Page 99 of Monster's Obsession

“Who the fuck are you to break intomythrone room?” His words echoed off the walls, while my head was stuck in panic mode, frozen.

Creed snapped into his monster form in seconds, his men following suit, the air thick with fury and danger.

A beast stepped forward, standing on hind legs, covered in black, matted fur, with a long snout and a mouth dripping with pointed teeth.

His gaze locked on Tempest. “We found the cunt who killed our queen.” Then they charged him without pause.

Alarm jolted through me, coming hot and fast. All the monsters threw themselves forward to fight the intruders, except for Steele, who snatched my arm and rushed to the back of the room. Behind me, the explosion of fighting and thundering footfalls escalated.

“Who the fuck are those monsters?” I cried out, my heart thundering, terror coming at me in waves.

“I’m going to find out.” Steele opened up a small compartment in the wall, which had me blinking at the small storage room with empty shelves. “But you need to stay here. Lock it from the inside, please. I can’t lose you, not after everything, but I have to help them.”

He turned to leave, but I grabbed his hand with my shaky one, stopping him. “I think Tempest was telling the truth about the Queen, and I know it doesn’t excuse him for letting you take the blame, but…” I wasn't sure what I wanted to say or how to ask him to be gentle to an old friend he hated and wanted to murder.

Steele gave my hand a light squeeze, pushed me into the tiny closet, and shut me inside. I quickly locked it and backed away.

The sounds from the room were amplified in the closet, thunderous, deafening, and I heard every grunt, punch, and slamming against the walls.

My back hit the wall of shelves, and I slid down to the floor, hugging my knees in the darkness. I kept going over every word Tempest said, the mark on the back of his head, the same ones I’d see around the city, every damn thing I’d ever learned about the queen.

Fingers curled, I fisted my hands as the pain in my chest deepened. For the anguish and hurt the Red Queen had brought my monsters.

And now, with those monsters barging in, going after Tempest, all wearing a red sash, I had no doubt in my head that they were the queen’s supporters. Had they been hiding in the city this whole time?

I had no idea how Tempest survived her reign, how he didn’t just go insane. Well, maybe he had, it would explain his mood swings…his aggression…the fact he’d tried to kill me. I didn’t blame him one bit for how he’d felt about me though. Not afterher.

The room shuddered, dust raining down on me from the ceiling, but that time, the shuddering didn’t cease. The walls around me creaked, and something hard smacked me in the face. A piercing scream invaded my space from the throne room.

Alarmed, I scrambled out before I ended up buried alive. A chunk of the wall dropped inches from where I stood. I leapt sideways, then threw a terrified glance to the gaping hole where one of the attacking monsters had crashed right through the wall.

I winced, hurrying out of the hiding spot to complete chaos. The room had been smashed up, holes covered the walls and the ceiling, and blood and bodies were everywhere, but it took me a few moments to realize our team might be winning this battle.

Creed roared, lifting a monster over his head before dropping him down onto his bent knee. The loud snap of its spine was audible enough to make me cringe. Creed shoved the enemy aside and got up, covered in blood, like the rest of them.

Something dark fell over me, and as fast as it rose, a powerful arm lashed out and latched around my throat, wrenching me back against a wall of muscle.

I thrashed, kicking my heels back, crying out with a raspy voice. The asshole squeezed tighter though, and I lost all ability to breathe.

Panic swirled in my head, my lungs screaming for air. Sudden terror carried through me that, despite everything, this would be the day that I died.

“Whore,” a monster snarled in my ear. “I’ll make sure you watch us butcher your lovers as I fuck you to death.”

Hatred seared through me, and I drove my heel back hard. The bastard groaned. I shoved out of his grip.

I spun on my heels, just as something dark flew right past me, throwing my hair into my face. Rapidly backing away, I shoved my hair out of my eyes to find Tempest had ferociously slammed into the man. It took barely a few seconds for him to dispose of him, for the walls to be splattered in his blood.

When he lifted himself towards me, splashed with blood, he rushed over, as did the other monsters. “Are you hurt?” he asked, eyeing me head to toe. The hurt in his eyes that I’d been injured melted me. Despite his best efforts…he cared for me.

“He didn’t hurt me,” I murmured.

“You’re bleeding,” he groaned, wiping the blood underneath my nose from being whacked in the face.

“I’m okay. But were those monsters really the queen’s guards still in the city?” My words were rambling as I stared up at Creed, slowly being surrounded by my other monsters who were reaching out to touch me as if they couldn’t believe I survived that. All except Tempest who pulled back.

Then he muttered, “She had some very loyal followers, monsters who hated everything about us. They most likely supported her decision to hand over our city to the enemy. There might even be more of them in the city.”

“Fucking bitch,” Creed growled, and I couldn’t agree more.

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