Page 73 of A Monstrous Claim, Part 2

If only she would wake up…

I close my eyes, willing away the burning sensation in them, and begging with every fiber of my being for whoever is listening to save her. Deities, demons, it doesn’t matter.

Just let her be okay.

“You don’t have to yell,” a gentle voice mumbles, and a collective gasp rocks me to my core.

My eyes fly open to find Devyn staring back at me, her eyelids drooping sleepily. One corner of her mouth slowly ticks up in a smirk, and every shred of fear in my body disappears with a single exhale.

“Devyn,” I choke, my heart beating mercilessly against my ribs.

“Holy fuck, Princess, you’re okay.” Elio leans forward and kisses her on the forehead, a sob wracking his shoulders, and Azarius eagerly grabs for her hand.

“I don’t want any of this without you either,” she whispers. “All three of you.”

“You’ll never have to be without us again, Darling,” Azarius says, pressing his lips to the back of her hand. “I can promise you that.”

“I swear it,” I say, bending to catch her lips with mine. I kiss her gently, my lips moving slowly against hers as relief continues to flood my senses. “You’ll stay right where you belong, which is by my side.”

Three Months Later

DEVYN

“Are you going to wake up and go with us today?” Rafe asks, kissing his way around my throat to wake me up. “Or are you just going to sleep?”

I grumble and throw my arms around his shoulders, pulling him down to crush me into the mattress with a giggle. “Just five more minutes.”

He chuckles once. “You said that an hour ago. If we’re going, we need to get moving.”

“So, I don’t have time for a shower?” I massage my temple, fighting off a dull headache starting to form.

“If you wanted to shower, you should have gotten up an hour ago,” he says, brushing his lips over mine. “But I’ll bathe you with my tongue when we get home.”

I smile sleepily, stretching my arms up over my head. “Deal.”

We’ve been all across the realm over the last few weeks, making appearances and greeting Rafe’s new subjects. Ruling such a vast area obviously requires a lot of traveling, but I don’t want to be left alone in the castle. I might not have memorized all the corridors yet, but patrolling them aimlessly today isn’t what I want to do.

I want to be on Rafe’s arm when he visits the city of Havec, especially since it means we might be able to see Ignatius and Darius. I haven’t seen either of them since the day Rafe assumed his position as king of this hemisphere, and it’s way overdue.

“Come, my queen,” Rafe says, dragging back the covers and crawling off of me.

Queen. Something I never in a million years would have expected, but here I am. Queen of the monster realm.

It still sounds strange hearing it out loud.

I drag myself out of bed and to the enormous attached bathroom to splash water on my face and get ready. Rafe’s right, I should have gotten up sooner, but I couldn’t help it. I’ve never felt so safe, so protected, than I do when I’m curled up with one of my mates, and I’ve never slept better than I do on Rafe’s incredibly soft sheets.

Fucking until the wee hours of the morning probably has something to do with my fatigue as well, and the thought puts a smile on my face.

Damn, it was so good.

Rafe insists I wear one of the hundred gowns that have been made for me since we triumphed over the Malevs, but they’re impractical for traveling great distances. Especially if Elio flies me there. Too much fabric flapping around.

I dress in my favorite pair of jeans, blanching at how tight they’ve gotten since we moved into the castle. Having a full staff to wait on us hand and foot has been great, but my hips are cursing the cooks for making such delicious meals.

I’ll need to lay off the extra sweets unless I can make a trip to Earth soon to buy more pants. I don’t think the best monster seamstresses could make denim, much less sew me some new jeans.

I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask though.

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