Page 77 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck

“She’s no daughter of mine,” said Henry, glaring at Astria.

Who was this stranger? He wasn’t my brother. Gone was the man I thought he was. What stood before me was a shell of him. One that sounded like Nile.

Astria tried to run for Henry. “Daddy, can they stay for dinner with us?”

Henry lifted his foot, and I started toward him, scared he might kick Astria.

I wasn’t needed. Stratton went at Henry.

Drest had to pull his cousin off my brother. “Hey, take it easy!”

“He was going to hurt her,” said Stratton. “You so much as look cross at her, and I’ll save the courts the time of trying you for whatever the hell you have going on downstairs. I’ll handle you myself.”

A cold, menacing smile came over my brother’s face as he looked at the basement door. “I’m sure you’d like to think so.”

There was a massive bang from below. The entire house shook. Pictures fell off the wall, hitting the floor. The lights flickered and then cut out. Lightning streaked the sky outside, giving the foyer a small bit of light.

A cold shiver raced up my spine, just like the night I’d thought I’d seen a robed man at the back door. Yet again, I had the strongest urge to grab Astria and run. Before I could act on it, the basement door exploded outward, right at Astria and Stratton.

My heart leaped to my throat as fear for my niece took hold of me.

Stratton spun, putting his body before Astria’s as he wrapped her in his arms, taking the full force of the door as it hit him.

Drest reacted as quickly as his cousin had, blocking my body with his, keeping splintering wood from hitting me.

Torid came out of the pendant full force, thrusting Stratton back from Astria.

The area quickly filled with something that felt like static.

Drest’s eyes widened as he lifted me, trying to get me from the spot.

I struggled, managing to get free even. I reached for my niece.

Drest shouted something, but I couldn’t hear it over the volume of whatever was happening around us. It was then that I realized the foyer was incredibly crowded. We weren’t alone. Monsters that looked like someone had hand sewn them together were everywhere. Each was more grotesque than the next. My mind spun, and the reality of what they were hit me hard.

They were monsters, and Henry had done as Victor once had—he’d created them. They lunged at Drest, swarming him in numbers that left him being dragged to the floor.

At the same moment, Stratton was flung across the room by one.

Torid was making the monsters look like rag dolls as he tossed one after another far from him and Astria, keeping her safely near him.

I grabbed at one of the monsters to pull it off Drest. All I ended up doing was yanking its arm off in the process. The shock and horror of that left me standing there for a moment, frozen. My gaze slid to my brother, who was pressed against the far wall looking elated by what was happening.

I’d been wrong about him. He’d not been headed down our uncle’s path. He’d catapulted over it and was running full force down a highway to hell.

When I realized I was still holding an arm, I used it to hit the monster nearest me, who seemed totally focused on Drest, who was still pinned under them. When I struck it, it twisted, setting its sights on me. Well, most of it sights, since one eye popped out and fell to the floor, rolling under the foot of another monster, which proceeded to step on it.

I swung at the one-eyed monster again with the very arm that had been attached to it only moments ago.

It batted the arm out of my hand like it was swatting a fly. It then lunged at me.

Drest roared, throwing monsters off him and coming up from the pile, looking relatively unharmed. He yanked hold of the monster coming at me and proceeded to pop its head clean off. He then threw the head to the side and kicked the body from him. His gaze was wild as it landed on me.

I saw the worry there—for me, for the baby.

I nodded to him, touching my stomach lightly, wanting him to know we were okay.

One of the monsters grabbed him by his head from behind and made a jerking motion.

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