Page 12 of Veil of Monsters

“So, when this young girl climbed out of a hole of darkness in the earth, the Rift, we all wanted to help her.” She walks over to me, looking into my eyes. “She had eyes like yours, the brightest of pinks, like the color of the sunset at dawn. We tried to guide her, but soon we realized that she was far beyond our power. She carried with her two swords. A sword she said only her kin can wield. The second sword she melted into crowns, twelve of them, and never once told us why she did that or what happened to them. The other sword gave her infinite power from the Rift. She told us that she was royalty in her world, but they cast her out, and she wanted them to pay.” The air goddess looks down. “So, one day, she pulled power from the Rift and destroyed everything. She remade this world how she wished it, taking from the other, and she locked us away so we would not be able to stop her. The power she took was too great and killed her, ripping her apart, but the damage was done. Millions died in this world and the Rift, but I suspect they suffered far more.”

“This world worships her as a savior,” I whisper. “I did.”

“We are trapped and not many remember us because she wanted it that way. I’d be willing to bet you’re a descendant of the goddess. Did you come from the Rift, my child?”

I can only nod.

“Then maybe you should be finding the sword and sorting out the other things that come out of that Rift. The goddess was royalty there. What does that make you? You can only find your ending by exploring your beginning.”

I close my eyes and try to process this new perspective about the dragon goddess I’ve always worshipped. I’m her descendant? And maybe she wasn’t good?

“I’ll miss you, my daughter,” Air states as she opens a portal. “Now go. I have a feeling the destiny of the strings of your lives is in peril.” Posy waits for me, and we both step through the portal together. I have a million things to talk with her about, including the fact I might be related to the goddess, and the goddess kind of sounds like the villain.

“That was—” Posy stops mid-sentence, and I follow her gaze as the portal disappears.

Emerson leans on the doorframe with pure dark fury in his eyes, and Lorenzo is sitting on the bed with a lazy smile, but his eyes are tipped with tension that seems to drain away when he sees Posy. Emerson smiles but it’s not friendly. “Welcome back.”

ChapterSeven

PRINCESS NERELYTH MIST

My body is destroyed. My mind is too. I barely remember a time before Louie. Before him? After him. There is no after him. He hopes he’ll get me pregnant with his child, and the way he’s going, he likely will. My body. I can’t even feel it anymore. His magic is a bitter sting at the end of his torture when he heals me, just so I don’t die. I want to die.

Louie has become more suspicious as the weeks pass, muttering about his plans for war. I’m scared for my friends. For Calliophe and Emerson. He is going to burn it all down. Louie never lets me out of his sight, and he drags me with him everywhere. Most of our time is on a royal ship, one designed for my pretend father to greet other races above the water. The rest of the time, Louie enjoys dragging me to what is left of the great Ethereal City to see what it has become after his destruction. It is a city of pain and monsters.

His empty army—the Rift has warped them somehow into mortal-looking creatures with no emotions or understanding. They follow Louie’s command and nothing else. They stand before me now, in lines, never eating or even moving much. I don’t understand how they are alive and how Louie rules them. Screams echo around the barren land of the city where, in what is left of burnt-out buildings, the survivors are being made into monsters. I watch them as they look to me, begging for help. But I can’t do anything to help them. I am just as much a prisoner as they are, but they’re lucky. They get to die and it all ends. I do not.

My hand drifts to my stomach. I hope I don’t fall pregnant with his child. Not only because he’ll kill me straight away, but no child deserves to have a father like him. He’s a monster. He’s a monster in every single sense of the word. I was never careful with my hookups over the years when I escaped my pretend father, so maybe I can’t get pregnant at all. I hope not.

I try to imagine past my reality, but it is so overwhelming that I can’t escape even my thoughts. Louie steps to my side, and I cower away from him, sinking into the broken wall. He barely even acknowledges me now until night falls and he takes what he wants. I pretend I’m nothing more than a body. I pretend I’m not real. Felix is dead. He’s going to kill Calliophe next, after he gets something from her. Several times he has talked to himself, or that’s what it looks like, and promises the night air to get something from Calliophe. I pray to the goddess once again that he doesn’t get anywhere near her and that she doesn’t come for me. There is nothing left to save. He’s going to destroy this world, and hope feels foreign, almost unwelcome.

“Come.” His shadows whip around me, violent and horrible. They’re almost cool to the touch, and for a second, I let myself relax within them before we slam hard onto a strange ground covered in moss. Tall trees cover the sky up, and I blink in the darkness until Louie makes fae lights blink into existence. I simply crawl up onto my knees and lean my head back on the bark of a tree, hoping he forgets I’m here. Louie moves to lean on another tree, waiting, tapping his foot. I can taste the anger of his impatience like something sour on my tongue.

He looks at me once, boredom flashing in the black pits. He’ll be bored with me until night falls, until we’re back on his boat floating in the sea. The sea is always calm, but now it reminds me of him. I don’t think I ever want to be on a boat in the middle of the sea ever again. I don’t think I ever want a male to touch me again. But he will. Again and again. And again.

My thoughts are interrupted as a witch appears. I recognize what she is from her scent alone, but she’s vaguely familiar. I believe I’ve seen paintings of the new, young Witch Queen, and she fits the bill. Her skin is as dark as the night, her hair even more so, and her curvy body fills the silver dress she is wearing. It clings to her, and it’s almost see-through. A gold cloak falls from her shoulders, and strange gold makeup lines her eyes. I imagine the makeup is magic. She inclines her head to Louis, and he straightens, doing the same. “Queen Marzena. A pleasure to meet at last. I have enjoyed our letters.”

His dark eyes roll over her, and she seems quite happy for his eyes to do just that. I wouldn’t be if I were her. Queen Marzena looks over at me, frowning. “Is that a Siren Princess? Didn’t you tell me you slaughtered the entire family when you took the sea?”

He doesn’t even look at me. My family is gone. Some of my sisters were sweet, good people. Gone. Gone. Gone. “Not her. I want an heir.” He grins. “But a queen is far more interesting than her.” He steps right up into her space.

She all but purrs as she touches his chest, flattening her palms out. “Have you made your decision?” he asks.

She leans up and strokes his cheek. “Such beauty. What evil lurks in your soul? Did the old god make you beautiful for a reason?”

He reaches out and grabs her throat, but she seems to like it, leaning into him with wide eyes. Sickness settles at the back of my throat. This queen is fucking stupid. “I want your answer, not games and questions. You are loyal to the Wyerns or me. Decide.”

Her smile is mischievous. I hate witches. “We bow to you and respect the new king of the Rift and this world. We are yours,” she says breathlessly. I can see her nipples hardened beneath his touch as he cups her. He pushes her back into a tree trunk, hiking up her skirt to bare her to him. I don’t know why I watch, but I don’t feel anything. Neither will she. The Witch Queen quickly undoes the buttons on his trousers before he thrusts into her. Watching them fuck is nothing. I barely even acknowledge his grunts and her fake moans. It’s over quickly. She couldn’t have gotten any pleasure from that, but for some reason she looks love drunk as she stares at him. She tidies herself up as he steps back. “We’ll be ready when you call, my love.”

My love? The fuck.

“Be ready,” he snaps in annoyance.

Her eyes flicker to me just once and she bares her teeth at me. Jealousy is pointless. I want to scream at her, but I have no voice left. She has nothing to be jealous of. She can have him. Please have him? The witch fades away into the darkness, and I realize there’s a bigger problem for the Wyerns than they know. Not only has Louie destroyed a city, but he also took the sea, and now he has the witches on his side. His plan to destroy this world is working, and no one’s going to be able to stop him.

“She was boring. You will make this evening better.” Coldness chills my blood. He walks over to me, picking me up like I’m nothing but a toy and dragging me back to the shadows of the boat where I scream and scream and scream.

ChapterEight

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