Page 76 of Fated to Monsters

“I’ve been on edge? How so?”

“I don’t know.” Dash extends his arm over the back of the couch and finds my hand. He swirls his finger along my skin. “Nothing major. I’ve just felt it. Something different. A shift. A sort of unspoken internal struggle. Whatever it is, you can tell me. Or you don’t have to. That’s okay, too.”

“Dash…”

“I hope you don’t think that’s weird. I care about you, so I notice things.”

My heart constricts. “It’s not weird. It’s…unfamiliar. I’ve never had someone look out for me before. Not the way you do.”

Dash forces a smile. “I don’t plan on stopping, so get used to it.”

“How are you, Dash?” It’s my turn to focus on him for a chance. He’s been going through his own things lately, and I’ve been consumed with my own bullshit that I haven’t checked in. “How’s your back?”

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

I narrow my gaze. “Look at you being all evasive.”

Dash chuckles and his eyes sparkle with that beautiful Dash-like twinkle. “I’m good, sweetheart.” He leans in closer and kisses my hand. “When are we leaving?”

I blink at him. “What?”

“You want to go back. When are we leaving?”

“To Prania?”

He nods stiffly.

"Oh. I—I would never ask that of you." Even though having him there with me would be equal parts great and terrible. I don't want to put him in danger, but there is a silver lining to his phoenix abilities. Perhaps I'm being selfish for desiring his presence.

"You're not asking, I'm offering. I want to go with you. I want to be there. Whatever you need. I'll be there for you." He pauses and adds, "Do you plan to stay, or is it something more short-term?"

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. “I have to kill her,” I whisper, the declaration barely audible.

“I understand,” he says.

“You do?”

“What she did to you, to Wes, to Jade, to everyone in that realm—it was wrong. She deserves to be punished. Death is too kind for what she deserves.”

I would love to torture her. To make her pay with every ounce of pain I could potentially inflict. But the only sure way to stop Parla from hurting anyone else is to slide a blade straight through her cold heart.

“Tremont said he could help,” I admit.

“Do you trust him?”

“Not really. But he got us here, didn’t he?”

“Why not ask Sydney or Willow?”

I shake my head. “I don’t want to bother them any more than I already have. They’ve done enough. More than enough, really. This isn’t their battle.”

“Well, I support whatever decision you make.” He sighs and leans back, extending his arm to invite me toward him. “In the meantime.”

I smile softly and scoot into his embrace, the warmth of him swallowing me whole and encasing me in a sea of comfort.

He drags the blanket off the back of the couch and covers us up. Dash kisses my forehead. “Get some rest, we’ll come up with a plan in the morning.”

Everything might be up in the air, but at least I can count on Dash to be with me to see things through.

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