Page 41 of My Monster's Keeper
They don’t answer me, but there is something about the silence that is increasingly unnerving me.
I get to the walkway and look around. There’s no one else, so I step onto it, and, with a tight grip on the rope, I pull myself up onto the giant ship.
The ship is just as empty. It’s not anything I can put my finger on, it’s a feeling in the air. The silence is deafening. I ease through the maze of containers. I find one that’s opened and peer in.
I don’t know why I expect there to be a monster, but it’s almost disappointing when it’s empty.
“I hate the ocean,” I say out loud. “Actually, I dislike the mystery of not being able to see how deep the water is. I dislike the cold, and I hate the way my hair feels after I’ve been swimming. I detest sand. The bugs, crabs, lice, fish. All of it.”
My voice trails off. The uneasy feeling grows, and I turn and start back. The ship jolts, and, with a start, I realise it’s moving.
“STIX!” I shriek.
I explode into a run, throwing myself around the corners of these containers. How did I come so far in such a short time? I’m not going to make it!
“PUPPY!” I stop to put everything into the scream.
But when I get to the side of the ship, I find them standing on the jetty. Puppy races along it, his spines fully extended, looking more fearsome than I’ve ever seen him. Stix has gone into his nightmare shape. He’s standing on the very edge of the jetty, reaching out, but he can’t touch the metal.
Fog suddenly rolls through, hiding them both. I let out a cry and race along the side of the ship, trying to stay as close to the shore as I can. Fuck, why did I come onto this stupid thing? Why did I think this was smart?
It gets cold all of a sudden, a punch of icy air that turns my breath to clouds of white. I tuck my arms in and wheeze.
The ship jolts to a stop, and I hit the side and drop to my knees. I’m so cold I can barely think.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur.
I whimper, and then I feel something in the air, like movement. I turn my head and find Frost standing there.
“Frost,” I murmur.
He bends down and cradles me in his arms. He puts a hand to my chest, and a heat fills me, making me gasp. I arch my back as it flows through me, burning and warming me. Yet, I can’t look away from those white iris’.
“You came for me?”
He frowns slightly. “Bewitching human.”
I’m confused, and I open my mouth to ask him when he swoops down, his tongue sweeping into my mouth. He tastes like berries, rich and wonderful. I could get drunk on his kiss. I wrap my arm around his neck, pulling myself tight against him.
He nips my bottom lip, and I open even more, allowing him all and everything. He’s consuming and compelling. It’s a kiss of pure seduction, and, in one second, I know that I don’t stand a chance.
He pulls back with a frown and a searching glance.
“Princeling, you will bring our human back to the land at once.”
I cock my head to the side. “Stix is calling.”
“The nightmare can wait.”
He leans in, his lips a mere whisper from mine. I’m frozen, torn between closing the distance and not when he pulls back.
“Let’s go, then.”
I’ve disappointed him, and although I feel deeply guilty, I need space to think.
“Okay.”
He carries me effortlessly back down to the jetty, and it’s only when we’re down that I realise what he’s done.
