Page 23 of My Monster's Keeper
She turns to me and half smiles. “They aren’t coming.” I think I see a shadow of disappointment in her eyes, but she pushes it back. I want to know what she’s thinking.
Shame, which I am unused to, floods my body. I’ve disappointed her. Outrageous. I grit my teeth and reach for her wrist. “As you Earthlings like to say, fuck them. Let me show you what I’m capable of.”
She peers up at me, those alien blue eyes probing deep inside the shadows of who I am and seeing me. Kind of seeing me. I want to show her the rest of me, impress her, dazzle her.
It’s ironic, really, how many creatures from my void have chased and demanded my attention that I coldly refused to dole out, and here I am, desperately trying to get this…human to like me. They were not worthy mates. The word burns into my mind, and I clear my throat and lose my grip on the human shape I’m wearing. It slips, but I grab it back, causing no more than a flicker.
“All right, Stix. Show me.”
Excitement rushes through my veins. This is it. This is my moment. I jog to the shadows away from the sun beating down and let go of the human form. I straighten up to my full height and smile.
Her eyes are wide, round, and startled. I snatch the shadows and hug them around me, vanishing from view. I move through the dark, appearing twenty feet away and climbing the wall with ease.
She moves closer, watching as I walk up the wall as if I’m walking on the ground beside her. As soon as she steps into the shadows, I feel it. I feel her. I drop down, rising behind her, silently. My fingers slip around her throat, cradling the precious pale flesh.
“In my world, I’m the Shadow King. The strongest, fastest, and most dangerous. I control shadows, I use them. Wherever there is a shadow, I have access. If you stand in them, you aren’t safe. Not from me,” I murmur. “There is nowhere you can hide, where I won’t find you, for you always have a shadow unless you are standing in mine.”
She makes a tiny sound, one that sends need burning through me. I force myself to unclench my fingers, allowing her to slip away. I’ll be patient with her.
A sound like a boot shifting on concrete catches my attention, and I turn. Wilder stands in the middle of the car park with a pack of hounds. He lifts an arm and points. The dogs charge, snapping, snarling, frothing at the mouth. I stay close to her, just in case. But, at the last minute, the Lord of the Hunt whistles, and the dogs veer off. Birds drop from the sky, diving towards us, shrieking, only to swerve at the last minute.
Wilder lets out a shrill feral scream, and when I glance at him, he’s astride a massive, monstrous black horse. It’s got horns running down its neck and face and black ichor runs from its massive hooves. But it’s Wilder himself that impresses me.
His black and green hair hangs down to his waist and seems to float as if on water. Those huge horns reach proudly into the air, and they seem to be covered in cobwebs with tiny jewels. He’s covered in a deep green armour that has bronze and gold leaves and thorns all over it. I cluck my tongue. The Fae is pretty, that is annoying.
He doesn’t move the horse, just stands there, and a deep fog comes up to cover the brush. The atmosphere gets darker and more dangerous. Bringing more shadows for me to play in.
A howl comes from close by, the sound of it tearing my awareness from the Fae and searching for the Grim. Even by the rules that govern my world, Grims are notorious for their rebellious behaviour and uncontrollable natures. They are too powerful. It’s why they are so rare and hated.
But Puppy is not a normal Grim, he is a tortured and twisted version of what a Grim should be. He is not sane.
I do not fear the Grim.
I am concerned about what he might do.
It’s different.
A warning inside me drags my attention around, and I spot him. He stands perfectly still, and then he’s gone. But the world feels the wrongness. It gets darker, like it’s trying to hide. The wind picks up, snatching his howl with him. The urge to run will infect every creature within miles.
“Still with me?” I ask.
She nods.
“Grims upset the balance of the world. It’s like the natural order of the world wants to reject them. That’s why when people see them, they feel strange. It’s why when my people see them, they fear him. The nature of a Grim is to destroy and to be alone.”
She nods sharply. “And your nature?”
“To maintain order through chaos. To bring fear to the darkness.”
We turn back to Wilder. His horse rears up, and when its hooves thud down, I swear the earth shakes. The horse moves sideways.
A moment later, I spot the pale movement through the trees. The lost prince is more ethereal than I expected. He has snow white hair that is just as floaty as Wilder’s. His armour is silver and white, but it’s the power that turns the air alive that makes me reassemble my thoughts on him.
My future mate is transfixed by the team. I’m mildly annoyed. I want her attention on me.
“Well, hell. I’m going to need some better knives,” she whispers.
I don’t think I’m meant to hear her, but her reaction makes me smile.
