Page 31 of Monster's Naughty List
“Don’t. Don’t make this any harder than it already is,” I quietly demanded. “We all knew deep down this moment would come and you would have to leave me. It was great to daydream of a different outcome, but this was always going to be the harsh reality. I’m your charge, and your summoning is complete.”
Del snarled, “Don’t talk about yourself like you are just another charge. You know you fucking aren’t.”
I bit down on my tongue, his words threatening to tear down the flimsy wall I was managing to hold over my emotions right now.
I forced a smile onto my face as I drew in a shaky breath. “Thank you for changing my life for the better. I will never forget our time together.”
My throat began to tighten, and I knew I was about to lose the battle to hold back the tears that pricked my eyes. My face heated as I felt it happening, and the second the first tear dropped, Rez took a step toward me, but the floor flashed, light flooding the room as their portal seal appeared, holding him in place.
Each of their faces revealed true anguish as we all realized this was the end.
The tears began to flow freely, but I forced myself to stand with my shoulders back and my head held high. Their forms began to waver, like they were flickering out of existence, and still I looked on instead of running from the emotions that threatened to drown me.
As the room flashed once more, I focused on Rez’s mouth, which was moving, but no sound was coming out. They blinked out of the room, and I was left repeating the words I’d read on his lips over and over in my head.
“We will find a way back to you.”
Chapter Fifteen
TINSLEY
The blaring of my alarm woke me, but I didn’t rush to turn it off. I didn’t want to open my eyes and accept that this was my life once more. My eyes were puffy from crying the night before, and my body ached from what we had done. The soreness was all I had left to remember them by, and soon enough, even that would be gone too.
I laid there with my face shoved into my pillow and remembered the incredible night I'd had with three Algeah who had portaled into my life and turned everything upside down. I'd say it was a craft project gone wrong, but truly, it had gone so damn right. I wouldn’t want to turn back time and prevent it from happening, even if it meant avoiding this emptiness I felt right now without them.
It was damn worth it. They truly had opened my eyes to what my heart and body wanted—needed—in order to feel fulfilled and happy in my life. What they had given me was a precious gift, and I wouldn’t waste it. I would live for myself every day now.
Groaning, I rolled over and smacked my hand onto the nightstand where my phone lay, hoping my fingers would press the stop button for the alarm without having to look at it. When that didn’t work, I wrapped my hand around it and pulled the phone to me, begrudgingly opening my eyes and tapping the off button.
A heavy sigh left my mouth as I saw the countless missed calls and texts from my mom. They had started last night and continued into this morning. My parents hosted Christmas at their house every year for our immediate and extended family, and I was sure all she wanted to do was bitch about one of her sisters or add last minute items to my list of things to bring today.
Fuck her.
I didn’t want to go today. I wanted to stay at home and watch cheesy Hallmark movies and eat tubs of ice-cream to drown my sorrows. So, that’s exactly what I’d do. Holding down the side button until the power off button flashed, I slid the phone over and placed it back on the nightstand.
Tomorrow, I would get my shit together and move the fuck on, but today, I would give myself the grace to not be okay. I'd allow myself to feel the depths of my emotions. My eyes pricked at the thought of how Del had helped me realize I only hurt myself more when I continued to shove everything under the ever-growing rug of shit I didn’t want to face.
I'd promised him I wouldn’t do that to myself anymore, and the truth of today was that I wasn’t okay. And it was okay to not be okay.
I hadn’t expected to fall so quickly for anyone in my life, let alone three monsters, but here I was, trying to imagine how to move forward after they had helped irrevocably change me for the better.
A loud clatter came from outside my room, like pots being moved around in the kitchen. My heart jumped in my chest and my hand flew to cover my mouth, stifling the small scream of alarm at the fact that someone was in my apartment.
Had I not locked the door back after slamming it in Doris’ face last night?Fuck.I had been so angry that I couldn’t remember anything specific from the encounter.
What could I do?
I had just turned my phone off, and honestly, cops would take far too long to get here to help me. It was possible the intruder would hear me speaking if I did call, giving away my edge of surprise and letting them know I was aware of their presence.
I needed to handle this, and I needed to do it quickly.
Okay, breathe, Tinsley. Get out of bed, grab your knife, and peek your head out the door.
It took a few seconds to settle my nerves enough to follow those instructions, but I finally managed to slide out of my bed and open the drawer in my nightstand, quickly grabbing the pocket knife I kept in there. Standing from bed, I flicked the knife up and held it firmly in my palm, the cool bite of the steel giving me comfort and courage to confront the intruder.
Muffled voices sounded as I crept closer to the door, making me frown as I realized there were multiple and…they sounded familiar.
Was this just my mind playing tricks on me because I missed them or…
