Page 105 of Monsters in Love

Mouth open, she gaped at the space.

Gods. She’d been braced for tattered cloth and piles of bones and looming monsters, and what she’d gotten was a space that glowed like embers at sunset. As tall as her cottage, the room had thick wooden beams marking floors and an entire wall of colored glass.

“Holy Gods, Belle.” Her sister gripped her arm. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is. It’s…” Belle studied the glass—the stained glass—barely illuminated from light outside. It was different here, but she recognized that pattern. A swirl of rainbow, all the colors to honor their fallen gods and stand as a beacon for their return. “Golden Gods,” she breathed. “We’re in the belfry.”

How can this be?

She turned in a slow circle, marveling at the height of the space, the growing light seeping through the glass. How could the tunnels below Windhaven stretch up into the tower?

Mind racing, she faced the creature.

It stood by the now-closed portal, its massive frame cast in soft shades of blue and pink and honey. Broad shoulders and bare-chest, aside from a coat of fine fur, it wore only a pair of loose shorts tied around narrow hips with a length of what looked to be rope.

A demon. An inhuman creature. And yet that casual stance felt more potently masculine than any of Jaston’s posturing.

Perhaps she shouldn’t make assumptions, but…

Her gaze dropped to its midsection and her cheeks heated.Male. Oh, it appears to be quite male, indeed.

She forced her eyes back to its face. “Are you…”

If they were finally safe from the other demons, then it was past time she got answers. She lifted her chin. “Do you consider yourself male? What do we call you? What are you? And why did you help us?”

The questions tumbled out of her in a rush.

“Thank you for your help,” she continued, unable to stop imitating a babbling brook. “We truly are grateful. We would not have made it without you. But please. Please, I must understand—”

Movement flashed across the room.

“Belle!” Emmi jumped. “The other one isinhere.”

“Stay back!” Holding out her hand—not that her splayed fingers would do any good against such beings—Belle glanced rapidly between the pair. The second creature was the one she’d glimpsed on the stairs earlier. Noticeably smaller than their rescuer and leaner, though it wore a nearly identical pair of rough shorts.

It dropped onto the floor from a beam and regarded them quietly from beside the stained glass.

Neither of the creatures made a move toward them.

“B-belle…” Emmi’s voice shook. “They’re sobig.”

Her sister might stand boldly before human bullies and spit in the face of death, but she’d never dealt well with critters. When it came to evicting bats from their attic or mice from the kitchen, that was always Belle’s job—one she didn’t mind. She’d much rather send animals peacefully on their way than let another use cruel traps.

She pushed Emmi all the way behind her.

Shoulders back and head high, she focused on their rescuer. “Do you mean us harm?”

He shook his massive head. “No.”

His deep voice trembled through her with the force of a waterfall. Her mouth formed a circle at the discovery he couldspeak. A year of studying the tunnels, and it had never once occurred to her to simply knock on the ground and ask questions. And gods, did she have questions.

“We mean you no harm,” he rumbled. “You are safe here.”

Her gaze flicked to the smaller one, who was bobbing his head in agreement.

“What…” She licked her lips. “What do we call you? Why did you help us? Why are we…why are we here?”

“You…” The creature’s giant hand lifted, long claws gleaming in the soft glow of the stained glass.

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