Page 26 of Strongest Souls

He draws in a breath. “Not as much. I am climbing the spire and I am going home. I am embracing the fear and enjoying every moment I can.”

“You will die.” They all die. There is no escape, yet they seem confident that there is.

“Maybe. But everyone, human and monster, dies. That doesn’t mean I want to die. But instead of pushing it away and trying to hide from the truth, I am enjoying the discomfort.” He flashes his teeth.

Do monsters lose their minds?

Why would anyone want to be afraid? To believe in something that is impossible?

I don’t understand him, or any of them.

“I could eat you now and save you the effort of the climb.” I glance at him and open my mandibles, ready to chop him up and shovel him into my mouth.

Theo shakes his head. “Then I would be leaving my friends to do it alone. And I am not that kind of monster.” He smiles and glances back. “We are a team.”

“You have a queen.” And we are getting closer to the center. It’s not too late to lock them up. Though dealing with Michael will be difficult. If I lock them up instead of helping them, will I go back to how I was?

As much as I hope that is the case, I doubt it will be, as the changes are random. However, that’s not what Julie said. She claimed I did this to myself. Like I wanted to upend my life and be kicked out of the castle to scavenge, or climb.

“We do not want to rule.”

“You could be lying.” They could all be lying. Julie might be the most powerful monster of all because she doesn’t look like one but can create changes.

Then why did the queen want Julie to change before seeing her?

“If you think we are lying and that we will attack the queen, then why are you taking us to her?” His mouth opens in a toothy grin.

I have no answer for that. But where else am I going to take them? They want to leave, so maybe it is best they climb. Throwing them out of the castle will only lead to me being questioned and killed, probably not slowly.

“I’m not taking you to the queen, I am taking you to the spire.” If the queen isn’t in the throne room, I can say they escaped.

But if she is there, I need a lie to tell her. We round another corner and I nearly fall over a guard lounging in the tunnel. He stands when he sees me and my followers.

“What have you got?” He jerks one of his six legs at my group.

“The queen wanted to see the unchanged meat I caught.” Not a complete lie, and one that should pass this guard’s casual inspection. I want to move my hands to cover myself, but that will only draw attention to my unwanted dick, and I hope it will go away.

The guard’s tongue traces the edge of his mouth. I want to rip it out. They aren’t for eating. The thought is rough, and catches hold and sticks so I can’t shove it away and agree with him they will be tasty. They should be for eating, but I do not want to taste them.

All monsters were human, is what Julie said.

That has to be a lie, but I saw her claws when I grabbed her, and now she has none. I do not want to believe I was once like that and now I am this.

I stare at the guard. How was he once human?

What did he do to become that?

“You have two humans. Does the queen want both?” His tongue does that disgusting thing again and my fingers curl as I imagine it in my grasp.

I’ll tear his tongue out and eat it. But if I eat monster, am I really eating human and since I am human, what does that mean? I can’t pull the idea apart. My mind is stuck on monsters being human and being able to change.

“She wants to question them. They reached the center like that. They are dangerous.” That is not a lie. Julie is the most dangerous creature I have ever met. The most intriguing. And she terrifies me because she has no fear of monsters.

“I haven’t seen those two guards before.”

It takes me a moment to realize that he means Theo and Michael. “This one is new.” I shrug. “And helping me out. The beast at the back has been around for a while.”

His legs tap over the floor as he examines my group more closely. Theo will not pass a close inspection, and neither will I. Where has all this doubt come from?

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