Page 97 of My Monster's Keeper
“I liked you better screaming,” Diablos snarls.
“That’s what Stix said,” Frost intones with a wink in my direction.
My cheeks flame while Diablos groans like he’s in pain.
“Please, spare my delicate ears.” He looks around wrathfully. “The river. Go. Work.”
Puppy snaps his teeth, and Diablos shudders.
“Hartley, my love, let’s leave these heathens to go earn their keep,” Diablos says, and I swear to all that is insane on this planet, the demon pouts and sticks his nose in the air as he prances out.
Hartley gives me an exhausted wave and follows his lover out of our back door.
“I hate water,” Puppy says darkly.
“Why?” I ask.
Puppy considers me for a moment like he’s pondering whether to answer me or not. “They tried to drown me.”
Blood drains from my face. I edge closer to the Grim. “Who tried to hurt you?” The murderous urge to kill everything that looks at my Grim wrong tries to take over my sensible mind. I fight it back but only partially succeed.
He frowns and turns human, dropping into a neat crouch. “It doesn’t matter. I ate them.”
I watch as he walks out the door, my heart constricting my ability to think.
“When?” I ask in a harsh explosion of breath.
“He was young. A pup. He’s lived alone since that day. Grims are dangerous, even amongst our people. By the time I heard, he was gone.”
I whip around. “He’s been living alone since then?”
Stix takes hold of my shoulders. “The Grim would not allow anyone to come close. Not for comfort, not for kindness. He has been alone all this time.” Stix frowns. “Until now. Until you. He followed you here to this place.”
It hurts to swallow. All I want to do is go and find my Grim and cuddle him, then hunt down anyone who looks at him wrong.
“Let's go kill river monsters,” I whisper.
Stix smiles at me and squeezes my shoulders before letting go.
Frost pulls me to him. “You’re coming with me.”
As soon as he touches me, white wraps around us, spinning faster and faster. Cold hits my face, making my skin tingle. Frost takes a huge step, and the white fades, leaving us standing on a hill, looking down at a filthy river.
That was actually really cool. I hold Frost’s hand, loathe to let go of the tenuous connection between us.
It’s thick and brown, the waters moving fast but not in a rough way. I don’t like it at all. There’s rubbish caught in the reeds, and, on the other side, a chain-link fence. It’s just really desolate.
Puppy snatches up my hand and sinks his teeth into my palm. I gasp but don’t pull away. The pain is sudden and exquisite. He lets go and catches my eye with eyes that glow yellow.
He doesn’t say another word as he changes shape and trots down to the river’s edge. Stix appears on the other side of the river with Wilder.
“I like this divide-and-conquer thing you have going on. So, what’s here?” I mutter.
“Feels like something from my world,” Frost whispers absently. He takes three steps towards the river. His face sharpens with concentration.
“Frost?”
“Shh.” He holds up a hand, turning his face sharply. He takes a step, and, between the space, his humanity melts from him. A crown of ice and fire sits in his ghost-like hair. He’s taller, his cheekbones more prominent. He only vaguely resembles a human. But, he is beautiful. So gloriously stunning that he takes my breath away. Never mind about his silver and white armour.
