Page 47 of The Musician and the Monster

Cold swallowed her, freezing more completely than if she’d lain naked in the snow. At first, she didn’t recognize the sound the monster made, but on the third try, the certainty of it settled like a weight upon her bones.

“Ceridwen.”

It said her name. The monster knew her.

“Drystan?” she whispered.

Her lunch threatened to come up onto the stones.

He leaned away, traces of humanity coming back into the monstrous face that peered at her with human emotions—sorrow, grief, fear.

“You’re the…” But she could not say the word. Her whole body shook, barely able to form the truth that spilled between them. She scrambled across the ground, aiming for the stairs.

“Please.” His voice cracked in a pained rasp from chapped, almost human lips. His eyes begged and pleaded.

But he was the monster who haunted their city. A killer. A demon in the night.

He kept the monster at bay, he’d said. A humorless huff of laughter bubbled to her lips as tears blurred her eyes. The Lord Protector who had been assigned to protect this city terrorized it instead.

The man she cared for. Whom she kissed.

“Ceridwen.” A hand, more human now than monstrous, reached for her. “Please.”

The word pierced her heart, but with it came the sharp stab of reality that cleared away the fog of terror shrouding her mind.

She couldn’t stay here.

Not with him. Not now.

Ceridwen rose unsteadily to her feet, ignoring the pain in her ankle, and backed toward the stairs.

“Stay…” The end of the word trailed into an inhuman hiss as he wrestled with the monster within. A flash of red filled his eyes, sealing her decision.

With one final glance, she turned and hurtled down the stairs.

Each step sent the same thought echoing through her mind.

Drystan is the monster.

Chapter 21

Ceridwen

Ceridwen flew out of the bottom of the staircase into the waiting embrace of Gwen and exclamations of concern from Jackoby and Kent. Tears streaked down her face. A sob shook her shoulders as she slumped against the older woman, the weight of moments ago crashing down upon her.

“Are you hurt?”

“What happened?”

“Miss Ceridwen—”

Their voices swam through her head, but she barely heard them.Drystan is the monster.The monster looming just upstairs.

“He—” She hiccupped. “The monster.”

Gwen sucked in a breath. Kent swore and stomped away.

“Upstairs. He—” But as she looked around, not a glimmer of surprise or concern wove through their expressions. If anything, they looked defeated with downcast eyes and slumped shoulders.

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