Page 2 of Insidious Monsters
“What?”
“Toby Keller, Nandi’s date. What color hair does he have?”
Archie opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. “Fuck.” He grabbed the binoculars off me and looked across the street. Nandi and her date had a table a row away from the windows, so I couldn’t see them at all without the eyepiece.
Archie dropped the binoculars and looked up at me. “He has…Fuck.” He looked again. “Brown hair.” He passed me the binoculars. “Yep, definitely…” He frowned. “What color did I say?”
His eyes grew round and the foreboding in my stomach bloomed into full-blown panic. The fact that neither of us could recall what Toby looked like when we weren’t looking directly at him could mean only one thing.
Magic was at play.
There was no way this dude was human.
“I need to speak to her.” I made to stand.
Archie grabbed my arm. “Wait, they’re leaving.”
Sure enough, Nandi and Toby had just stepped out of the bistro. She smiled up at him, looking gorgeous in skinny jeans, kitten-heel boots, and a snug leather jacket. She’d left her hair loose tonight and it fell to her waist in thick dark waves. Toby put his hand on the small of her back and steered her away from the bistro.
“The underground is the other way,” Archie said. “Where is he taking her?”
Only one way to find out. I ducked out of the bushes and followed.
We cut across the road, dodging cars, and hit the other side of the street. A group of people appeared up ahead, spilling around Nandi and Toby, swallowing them for a moment. I caught glimpses of them through gaps in the crowd.
The people veered to the edge of the road and then crossed it, leaving us with an unobstructed view of the silent, empty street.
“Where did she go?”
I picked up speed, but Archie pulled ahead, his panic an infectious beast grabbing hold of me by the throat to propel me forward.
A thud was followed by a cry of alarm.
Archie skidded to a halt at the mouth of an access road between the buildings. “Stop!” He disappeared from view.
I broke into a sprint and dove between the buildings, taking in the scene in quick bursts. A car parked up ahead, trunk open, Nandi and her date tussling, and Archie attacking with a battle cry that would make any Viking proud.
I reached them as Toby staggered back, clutching his thigh where Nandi had planted a dagger.
Archie punched him in the nose, shook out his fist, and punched him again.
We surrounded him. Dark-haired, no, blond, no, he was bald and his face was a smudge with no details I could hold on to.
“What the fuck are you?” Nandi asked. “Why were you trying to kidnap me.”
He ignored her and reached for the dagger in his thigh.
“You pull that out and you’ll bleed out,” Nandi warned him.
“For the Holy.” He yanked the dagger from his thigh and slit his own throat.
We stood frozen, watching as he fell to the ground, hand clawing at the neck he’d voluntarily slashed, convulsing and bleeding out.
“Fuck!” Nandi was the first to move, falling to her knees beside him and pressing both her hands to the wound.
Archie burst into action, pinning Toby’s dagger-wielding hand to prevent him from using it on Nandi. Pointless, because the guy was no longer moving.
Nandi pulled her bloody hands away from his neck. “He’s dead.”
