Page 48 of Love & Monsters
“He should treat you like a true pet. You don’t belong in our world human. You are only a soft, fleshy thing. Easily torn to shreds.” She curled her fist as she snarled at me.
I flinched back against the hard wood of the throne. My heart lurched forward, and I stopped breathing. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, unsure of what else I could say to appease her.
“My brother is the Lord.” Her fist slammed the table. “You should be nothing more than a toy for him, and yet he treats you as though you are his mate.”
“No, he doesn’t.” The words tumbled past my lips to deny her statement before they could sink in.
“He desires to protect you, lets you sit on his throne in our mother’s home, and feeds you with his own hands.” Ilya snatched her gaze away from me. She took a steadying breath, hissing between her clenched teeth. “A human mate. Our father would roll over in his grave to see it.”
“We’re not—” My words died on my lips when someone threw open the great hall doors. Another guard rushed in, this time looking directly at Ilya.
“Lady Ilya.” He bowed his head when he stopped on the opposite side of the table. “Lord Ascian has met Baron Knox at the portcullis. They make their return now, but we thought you should know.”
“Knox.” Her voice was out of breath. All the anger on her face melted, and her red eyes moved to the open doors. A second of silence stretched as we listened, hearing something down the hall.
Two men laughed. As soon as the sound reached our ears, Ilya rose to her feet as if the air moved her in that direction. I stayed frozen in my seat, reeling from what she said.
“Knox!” she cried, curling a hand over her belly.
A beat of silence. The laughter stopped.
“Ilya?” Knox shouted back. A moment later, boots slammed on the floor as he raced down the hall.
The pale demon with moonlight hair stopped in the doorway. Ilya almost stumbled when she walked around the table and caught sight of him. Both froze, scanning one another as if making sure their eyes weren’t deceiving them.
The air in the room exploded with passionate tension as they raced to each other. Ilya and Knox crashed into one another. Knox embraced his mate as she melted and wept in his arms.
Even though she now cried in her lover’s arms, I was still terrified of Ilya. Despite seeing her breakdown at the tender moment, I knew she could hurt me if she wanted to. And she might want to.
Vadric followed behind his friend. He walked into the great hall, smiling at the sight of Knox and Ilya clutching desperately at the other. His feet carried him across the room. I saw the mixture of sorrow and relief in his features as he stopped at the head table across from me.
Vadric sighed. His brows pinched, and the corners of his lips pulled down. A new tension in his shoulders made him appear tense despite the sweet reunion happening nearby.
When he looked up at me, his hands curled over the edge of the table. A half snarl, half groan slipped free. “Mina.” My name sounded like an apology. “I thought we would have more time.”
Something felt like a knife twisting in my chest. The blood stopped in my veins, and I couldn’t look away from his piercing, anguished yellow eyes.
“More time?” After the things Ilya said to me, I didn’t know what to think.
“Yes, to plan. Rykan has already realized that I’ve escaped the city. Despite the distraction of the insurgency, he’s turned his army around.” His claws dug into the table, and I heard the wood groan with complaint as he growled like an enraged beast. “I must now plan to go to war with my brother to take back what is rightfully mine.”
Twenty-Seven
It didn’t seem fair when we only just escaped. My life felt like a roller coaster that never ended. A nightmare ride with too many loops. It made me relentlessly dizzy.
Vadric allowed Knox and Ilya time for their reunion. Though not much. Before I had any time to settle and take in what was happening, they ushered me into Vadric’s study. He wanted me to sit by his side while he conferred with his highest-ranking soldiers and Knox.
I felt like a pet again. Seen but not heard while they shouted back and forth about numbers, time, and supplies. Everything went over my head. After all, I was only a human, not versed in the ways of war. Certainly not war for monsters.
When they mentioned numbers, my mind allowed me to tune back into the conversation. On Earth, I worked in accounting. To say numbers were easy for me was an understatement. It was the only part of their arguing I could comprehend.
They needed help keeping track of their numbers, and no one wanted to do that part. Every terrifying monster in Vadric’s study wanted to jump headfirst into the fighting. They wanted blood and vengeance.
None of them, other than Vadric, saw me as anything more than a bag of meat and bones. In this world, I’m just an object, but I could be more. I could be helpful.
I didn’t have a job anymore. No purpose other than surviving to the next day. Yet with my background in accounting and my mathematics degree, there was potential for me to be something here. For me to do something.
What if I helped Vadric?
