Page 64 of Becoming Monsterous

AShade. A monstrous, giant, soul-eating creature with a mouth full of teeth.

Does it even have a heart? A soul?AnythingI can use to try to control it?

I know in theory it used to be something nice. But I find that hard to imagine.

"They used to usher souls into the afterlife." Angus speaks softly, as if he can overhear the train of my thoughts. "Their bellies would fill with spirits as they lifted into the sky. It was never supposed to be that they just...consumedsouls. But once there was no purpose left for them, they changed. Just like we all did."

Now my heart genuinely aches for them.

Maybe that's part of my power—the good part, that is, the part that could keep me from turning into Aphrodite.

The ability to love, even when someone hasn't earned it. Even when they're lost.

Because that's when they might need it the most.

"Let's go."

Using my powers of persuasion, we find the tallest skyscraper nearby and charm a guard into giving us roof access. The Shade seems to have settled into a kind of movement pattern, undulating in a large oval shape over Times Square and a few streets east and west.

There's a news helicopter nearby, hovering with its high beams pointed at the Shade. Faces in Times Square turn up towards its glowing light. As the sun dips lower below the horizon and twilight fades, it's becoming clearer and clearer that it's more than just a projection or some kind of well-lit balloon.

Soon, someone will realize it wasn't ever meant to be here, and do something about it. Like launch some kind of missiles at it. Which will do absolutely nothing but enrage it.

"It doesn't seem like it's hungry," Morpheus comments idly, studying it as it turns around and heads back towards us. "Usually their stomachs start to kind of... glow when they need a meal."

I swallow. "How do we do this? The last one, you guys managed to scare off, but this time... this time we need to transport it."

"Leave the transportation part to me," Aleron says grimly, stepping back to fully unfurl his dark wings. "I'll be here, ready to take it to the gorgon cave. All the three of you need to do is drive it to me."

"You can't fly and transport it at the same time?"

"Not something that big." He grimaces, his eyes glowing a deep, blood red. "My wings have their limits. The other beasts I could do, but this? This is large enough that trying to take it down and transport it at the same time will drain me."

Morpheus says, "We can use my tattoos to scare it towards the roof."

"It's going to be up to me," I observe quietly. "I'm the only one who can do this."

I glance over at Angus, who doesn't exactly have the ability to fight spirits with magic.

"I'll keep watch," he offers, sounding a little despondent that he can't throw around his weight this time. "If someone shows up on the roof, I'll knock them out so they don't remember anything."

Human brains don't work like that, despite what television may claim, but I decide to keep that to myself. Hopefully no one will show up, and my sweet, precious minotaur won't put an innocent human in a deadly coma.

"Ready?" I ask Morpheus.

He nods, flicking out his wrist to summon his rain cloud tattoo. "Ready."

The cloud grows in size and density in front of it, shifting from a light color to a deep grey. Stepping onto its hovering form, he holds out a hand to me and lifts me up.

"It doesn't feel like we should be able to do this," I tell him as the cloud gently pulls us into the sky. "Clouds aren't really...platforms."

"Don't think about it too hard," Morpheus advises me, drawing me up against his hard, warm body. "In fact, don't think at all. Justfeel.That's what your powers are, after all."

Swallowing, I stare at the Shade as it slowly moves towards us.

It doesn't seem like it was ever anything other than a large, amorphous creature made of glowing bones and a jellyfish-like covering. Nothing about it is solid at all, or suggests a heart.

So I don't look for one.

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