Page 6 of Demon: Monsterverse
BRIDGET
A sinkhole bubble popped,splattering me across the cheek. I winced, scrunching my nose as I sucked in a final breath with my chin tipped as far up as I could. I was sure monster claws would be the end of me, but it turned out to be fucking quicksand.
It had only been seconds after I stumbled to the side that it had pulled me in up to my knees. The thick consistency seemed to be a creature with the way it gulped me. I’d stopped fighting the strong pull as exhaustion disheartened me.
From the moment Liam had dragged me from my room, I knew my life was heading toward an end, but I’d been numb and working off pure steam and fear, until now. I’d been six years old when the earthquake happened and had never felt something so violent and vicious in my life, nor had many adults around me. The earthquake had been a record-breaking sixteen point five. It had literally shattered dimensions—earth splitting.
The Rift sliced across the San Andreas fault, opening a portal and creating ruins of many human cities. I’d survived until now. Thirty-five years ago, the foundation of my entire life was altered and I’d lost everyone, leaving me in the neighbor’s care, Liam’s father.
My sight blurred, and I pressed my lips together so the thick sand wouldn’t enter my mouth. I wasn’t sure if an afterlife existed, but maybe I would get to see my parents again.
The thick grains chafed my skin and weighed down my arms. The sensation was what I imagined falling into a vat of concrete mix would be like.
I could no longer feel my legs.
Right as my mouth went under, rough fingers wrapped around my nape, tugging upward. Stings radiated from the area and goose bumps lifted on my arms. I remained limp, tears filling my eyes at the scratch of claws and discomfort at my neck. Being pulled up by such a sensitive spot, burned, but it had nothing on the pins and needles shooting through my body.
The hold loosened and a gasp for air exploded from my mouth as I landed into a pile on the ground. I curled my legs to my chest and squeezed my calf to rid myself of the compressed sensation. I wasn’t down there for longer than a few moments, yet my body tingled as if it had been crushed for hours.
It fucking hurt.
But he pulled me out. The monster saved me again. I licked my lips and fisted my hand in the dirt. Liam, a human, had not heard my pleas, but the demon did?
I shuddered and forced my toes to wiggle.
The demon moved, his strides stiff as each step put him farther and farther from me. My throat constricted. Other than him, my surroundings consisted of barren, dirt-riddled land. Death would take me within the hour.
The demon’s bright glow called to me like a beacon. He would be gone if I didn’t get up, and then I’d really be lost. Forcing my legs to move, I wobbled to my feet and staggered after him.
“Wait for me,” I croaked.
He didn’t even twitch, but I wasn’t expecting it either. After all, he was an instinctual creature. I picked up my pace, trying not to focus on the fact I’d run after a demon. He could kill me—easily, but he’d saved me, and that meantsomethingin my book.
Not sure what, but something. The urge to follow him wouldn’t be ignored, and Iliterallyhad nothing to lose. My thighs burned with how quickly I dashed after him, and I could only slow a smidge as I caught up to him because of his massive stride.
Go back home? No way. They’d probably finish me off. That was no longer my home. They’d turned their backs on me. Being there was tiresome, especially all the male testosterone-filled power trips.
The gray and blue demon held my undivided attention, so I didn’t see the bubble-looking protrusion rounding off the surface of the ground until it was too late.
My arms windmilled until my palms pressed into the demon’s back, right at the start of his tail, his skin was leathery and rough. The muscles bunched, and I gasped, yanking my freezing hands back to my chest. I squinted up at him ... but he did nothing. His shoulders lifted and then dropped as if he’d inhaled deeply.
He’d done nothing.
A smile teased the corners of my lips, but I stifled it as I continued trailing after him. Relief was an illusion.
It couldn’t have been long since I began following, but my calves and lungs burned. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind my body would be a sore mass by tomorrow morning. The purple cast to the sky took on a foggier hue, which I assumed meant the shift to nighttime. A complete assumption on my end, but I had nothing better to do as I trudged after the demon.
Did this side of the Rift even have a night and day? There wasn’t a sun or moon or anything I could see to indicate that ... just a purple-gray tint to the sky and a thick fog over us.
I tsked, shaking my head. Clouds would have looked cool in this sky, too bad there weren’t any. A twinge in my side had me clasping it and hobbling after him, my chest tight while his stride remained steady and strong.
“Hey ...”
No reaction. I huffed, biting back my request. It would be pushing it if I asked amonsterto carry me, right? The thought was outlandish. Plus, I didn’t want to try my luck with him. I counted myself fortunate that he’d saved me once.
I brushed sand from my dress. It had dried and was no longer stuck to me like wet slop.
The ground sloped and my momentum increased. I struggled gathering my footing on the steep incline and smacked into him again, cheek pressing into his lower back.
