Page 12 of Monsters in My Bed
Darkness shrouds the castle even more than before, and I sense the oily presence of the False King seeping into my pores. Sounds of a monstrous battle echo all the way to the sky, and my stomach drops. Something's happening—something terrible.
“We’ve got to help Mark!”
“We will,” Osz promises. “But first, we're taking you and the babies to the hidden tunnels.”
“No, we'll take the babies back to Roxy and Rastorj, and then we'll go help Marktogether.”
Osz wisely doesn't argue, but I sense him and Vizruk talking in their heads—plotting, planning, anything to keep me from going with them—but what they don't know is I won't sit back; I won't be still. Mark has fought so muchfor me, and I'm going to return the favor.
The twins speed us as fast as they can into The Palasseum and away from the arena where Mark and The Fallacious war. My twin mates zoom all over the place, confusing me as to why they're entering all the rooms and touching all the walls and the objects within them.
“What are you guys doing? We need to hurry!”
“Zuriv will sense our presence, and we don't want him to be able to track us. This way, he can look in every room and know that we've been there, but he won't know where we're hiding.”
It makes sense since it's the walls that reveal the secret tunnel, and if Viz and Osz touch them all, it won't be obvious to The Fallacious where we've gone. When we finally descend into the basement, I breathe a sigh of relief. Vizruk sets me down and quickly works to open up the secret passage, pulling me in with him, before resealing the wall tightly shut.
Then he picks me back up again, and my twin monsters zoom down the hall to where Roxy and Rastorj wait. I have no idea how much time has passed—it feels like years, when it's maybe only been a day. My stomach rumbles and my bladder clenches as if reminding me that I'm human and my basic needs haven't been met… aside from the ones that my mates have sated.
But all that is forgotten when we push into the room and I see Roxy. She's a despondent, limp mess. Her hair tangles everywhere and her softly glowing gaze is blank. Rastorj hovers over her lifeless form that’s slumped into the couch, worry etched deep into his monstrous face. When he sees us, his face brightens marginally.
“Alexis! Thank the gods—”
He cuts off when he sees the babies Osz cradles, his eyes widening as the purple glow of his eyes intensifies.
“You gave birth!”
“I did. The sinqol pools saved me.”
“I have to take Roxy there—”
“Yes, but Mark is fighting Zuriv. It's not safe.”
Rastorj’s purple stare slides over to my mates. “There’s the secret exit you used.”
I blink, barely recalling when Osz and Vizruk first took me from the hidden passageways. “He’s right! Why didn’t we use that to return?”
“It’s only to leave,” Vizruk explains.
“Good. Now, how do I get to those pools?” Rastorj taps his long claws against his thigh as he waits for my mates to answer, and I wiggle out of Vizruk’s hold to sit by Roxy on the couch.
The movement seems to jar her back to the present as she takes in the occupants of the room. Like her mate, her eyes enlarge when she spies the sleeping babies in Osz’ arms.
“Twins?” Her surprise echoes in the space around us.
“And a girl?!” Rastorj adds in the same shocked tone when he finally makes out the gender of my daughter. “What are they born from?”
I try not to fidget. “Erm, desire and humor.”
Roxy raises a brow, a slight smirk curling her lips at this, and I know she's laughing at me. “Interesting. You’ll have to tell me howthathappened.”
“We need to get back to Mark first.”
My best friend lifts a weak hand toward the door. “Go help him. Rastorj and I will watch the babies.”
“No,” Rastorj counters. “We are going to those pools.”
His mate won't even look him in the face. “Rastorj, I don't want to be saved—I don't want this baby to be saved.”
