Page 52 of Fated to Monsters

Sydney glances up from his spot in the kitchen and shoves that tiny device of his into his pocket. “You ready?”

“What is that?” I ask him. “That thing you’re on all the time.”

He slides it back out and holds it in front of him. “This? It’s a cell phone.”

“Oh,” I say, moving in his direction. “What’s so special about it?”

“Um, well, nothing and everything, I suppose.” He pokes the front of it, and it lights up. "You can call people, text them, email. Um, there are social media apps. The weather. Games. News. Pretty much any information that you could possibly want is at your fingertips." He pushes it another few times and points it at me. "It has a camera." Sydney turns it around to show me the picture.

“Ew, I look like that?”

“What are you talking about?” Dash gawks at me. “You’re beautiful.”

I pat the sides of my head to tame my hair. "I look like I fell off a wagon and got sat on by a scruni."

“Do not.” Dash elbows me in the ribs.

Sydney touches the screen again. “Here, I deleted it. That better?”

“Yeah,” I tell him. “Thanks.”

“I’m sure you’ll all get one of your own at some point once you’ve established yourselves in our realm. It’s easier to stay connected that way. I was just talking to Silas about upcoming plans.” Sydney snatches his keys off the counter and makes his way toward the door.

“Silas.” The memory of that attractive man popping up out of nowhere at Willow’s house comes back to me. “Is that another one of Willow’s husbands?”

“Yep.” Sydney continues down the hall and opens the door to the outside world.

“He’s, uh, interesting.” I breathe in deeply and savor the freshness of the air.

“You two met?” Dash stays close to my side without being overly into my personal space.

I urge to yank him toward me but refrain from the intrusive thought.

“He sort of appeared out of thin air. Right after I shoved half a muffin in my mouth, too. I probably frightened him.”

“There isn’t much that can scare him. He’s been to hell and back.”

“Haven’t we all?” I reach for the handle on the car door, my body already falling in line with the ways of this world.

“No,” Sydney says from the driver’s side. “Literally.”

“Oh.” I climb into the passenger seat and buckle myself in before I’m told to. “That explains why he’s so broody.”

Sydney chuckles. “He was like that prior, actually. That’s just how he is.” He turns the key in the ignition and backs us out of the parking spot. “We’ve had our differences, we still do, but he’s a good man.”

“So you two didn’t always get along?” I glance over at him, wondering how much I’m allowed to ask without coming across too overbearing. I can’t help but want to learn everything I can about Willow and her men.My family.

“Not for a great while, really. We hated each other.” Sydney turns onto the main road and accelerates to get ahead of the car he pulled out in front of.

It grows smaller in the mirror behind us.

“Was it because of her? Like you were fighting over Willow?”

Sydney shakes his head. “No, not really. Although, that didn’t make the beginning of our relationships any easier.” He puts the blinker thing on and switches lanes. “Witches and vampires are natural born enemies.”

Silas was freakishly fast and able to sneak up on me without drawing attention to himself.

“He’s a vampire,” I say out loud, confirming what Sydney already said. “So you and Willow are witches, Deghan is a werewolf, and Silas is a vampire. What’s Cameron?”

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