging forward. “She’s gonna blow. Alister, we can’t wait—”
“Don’t youdaretouch her,” Alister growls, his voice shaking.
Caspian’s calm cracks at last. He leans forward, urgency in every syllable. “Alister, if we don’t anchor her now, she’ll rip the house off its foundation. You know it.”
I slam my hands against the wall, teeth gritted. “I don’t want this!” Scalding heat floods my skin. The wallpaper blackens around my palms and smoke curls upward.
Alister hisses, steps in to grab my wrists. He rips them off the wall but doesn’t let go. His touch burns, but it grounds me, too, like a chain yanking me back from the edge. “You’ll die if you don’t,” he snarls, every word vibrating with fury and desperation. “You’ll take us, maybe the entire town, with you. Is that what you want?”
