Page 33 of Monsters in My Bed
“Didn’t you agree that love conquers all?” Nerazi clicks his talons together, not even pretending to hide his delight at The Fallacious’ discomfort. This fucker lives to sow discontent worse than even the False King.
“And the true king opened the portals.”
Seriq adds this tidbit with the same glee as our yellow-eyed brother, and Zuriv nearly drops the baby in his shock. “Now that truly is impossible.”
“So you keep saying.”
“My brother would’ve been too weak.” The False King stops denying that we neutralized The Revenant Swarm. There’s no way we would know about the true king, otherwise.
“Unless Alexis fed him,” I counter, being vague on purpose. Let The Fallacious come to his own conclusions—hopefully, the wrong ones.
Zuriv glares at our mate. “You might have reopened the portals, but remember how the prophecy ends.”
“With you dying,” Seriq spits.
“Only if she does, too. Either way, I win.”
The False King whistles, the shrill sound piercing the black of The Bowels and agitating the baby even more. In response, a terrible screech echoes back. Alexis trembles, scooting into Seriq’s side. She recognizes the noise, as do I.
“Scion!”
I turn to run, but the giant beast is already upon us, and not just one, but an entire clan of scion. They gallop at breakneck speed, the largest in the lead, with four others trailing behind it. Large mandibles glistening with venom snick back and forth. Their bite might not kill a Vasura, but it would ensure an agonizing future, especially if they’re unmated and cannot feed to rejuvenate.
Luckily, I’m tethered to Alexis. This helps ground my emotions and narrow my focus. The need to keep her safe overrides everything else. Seriq will protect her from The Fallacious while Nerazi and I stop the scion clan—that is if we can. Our best bet is to take down the alpha and escape while the rest of the scion battle for leadership.
I shout the plan to Nerazi, who nods. Together we rush at the scion closest, shifting into shadow form. My yellow-eyed brother attacks the creature from the right, and I take the left. We’re careful not to give our backs to the rest of the pack, which seems indecisive. They’re awaiting orders from their alpha, who’s busy being ripped to pieces.
Our shadow form not only accords us a measure of protection and stealth, but we can also create limbs at will. The eight-legged scion is no match for the sixteen arms Nerazi and I create between the two of us. When the beast lunges to bite me, I hop onto its back, sinking my own teeth into its elongated neck.
The protective plates that cover the thing’s body are no match for my mouthful of fangs. They easily slice through the scion’s exoskeleton. Its vile blood spills over my lips, the acrid flavor coating my tongue as the scion tries to buck me off. I only cling harder, pulling back to expose the underside of its thorax for Nerazi.
In one fell swoop, he guts the beast from stem to stern. The scion wobbles on its many legs before crashing to the side. Only once it stops twitching do I retract my teeth, spitting out as much blood as possible. Behind us, the four other scion watch, their mandibles clicking in agitation. One scuttles forward, but another stops its movement.
Instantly, a fight breaks out, and as planned, the other two scion join in, battling to become the next leader of the pack. I wait for The Fallacious to make his move, but when I hear nothing, dread washes over me. Whirling around, I tense, ready to confront the fucker, only to find him gone. In his stead, Seriq lies sprawled on the ground, his stomach sliced open like the scion’s.
“Fuck!” Nerazi bellows, running to his side.
I follow close behind. In seconds, we’re bracing our trium brother and helping him up. He coughs, pain lancing through his features. While he can feed from both Nerazi and me, Alexis is the only one who can revive him completely. But like The Fallacious, she’s gone, along with her friend’s baby.
“Where did they go?”
“Later, Nerazi. Right now, Seriq needs to feed.”
We fall into silence as our wounded friend siphons energy from us. Given the high emotions running through all of us, it should be enough to get Seriq back on his feet until we can find Alexis. I try not to panic at the thought of her being taken by The Fallacious again, but the fucker wants her alive, not dead.
Except alive doesn’t necessarily mean well, and every second we’re separated is an opportunity for the False King to hurt our mate. But Alexis is The Pharos. There’s power lurking inside of her, as foretold by the prophecy. Only a fool would blindly cling to something predicted eons ago, but it’s the only thing keeping me from falling apart.
All I know is that I can’t lose Alexis again—none of us can.
sixteen
ALEXIS
Theunholyroarofthe demonic beast sends panic flooding through my body. It's those creatures—those giant arachnid-like monsters—that I never hoped to see again. The Bowels are its home, but what concerns me more isn't the fact that we're encountering them, but that The Fallacious somehow called to them—meaning the scion are under his control, just like The Revenant Swarm once was.
He hinted that the sinqol helped him, and something monumental dawns on me. This monstrous man is infused with the same power as me. I am The Pharos, the light made invincible by the healing liquid, but the False King has internalized it, too—making him just as invincible.
Worse yet, he seems to know how to harness whatever capabilities this sinqol gives him and use it to his advantage, while I'm just working on a wing and a prayer. I have no idea to what extent the sinqol imbued him.
