Page 212 of Monsters in Love

How was the retreat, Tamara? Oh, you know, went for a walk, fell into an abandoned labyrinth and fell for a satyr. How was your week?

Yeah, that was going to end with me in forced therapy, and I had no desire for that.

“I’ll keep my mouth shut, but I meant what I told Kavi. I’m coming back to him. You can’t stop me.”

Nico spun and faced me, his cloak twitching into feathers and then back to its fabric appearance. It was some kind of magic, I knew, but what was the point in questioning it at this point?

“I could stop you, if I wanted to.” He dropped his shoulders, forced some of the tension from his frame. “But I don’t want to. He deserves happiness, just like the rest of us.”

“And you don’t have a problem with the fact I’m human?”

Nico snickered. “My own lover is human, though she spent a long time trying to put me in my grave before she ended up in my bed.”

“Oh.” My mouth hanging open. I had not been expecting that. “Right. Okay.”

“You are new here, and have much to learn, but if Kavi has chosen you, then you come under my protection. I wish only to keep this place safe, for all of us.”

I was going to have to rapidly change my approach to this monster. I thought his breaching our love nest meant we would have to fight to be together, but the opposite was true. He turned again and kept walking. Despite the darkness of these halls, he seemed to have no problem navigating the space.

“If you can limp, this will go easier. I’ll have one of my staff return you to the city on the premise of getting you checked out. Then it’s up to you. If you wish to return, you can call my assistant and you’ll be collected, but you have to tidy away your life first. You’ll be given a fake job here at The Nest for as long as you wish to remain.”

I pulled to a stop. “What?”

Nico sighed, then turned to me again. The shadows obscured his expression, but that was probably a good thing for me.

“As I said before.” His patience clearly fraying. “This place must be protected at all costs. If you choose to be here, you need a reason. I will not fake your death and deny you your life; that would be harmful to you, and my lover requires that even the humans who live with us are protected.” I could practically hear the way his teeth ground together. “Can we get out of here now? As much as you might like this place, I dislike being underground.”

I pressed my lips together, suppressing the chuckle that threatened to escape. This beast, the one in control of everything here, and he was afraid of being in the labyrinth. A creature of the sky, clearly. We got moving again, and Nico led me to a nearby set of stairs that exited into fresh air, and a small, high-walled garden.

“Where are we?” I asked, spinning on the spot. There were a few flower beds and a double-glazed door. Nico approached it and turned the key, locking it behind us, and drawing the curtain to cover it. We were inside a small antechamber, and beyond that there was another room, what looked like a large, luxurious living area, complete with kitchenette.

“This is a gathering space for those who live on the grounds, of the non-human variety. It’s kept away from the main complex to avoid any…run-ins. But it serves its purpose.”

He walked to a set of double-glazed doors, one of which he slid open, showing an expansive garden full of wildflowers and trees. He pointed to the left.

“Go that way, through the gate – the code is 2945 – then keep going left, you’ll find the main complex. Hopefully one of the searchers will find you before you get there. And make sure you limp.”

My head was still reeling with the information as I stepped outside and walked across the garden toward the high fence surrounding it. Higher than your regular six-foot ones, though if someone came out here with a drone, they’d still be able to spy.

Unless there was some kind of magic preventing that too? My brain couldn’t think about that now.

I found the gate, entered the code and stepped through. The gate automatically closed behind me with a loudthunk, and I wondered whether the same code would get me back in. Pushing those thoughts aside I got moving, remembering to limp and look as bedraggled and sore as I should have after a few nights in the woods. My clothes – or rather, the damage to them – were doing the bulk of that job.

The reality was that I felt rested, satiated in ways I’d never been before, and the only aches remaining in my body were from making love with Kavi. My core clenched at the thought of his impressive member and the way he’d used his tongue to work magic on me.

“I see her!” someone yelled. “Tamara!”

I stopped moving, glancing around for the voice, and then she came closer. It was Keziah, and my relief at seeing her face surprised me. We were work friends, not really hang outside work friends. But she was someone I knew, someone I liked, and that felt so damn good. I had a sudden urge to tell her all of the crazy things that had happened since I’d sat beside her at dinner. To warn her not to go off the trails, not to go too far from the retreat.

I wouldn’t take back what I’d learned; would never give up having met Kavi, but I wasn’t sure I’d wish this life shattering revelation on anyone else. My brain was still struggling to comprehend it all.

I hobbled toward her, making it clear that my ankle hurt, wishing it was a whole lot worse because the desire to run was overwhelming. She crushed me into a hug and then pulled back to look at me. There were a few cuts and scrapes still, and my clothing was dirty and torn. Her face creased in concern.

“I’m fine. I swear. I’m just so happy to see you,” I surprised myself with the honesty in those words. Because it hit me then that if I was to do this – leave everything I knew and come here – I would miss her. I would miss my family. Those day-to-day things that I was so accustomed to.

Could I?

His face filled my mind along with that feeling of rightness that I’d never had with anyone else. The feel of his arms around me, the safety I’d felt cocooned with him in his lair.

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