Page 44 of Their Lethal Pet
He’s too perfect. Too handsome. Too symmetrical.
His cheekbones are sharp, his jawline intense, yet his eyes are dusted with thick black eyelashes. They remind me of how mine looked with all the paint on them in the mirror earlier. Only, his appear to be natural.
I thought Reaper was beautiful, but this man… this man is beauty incarnate. Meanwhile, Orcus is the masculine one, with all the hard lines and brute strength. And Reaper… Reaper is still haunting in an undeniably attractive way.
Snap out of it, Lina, I tell myself.You need to go.
“Where do you want to go?” the beautiful man before me asks, either hearing my thought or maybe responding to something I said.Did I speak out loud? Or did I…? Did I already say I want to go?
I can’t remember.
I can’t seem tofunction at all.
Yet I hear myself whispering, “Chicago.” It’s such a strange response, one I don’t fully understand until the city name slaps me across the face. “Chicago.” To find Sera. “I need a map.”
That’swhat I’m supposed to be doing. Not ogling these monsters. Not fighting off Timothy. But hiding until Monsters Night is over and searching for a map.
Well, I didn’t hide very well,I realize, wincing.
“Chicago?” Reaper repeats. “Are you craving some pizza, pet? Because I’d be down for a quick stop in Chicago for some deep dish.”
I blink and glance up at where he’s standing behind his dark-haired friend. “What?” Nothing he just said makes any sense.
He stares back at me, his lips curling down before he groans and looks at Orcus behind me. “Fuck, tell me there’s pizza in this realm. I may prefer this version of New York City, but without pizza, it’ll be a complete bust.”
“You literally just ate,” the dark-haired one says, glancing over his shoulder. “There’s no way you’re hungry.”
Reaper gives him an affronted look. “I amalwayshungry for pizza.”
“You know where Chicago is?” I interject, focusing on the fact that he’d repeated it back to me with some familiarity and ignoring all the talk about…pizza.
“Of course I know where Chicago is,” he replies to me, his head cocking to the side in a way that he seems to favor. “But if you don’t want pizza, then why are you interested in Chicago?”
My lips part, the truth almost leaving my mouth. Only it comes out on a yelp as the world abruptly shifts around me.
I suddenly find myself in the air, clutched in the armsof the dark-haired one, with Reaper and Orcus standing in front of me, giving me their backs.
“Chicago is the Elite City,” a cultured tone says from somewhere I can’t see. “I imagine your human is looking for it, or perhaps someone within it.”
Orcus and Reaper stiffen as someone materializes from the shadows. Their bodies are blocking the figure from my line of sight, making it impossible to discern any prominent features. But the voice was masculine, not feminine.
“Which is interesting,” the newcomer goes on. “Villagers don’t typically know about the Elite City, let alone the former name for it.”
Orcus folds his arms, causing his leather jacket to stretch across his broad shoulders. Whatever vibrations he’d been emitting before are gone, but the one holding me seems to have taken over in the rumbling department. Except his is… different. Softer somehow. Quieter.
I glance at him, curious. However, his eyes are on his friends, or maybe even the other guy. I can’t see anything more than muscular backs and the beautiful face of the man holding me.
How did I even end up here?
“Who are you?” Orcus demands, his tone making me shiver. There’s something very powerful in that voice. Something deadly. Yet, inside, all I do is tremble in response.
Some twisted part of melikesthat voice.
“A Monster City Emissary,” the cultured one replies. “You may call me Jones.”
“I don’t feel much like calling you anything,” Reaper drawls.
“And that’s your prerogative, sir,” Jones murmurs. “Regardless, I am here with a message from our Queen.”
