Page 27 of Monsters in My Bed
I duck out of the way, watching the shades take off until there’s nothing left but one. It hovers a few feet away from me before shifting into his Vasura form. His eyes glow a familiar bronze, much like his son’s, and I kneel at his feet. The old man comes forward, his gaze tired from the lifetime he spent trapped in his brother’s army.
“We thought you were dead, Your Majesty.”
“Not for lack of Zuriv trying. Ultimately, adding me to his army was the best option, as I had lost all hope. My mate…”
Pain lances me at the thought of the True King acknowledging the loss of his mate. Any other Vasura would be completely mad by this point, turned feral from the agony of losing their other half. But not this man. It’s why he was king, the strongest of all the Vasura. Yet as I stare at him, he’s just a shadow of his former self.
“What happened to Zuriv’s army?”
The king turns to Xhoshad. “He set them free.”
It takes me a moment to realize that he meansme. “Free how?”
“You gave them back true hope, not the false kind my brother did. They left to find their mates, as you said.” He pauses, focusing his attention on Alexis. “You must be their mate.”
She steps forward, extending a hand in human greeting, but the king ignores it and bends down on one knee before her.
“My brother fears you the most.”
“I am to be his undoing.”
Her words ring with finality.
“Hmmm. I know all about The Pharos. Zuriv’s thoughts were not his own when he controlled the swarm. How can I help?”
Alexis bites her lip. “Umm, can you open back up the portals?”
The king sighs. “It’ll take a considerable amount of power—strength that I don’t have right now.”
“But you’re the only one who knows how,” Nerazi interjects.
“I know.”
A sick, twisted idea dawns over me. “Your Majesty, if my mate allows it, you can feed from her. We need to reclaim her.”
“I wondered why she lacked mating marks. Reclaim, you say?”
“The sinqol erases the breeding lines my mates scratch into me,” Alexis explains to the king, although she’s staring at me, her eyes wide. “Seriq, are you suggesting…”
“Sexual energy is some of the strongest around. If we let the king watch, he can harness it to open up the portals.”
Xhoshad's explanation is exactly what I was thinking, and clearly, it shocks our mate. “Doesn’t that go against—”
“My base emotion? Everything inside of me? Yes. But this isn’t about me. We have to open the portals to stop The Fallacious.”
“And to get you back to your other mates,” Nerazi adds.
“And my babies.”
This announcement arrests us all, and Xho’s red eyes narrow. “What babies?”
“I gave birth—to twins—a boy and a girl!”
My mouth flaps open, as does the king’s. “A girl?” he whispers in awe.
“Yep, Asha. And our son’s name is Elic.”
“Asha and Elic.” Nerazi repeats the names, as if tasting them on his tongue. “I bet they’re perfect.”
