Page 47 of Monsters of Midnight

RYDER

Blood pumped through me with renewed vigor as I landed square on Cade’s chest, pushing him aside and pummeling him with my fists to keep him away from my wife.

“This is over now,” I said, beating him mercilessly.

He whipped back up, twisting to the side and writhing away from me. As I turned to engage him again, my eye was caught by a dark shadow moving up behind me. I spun around, completely ignoring Cade, and instead focusing on this new threat, his younger brother. Caseous, with a striking resemblance to my father in his monstrous form.

However, he wasn’t my father’s child.

My father and his father were brothers. He was my cousin. It didn’t make me any easier on him as I betted my wings in the air, pulling myself up and driving myself down in a jackknife attack against him. I slammed him into the ground; it was satisfying to hear the crunch of his skull against stone.

I glanced over at Caroline, even as I thought that. She must think I’m a monster. She’d be right. I shook my head and turned away. There was no point in me worrying about Caroline’s opinion of me at this stage; either she accepted me or she didn’t. Based on the look on her face as she watched me she wasn’t worried about me being a monster. She was more terrified I would be pummeled.

Between Cade and his brother, I was out numbered. They both fought equally well. One of them fought me, the other one rested, and vice versa, so while they were taking small in between rests, I received no respite.

Eventually, they were wearing me down my energy, my fists landing weaker on them, and there’s landing with continued ferocity.

One particularly mean punch landed from Cade, squaring me right across the jaw. I landed face down on the cobblestone streets of Undirheim, pretty sure this was where I was going to end it.

“Need a hand there, brother?” Magnus’s voice rang out and seemed to echo through Undirheim as he offered me his hand. I knew there was blood on my brother’s hand, but I also knew Caroline was following her chosen path. And if she chose to come back to me, then she would. If she didn’t, then she wouldn’t and that had nothing to do with Magnus whatsoever.

“I do.” I reset my hand and gripped his firmly.

With my brother at my side, we were able to take on Cade and his brother. At least now we were able to shift the tide in our favor and push them to the limits of what they could sustain.

Cade’s weakened defenses crumbled beneath my angry vortex of power. This creature had tried to take away Caroline. He had almost succeeded. I had seen her standing there, watching me when I first came into the space and there was something about the light in her eyes that made me realize she recognized me in a way she hadn’t before. It was as if now she did more than just see me.

She felt me.

That made all the difference. Her ability to feel me again. It opened up between us and I could feel the radiating love pouring from her toward me. It filled me up and lit my soul on fire. I brought around my elbow with the resounding crack, connected it so hard to Cade’s jawline I thought I might dislocate my shoulder.

Instead, I broke his jaw.

The battle was short-lived after that.

Thrain came in with a team of demons, who subdued any monster that wasn’t willing to go into the rift. After seeing what it took to subdue one of them, most opted for just returning to their homeland.

Cade’s brother slipped out with all the monsters crossing the rift. His time back on earth had been limited, and I guessed he had not had the best impression of our realm, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest. The less intelligent monsters I have here, the better.

Thrain bound Cade’s hands behind his back and nodded his head toward me. “We’ll keep him busy here in Undirheim to make sure he stays out of trouble.”

“How can you even do that,” Cade said. “I am a monster. You have no jurisdiction over me.”

“You broke the laws of Undirheim,” Thrain said as he slipped some metal armor hand cuffs over Cade’s wrists. “I have complete jurisdiction over you. That will keep you focused on your service to the realm.”

Magnus stepped forward.

“Not so fast,” Thrain said. “There are laws in Undirheim. You can’t just come and go as you please. You’ve come and gone already.”

I looked at my brother. “This is maybe the best place for you to be,” I said.

He nodded in agreement.

Then I turned and saw Caroline, her eyes full of love and longing and I knew I had come home.

Chapter 29

CAROLINE

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