Page 23 of Fated to Monsters

He shakes his head. “He probably forgot all about them.”

What a luxury to have so much that you forget about things. I may lose track of an apple here or there, but I would know if someone took something like this from one of my safe houses.

“And who is this Deghan? A friend?” I fumble with the thing covering the end of the bottle.

“Here, let me help you.” Sydney twists the cap off and tosses it onto the table.

I sniff the end. “It’s kind of fruity.”

“Yeah, it’s fermented apples.”

Everyone except Bo and Sydney stares at me in what I can only assume is anticipation of my response to the drink.

I bring the bottle to my lips, the cool fizzy liquid pooling into my mouth. I swallow it down and shrug. “It’s not bad.” I hold it out to Wes. “Want to try it?”

“Sure.” He takes it from me, then passes it to Dash. “Not bad at all.”

“I can get more, if you’d like.” Sydney opens a drawer and pulls out a notepad. “And to answer your question, Deghan is one of my wife’s husbands.”

“Wife plural or husband plural?” I ask him to clarify.

“Husband, sorry, I should have been clearer. I have one wife, she has four husbands. And each of us are married to only her.”

“Is that common here on Earth?” Because it’s not something I’m super familiar with.

“Um, yes and no.” Sydney makes a note on the pad of paper. “Relationships with multiple partners are becoming more widely normalized and accepted. Legally speaking, no, you can’t technically marry multiple partners. Our ceremony wasn’t traditional in the sense, and more so to connect us on a spiritual level. It meant more to us than having a legally binding arrangement.”

It's comforting to know that I’m not the only one who finds being with more than one person appealing. It isn’t that I want to collect men until the end of time, but there’s no denying that I have a connection to each of my guys, and if forced to choose between them, I don’t think I could. Each of them makes me feel a different way and imagining a life without any single one of them seems dull and void. Even Bo, who drives me completely fucking insane.

I’m not open, available, or interested in any other suitors—I just want my three demons.

“It’s more common in the supernatural world,” Sydney adds.

Jade speaks up from her spot at the end of the table with Everest. “What are you going to do about Tremont?”

A question no doubt on all our minds. I don’t particularly care either way what happens to him, but I am curious.

Sydney draws in a long breath and leans against the countertop. “I haven’t made a decision.” He runs his hand through his shaggy hair. “If I’m being honest, this entire situation has thrown me. Between him, you, being back here—I’m unsure what to do about any of it.”

I sip more of the cider. “Are you going to tell us what he did?”

“It’s…complicated.” Sydney glances down at the floor and back up. “And kind of a long, twisted story.” He shakes his head. “One that I thought was behind us.”

“Maybe just give us the highlights, or well, the low lights. His worst offenses.” I understand where he’s coming from, because if someone asked me to explain things with Parla, I’d be lost at where to begin, too.

“The worst?” Sydney drinks from his cup, the condensation trickling down the side and dripping onto his shirt. “He hurt my wife.” He nods. “That’s something I’ll never forgive him for, no matter what amends he tries to make.”

“Is she okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, she’s better than ever, growing in strength every day, no thanks to him.”

He must care a great deal for his wife if he’sthismad at someone for harming her.

“What does she say about him, and us, being here?” I can’t help but wonder what she must be like—this distant relative of mine. I wonder what features we share, what things we have in common.

“I haven’t told her, not yet, not until I know more. I don’t want to burden her, she already has too much going on as it is.”

A part of me grows worried that he never will, and we will remain locked away in this house, in this other realm, without any hope of a real future.

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