Page 9 of Monster's Naughty List
A small laugh bubbled from my throat, and all of their gazes landed on me. "Guys, seriously. Thiswouldhappen to me. I was just doing a craft project. My rude downstairs neighbor banged on my floor, startling me, and I knocked some supplies off the table, spilling them.”
“Best mistake of your life,” Oz mumbled as he leaned back on the couch, tilting his head against the wall and closing his eyes.
“I think you mean the best mistake ofyourlife,” I snapped back, glowering at him from the opposite couch.
Wow, it felt really good to actually speak up and sass someone back. First with Doris, and now this. I was quite enjoying this new backbone beginning to materialize within me.
I felt the heat in his words as he challenged, "Don't sass me unless you want me to put my hand around your throat again, baby girl."
I had absolutely nothing to say back to that, for two reasons. One, I did want him to choke me again—and the brat side of me that was emerging wanted to force him to do exactly that. Two, I couldn’t risk giving in because of reason one.
I couldn't focus on what was important right now when I was distracted by the image of his fingers wrapped around my throat and the massive cock I just knew he probably had between my legs. I had to get a grip.
So, I ignored him. I’d work on that backbone when it didn’t end with a monster cock buried between my legs, followed by the sting of regret.
“You aren’t the first to summon accidentally,” Rez continued. “Just one of the very few, and definitelyourfirst.”
Curiosity bloomed within me. “So, there are more of you out there?”
His bright eyes fell to the monster closest to me, “Del, what was the team number at our last gathering?”
Del.I liked that and appreciated how all of their names shortened to easy nicknames. It was way less of a mouthful, considering their names weren’t usual.
Oz, Rez, and Del. Simple enough.
Ruffling his wavy raven hair with one hand, Del tilted his head in consideration before answering, “I believe the last team count was at two thousand, nine hundred twenty-seven.”
2,927.
My eyes practically bugged out of my head. “And there are always three in each team?”
That would put them at nearly nine thousand in population. For some reason, it had been easier to accept their existence when I had thought it was only the three of them. Realizing there was an entire civilization of these monsters’ humans didn’t know about was…baffling, to say the least.
How did we not know of them? How did they stay concealed from humans with the sheer size of their population?
Rez laughed lightly, “I can see the wheels turning in your beautiful head, so I’m just going to give you some more back story and explanation. Try to hold your questions until the end, or we’ll never be out of your hair.”
I could tell he was joking to attempt to lighten the situation in general, probably based upon my earlier panicked reaction to them. But the empty feeling in my stomach at the thought of them vanishing definitely did nothing to brighten my mood like he’d hoped.
When I showed no outward agreement or delight at his joke, I saw his confusion clear as day, but he was quick to move on, not dwelling on the conundrum.
“No, there aren’t always three. We are actually the smallest team, with the maximum being around twelve. We each inspire different emotions, which we feed upon. We do not need food to survive—only the feelings of the humans who summon us.”
“Luckily for us, the word of how to summon us has spread a bit more in the past century, so we have pretty regular feedings,” Del added. “Although, most think they’re summoning a genie to grant them a wish, so things have gotten lost in translation somewhere.”
I was bursting at the seams with questions, and Rez took pity on me, offering, “Go ahead. One question.”
“Where exactly are you from?”
The sultry voice of Oz piped up then. “Hell, baby girl. We’re from Hell.”
Chapter Five
TINSLEY
Trying not to dwell on that, and acting as if the statement didn’t scare me, I nonchalantly hedged, “Cool. Okay, yeah. So, you’re like...a demon?”
I thought I was doing a spectacular job of rolling with the punches, now that I didn’t think they were going to kill me.
