Page 60 of Nightmare For Hire
Nox talks about all the silly landmarks as we head to Portal Place Diner.
“And that’s where I scared my first Rivenfield squirrel. Oh! And I fed from someone in that house. They were kind of boring though, so the meal was less than satisfying.” He points out a pair of Victorian houses. “Ben and Mr. Nelson are always bickering about that tree.”
Before entering the diner, I slide my sweaty shirt back on, making Nox pout. But I give him a kiss on the nose and he beams up at me.
It’s no surprise that Devon contained herself upon meeting Leon the troll until after he left our table. He wanted to meet everyone. We all order waffles, which makes Nox happy. As usual, he ends up finishing everyone’s except for Maddox’s and Norris’s.
“I guess we should head back. We’re almost done clearing out the truck,” Norris says after we pay. “Then I can drop it off.”
“I wanna see what else you have. It’s fascinating,” Nox says as he takes the lead. I grab his hand and pull him back, letting everyone go in front of us. “I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself.” I press a kiss to his lips.
“He’s a big help with decorating,” Devon says.
Nox dances out the door and takes her hand. Dani joins, and they sway to the beat of their own music. Maddox and Norris watch on.
As soon as I’m through the door, someone yanks me by my hair and pulls me away from my friends. I thrash in their big arms. My heart pounds. No.No.I can’t be taken. I won’t be someone’s plaything again. I’m all elbows and knees, but they have me good and tight.
“Get off—”
“Cyrus!” the collective shouts.
The person holding me pinches my nose closed, forcing my mouth open while someone else pours something down my throat.
Norris grabs the collar of the person dumping liquid down my throat, and I gasp for breath.
“You!” Nox screams. “Let him go!”
I twist in my captor’s hold. Mick. His second eyelid blinks constantly. His eyes are sunken in and his cheeks are hollow. He’s so unwell. I haven’t seen him in so long I don’t think to look for him anymore. I should have kept my eye out for him. But I’m not terrified of him anymore. He’s just sad and pathetic.
“You will come back to me!” Mick drags me towards the portal. The armed guards don’t even seem to care. They don’t view Mick as a monster. At least not yet. “That was a love spell. As soon as—”
Darkness falls over the entire town, and I look for Nox.
“I won’t be rejected,” Mick scream. “Not by somehuman.”
That gets the guards’ attention. “Hey. What’s going on here?”
“Let me go, Mick. You lost.”
Mick’s eyes turn solid black. Nox’s nightmare hell swirls in Mick’s eyes, making a dazzling galaxy of paranoia in Mick’s head. The merman stumbles backward, letting me go in the process. “No. No. What is this? I don’t want to be stuck here forever. No!” He screams a blood curdling sound and I slap my hands over my ears like everyone else does. Once he finishes, I kneel in front of him. He’s so lost to whatever Nox is doing to him, so he won’t hear what I have to say. But I don’t care.
“You treated me like property. Like a sex toy. I reject you with my entire being. My entire heart and soul. I don’t care if we were fated at one point. You treated me like trash.” How the hell can we expose him for what he is? I look around, eyes narrowing on Devon’s water bottle clutched to her chest. I hold my hand out to Devon. “Your water bottle.”
“No! No!” Mick tries to push to his feet, but Nox does something and Mick’s eyes darken even more. “You can’t deny me. You’re mine, Cyrus!”
With trembling hands, Devon struggles to unscrew the cap and passes the bottle to me.
“Never.” I splash the water on him and he’s so out of it he doesn’t stop his magic from starting a shift. Fresh water for a freshwater merman.
The armed guards jump into action, running towards us with their guns clutched to their chests. “Stand down! We got an unvisa’d monster,” one shouts.
“No! I’m not a monster. I’m a merman! We’re not the same!” Mick lashes out with his clawed webbed hand.
“Mermen are not human. Therefore, you are coded as a monster. We will be taking you across the portal.”
The guards haul him to his feet.
“Unhand me!”
