Page 14 of When Monsters Rise
“Unlockit,”Penemuesays.
“Won’tthat let it out?”Miraasks.
“No, it’s surrounded by runes and they act as a net.Itcan’t get out unless we remove one of the symbols.”
Miraunlocks the door and stands back quickly.
Idon’t blame her for being wary.There’san unknown entity beyond that door, andIwouldn’t want to be the first one inside with it either.
PenemueandTumielstep forward.They’regoing in.Mypulse beats harder. “Becareful.”
Tumielnods, a signal forPenemueto open the door.Theyduck inside and close it behind them.
“They’llbe fine,”Amarossays, but his tone is tight with concern.
“Youdon’t sound so sure.”
“Thatthing, whatever it is, has been here for days.Ifit wanted to hurt someone, it would have done so.Wejust need to find out what it wants.”
Onceagain, he sounds like he’s convincing himself.Idon’t like this.
Thedoor opens, andTumielsteps out. “It’snot inside.”
“What?”Miralooks past him into the room. “Butthe symbol was glowing.”
Penemueemerges, shaking his head. “Itwas definitely inside the room, but the runes didn’t hold it.”
Miralooks fromTumieltoPenemue. “Whatdoes that mean?”
Ican guess. “Itmeans that this thing is stronger than we thought.”
Chapter9
RUE
Thesecurity corridor was silent and empty asImade my way quickly towardMichael’sroom.We’dhoused him with us to keep him out of view of the general population.Thepeople here needed time to get used to him and accept that he was on our side.Thesurvivors of the purge needed time to come to terms with the fact thatMichaelhad been following orders—trapped in a cycle of awfulness just like all of us.
They’dcome around once he’d proven himself to them.Oncehe’d saved their lives and shown them that not all celestials were monsters.
I’dseen the way they looked at him though.Disgust.Fear.Anger.Itwasn’t an easy task for him being here, but he believed in the cause.Hewas part of the team, andI’ddo whatever it took to help him adjust.
Butright now,Ineeded something from him.
Itwas only whenIgot to his door that it hit me that it was almost one in the morning.Didcelestials sleep?Didit matter if they did or didn’t?Ishould wait till sunup, but fuck it.
Iknocked, andMichaelanswered almost immediately, as if he’d been standing on the other side of the door waiting for me to decide what to do.
Itwas still strange seeing him in aT-shirt and joggers.Withhis wings hidden, he might pass for human.Abeautiful human with hair that looked like it was made from spun gold and…Nope.Evendressed like this, his otherness was obvious.
“Rue, is everything all right?”Hepeered down the dark corridor then fixed his inquisitive sapphire gaze on me.
“Canwe talk?”
“Ofcourse.”Hestepped back to let me into the room.
Itwas a small, clean space, made to look smaller by the large male standing in it.Thebed was neatly made, the covers unwrinkled, which meant he’d been awake.Probablysitting in the chair by the small desk in the corner of the room.Therewas a book on the table.Placedface down.Icouldn’t read the title.
Hefollowed my gaze. “There’sa bookstore here.Oneof the humans,Mira,Ithink, said it was all right to take a book ifIbrought it back.”
