Page 16 of Ruthless Monsters

~ Shade ~

Okay, Shade, you can do this. It’s not a cage. No, it’s just a tunnel.I inhale and exhale slowly, trying not to focus on the four walls encasing me.Yep, it’s a wide, innocent tunnel. No one’s trying to hold you against your will or torturing you. It’s just a tunnel that leads to freedom. Or, you know, it leads through a dazzling palace where there’s a king waiting to squish you like a bug.I swallow hard.Turns out, I suck at pep talks.

“You okay up there?”Blake asks me, and god, it’s so good to hear her voice. Being in the cage was bad.Realbad, but it was even worse not being able to speak with my bestie.

“Never been better,”I chirp back, and even though I feel like I’m a few seconds away from collapsing into a feathered heap, I mean it. Being in the cage I’d felt helpless. Even worse than that,I’d feltuseless.Now I have the chance to actually help Blake and find the guys.

I can hear the concern in her voice when she replies,“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. If you’d rather hide?—”

“Do what?”I say, cutting her off, because there’s absolutely no way I’m just hiding in the vents while she faces off with the king.“Find four assholes who absolutely don’t deserve you?”

I hear her laughter in my head.

“Then again,”I amend,“now that I’ve seen King Celzar, maybe I’ve been judging them too harshly.”I pause, thinking about Prince Callan and the damn assassin, then I say,“I guess I’m willing to give them another shot, though they’ve already lost points in the rescue department seeing as I’m the one going to them.”

Blake chuckles again, but there’s a vulnerability in her voice when she says,“Find them, Shade. Make sure they’re okay.”

I swallow again as my heart squeezes.“I will, girl.”It feels wrong to leave her with the king, and I don’t like my chances of finding the guys. And even if I do find them, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to remember the way back. Still, I don’t remind Blake of the fact that unlike other birds, I have horrible navigational skills. I’m pretty sure she’s just relieved she’s managed to get me away from the king’s clutches.If only I was a pigeon,I muse to myself.They always have an incredible sense of direction.

I move slowly, careful so my feet don’t scratch too loudly in the vents, and it’s not long until I’m following a vent down a long corridor. As I near the end, I take a bend to the left and accidentally trip over my feet. A thud echoes along the steel tube, and my heart practically stops.Oh, crappity crap!

“You hear that?” a male voice sounds from below, and I shuffle over to peer through a grate and see two guards standing in the corridor below.

“Hear what?” the other guard says, sounding bored.

The first guard scratches his forehead. “Thought I heard something.” He peers up, and I hold my breath, freezing in place as he stares straight at the grate.Oh, please, please let it be dark enough that he doesn’t see me.My tiny heart beats furiously as he frowns, and I wait for him to shout that he’s seen me. I don’t know if there are many crows in this place, but I’m sure the guards know about the king’s new caged pet.Please,I think again.

“Where are you now?”Blake asks, and I almost jump at the sound of her voice in my head.

“Uh, just moving along a corridor,”I tell her. The last thing I want her to do is worry.

The guard tilts his head, and just as I think he’s about to damn me and alert everyone to my position, his partner nudges his arm. “Probably just a rat. Koran told me they killed one in the kitchens a few days ago. Said the furry bastard was the size of a cat.”

The first guard looks away from the ventilation shaft and peers at his comrade. “Sounds fucking disgusting. You serious? I hate rats.”

I blow out a relieved breath, though my gaze darts to the path ahead of me.You and me both, buddy,I think, shuddering at the thought of encountering a rat up here.

I’m not brave enough to move for a while, just in case these guards take it upon themselves to try and capture the, uh,ratthat they think is in the shafts. Instead, I wait until they have a change over, and while they’re distracted, I hurry away, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Minutes pass, and I make my way through the palace, keeping an ear out in case I hear any chatter about prisoners. I’m close to another grate, but as I pass it, a familiar chilling voice draws my attention.Keep moving,I tell myself, but curiosity grips me, and I shuffle closer to the opening and peer down.

Whoa.I blink as I stare into the room below. I’m looking over some kind of garden, but instead of greenery, the eerily still plants, trees, and animals are made from crystals. White crystal rose bushes are scattered around tall trees, the leaves delicately carved so they almost look lifelike. Nestled among the branches are birds of all kinds, the statues so real-looking it’s as if the animals had been in the middle of singing a morning song when they were frozen like that. Everything sparkles and glitters in the dim lighting, and even the stream is made from crystal that’s been shaped and smoothed to mimic flowing water.Well, that’s seriously creepy.

“Aren’t you happy for me, sister? It’s not every day your brother gets engaged.” King Celzar’s voice is unmistakable, and instantly, my feathers puff up.

“I found the king,”I hiss to Blake.“He’s in some kind of weird garden.”

“The king?”Blake sounds pissed.“You’re supposed to be finding my mates and getting away from the king. Not searching for him!”

“I wasn’t searching for him,”I defend.“He just happens to be in the room I’m passing. Now, shh. Do you want to know what he’s saying or not?”

She huffs.“Just don’t get caught.”Of course, I know the extended version of that statement. What she means is, don’t get caught or she’ll have to risk everything including her own life to come and save me.

“So, what’s happening?”she prompts.

I crouch closer to the grate. Standing near the stream is a tall female with obsidian-colored hair that reaches her waist, smooth tan skin, and a long gossamer gown adorned with crystals. She stands with her back to me, so I can’t see her face, but I note the thick silver cuffs around each of her ankles. “Our kind aren’t blind, Celzar. If you think they’re oblivious to whatyou’ve continued to do to them all these years, then you’re a bigger fool than they are.” Her voice is feminine and soft, but I don’t detect any hint of fear.

Not far away, King Celzar stares at her. “It doesn’t matter what they think,” he replies harshly. “They can’t challenge me. And neither can you.”

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