Page 17 of When Monsters Rise
Hewas silent for several beats. “Idon’t see anything.”
Butit was there.Icould see the humanoid shape clearly now.Itmoved again, andIopened my mouth to tellShem, but he was already across the room, grabbing at the darkness with a low menacing growl vibrating in his chest.
Theenergy in the room spiked.Icaught a flash of orange, felt a pressure on my chest, and then the thing was gone.
Shemrushed to the door and yanked it open. “Wherethe fuck did it go?”
Isat up, pulse pounding in my head. “Yousaw it?”
“Yes.Isaw something.”
Theway he said it implied he hadn’t expected to see anything, which meant… “Youdidn’t believe me?”
“Ibelieved that youthoughtyou saw something, but now…NowI’veseen it,Iknow it’s real.”
He’dtaken my word for it even when he had doubts, and that…that was priceless.
Heclosed the door and strode over to the bed. “IthinkItouched it,” he said. “Itouched it and felt fear and…anger.”Heclimbed into bed and pulled me into his arms. “SleepandI’llwatch over you.Ifit comes back,I’lldeal with it.”
Thething was incorporeal, but in that moment,Ihad no doubt that if it tried to hurt me,Shemwould find a way to hurt it back.
* * *
IknockedonBastian’sdoor at six am, knowing he’d be awake.Theguy was an early riser, always had been.Heopened the door, fully dressed and showered.
“Hey.”Heheld out his arms, andIstepped into them. “I’msorry about last night.”
“SoamI.”
“No.Youwere trying to help.Iget that.”
Irubbed my cheek against the soft worn fabric of his shirt “Iwas being pushy.”
Hesighed and stroked my hair. “Yes.Youwere, butIunderstand why.Ilove you,Rue.”
“Ilove you too.”
Andthat was all we’d say about it becauseBastianwasn’t one to hold a grudge or dwell.Thiswas him drawing a line beneath the argument.
“Rue, we should go,”Shemsaid from down the hall.
“You’llbe careful,”BastianaddressedShem.
“Always,”Shemreplied.
Themales shared a look beforeBastianreleased me. “I’llsee you this afternoon.”
Shemled the way off the security floor and toward the main section of the mall.Wetook the broken escalators to the floor below then crossed to the exit that led to the red door and the tunnels beyond.
Ididn’t mind the route to and from the mall, but the deeper tunnels weren’t somewhereIwanted to venture.Theywere home to the devolved watchers.HometoKabiel, a watcher clinging desperately to his sense of self, and they would be home toShemand all the other watchers if we didn’t fix things soon.
Shemstopped at the red door and turned to me. “Thewatchers in the tunnels will be sleeping now, so we want to be as quiet as possible.We’llbe taking a slightly different route toKabiel, andI’dlike you to climb onto my back for the journey.”
Ididn’t question why.Thiswas his forte. “Fine.”
“Ifwe’re spotted and anything comes after us, do not scream.Tuckyour head against my shoulder and hold on tight.Letme deal with it.”
“Understood.”
