Page 75 of Fated to Monsters

I scoot off the bed, throwing my legs over the side, the weight of them heavier than I remember them being. With Bo’s venom no doubt still in my body, the effects of his bite linger.

Bo reaches toward me, but Wes shoves his arms away.

“Don’t touch her.” Wes’s hound side surfaces, his entire body glowing. “You have no self-control.”

Bo laughs loudly. “Are you fucking serious? I don’t? Who’s the asshole who fucking marked her because he couldn’t keep it in his pants?” He steps dangerously close to Wes, not daring to back down from him. “You’re a coward. You couldn’t fathom the idea of her not choosing you so you took that choice away from her.”

“Did not.” Wes pushes his torso against Bo’s.

Bo shoves into Wes. “Selfish prick.”

Wes burns brighter, his fiery self becoming more present.

“I’m not afraid of you.” Bo stares directly at Wes. “You want to burn me, burn me. Doesn’t change what you did.”

I slide off the bed, wedging my weak body between them. “Both of you”—I look briefly at each of them—“need to grow up.” I push past them and march toward the door, not bothering to look behind and witness whether they’ve decided to murder each other.

Crossing the threshold, a chill washes over me, and my attention locks onto the small opening in the doorway across the hall. A shadow appears in the illuminated space, his body moving around the door to come into view. “My apologies,” he says. “I was having trouble sleeping and heard the commotion.”

“It’s fine.” I fold my arms over my chest and stand there, a few feet away from him.

He remains in his room because that’s his only option. Tremont cannot escape the confines of that small space—not until Sydney decides what he’s going to do with him.

Tremont doesn't seem bothered by it. Mostly, it's as though he's accepted his fate and realized there's nothing that can be done to rid him of this confinement. He hasn't begged for his release or tried to convince anyone to let him out. He takes the food Sydney brings him and leaves the empty plates in the doorway. The room he’s in has a bathroom and more accommodations than Rockbridge, so he hasn’t exactly lacked in comfort at all.

After having endured what he has, I’m not convinced I would put up much of a fight either. Especially knowing how similar our paths were. He’s not in the wrong for feeling defeated. There’s a part of me that pities him, but I recognize that’s the same part of me that wishes there was a way to make amends for what I have done. Perhaps I wouldn’t sympathize with him as much had I not realized that my heroic acts only turned me into the villain in someone else's story.

“I don’t blame you for wanting to go back,” he says.

“How much did you hear?” I ask him.

“Enough.”

I nod and avert my gaze while remembering the conversation. My head is still fuzzy, and I’m going to need to sleep off the venom high, but one thing is certain, I wasn’t lying when I said I needed to kill Parla. It’s the only scenario where contentment remotely finds me. Every other alternative leaves me with a sinking pit in my stomach.

“I don’t know how I’ll get there,” I admit. Cross-realm travel wasn’t in the teachings during my hunter training, and until recently, I had no knowledge of the hidden magic within me. I’ll have to consult Sydney and see if he is willing to assist me on my final assassination mission.

Dash joins me in the hallway, his body gently pressed behind me. He rubs gentle circles on my shoulders, and it melts away some of the tension overwhelming me. “Hey, you.” He kisses the side of my face.

“Evening.” Tremont nods to Dash.

“Sir.” Dash’s manners have no bounds.

Tremont focuses back on me, his gaze strangely more serious than before. “When you’re ready, I can help you.” He pauses only slightly and then disappears back into his prison.

“What was that all about?” Dash continues skimming his arms over my biceps.

“Nothing,” I lie and weave my fingers through his. “I’m going downstairs. Want to come?”

“Duh.” He yawns and swoops the hair off his brow with his free hand. “You know I’d go anywhere with you.”

I don’t respond, not when my mind runs wild at the possibility that maybe Dash could come with me to Prania. It’s not that I want to put him in danger, but if heisa phoenix, what’s the harm in having someone who supports me there? I’m not particularly sold on inviting either Wes or Bo, and after everything that’s happened to Jade, I would never ask her to return to such a place. Sydney and his family have been gracious, but I could never put them in danger, not in the way that Prania would. It’s not their fight and it would be careless of me to involve them any more than I already have.

Dash and I walk down the stairs, the creaking of his steps a bit louder than mine.

It isn’t until we’re in the large living room some distance from the kitchen that I finally speak. “Would you ever go back to Prania?” Relaxing into the couch, I turn toward Dash, who settles in, too, opposite of me.

Dash sucks in a breath and exhales. “I mean, I can’t say it sounds very enticing. I didn’t exactly fit in, but I’d be lying if I said I felt like I fit in anywhere. Why? Is that why you’ve been on edge lately? You want to return to your homeland?”

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