Page 64 of Captured By the Monsters
Rowen shrugged. “It doesn’t matter—”
“It will to the leaders,” Sylan cut him off, and my other two monsters sighed in defeat.
“He’s right,” Axton conceded. “If they find out, they’ll just make us come back down here.”
I really didn’t understand what the issue was. It seemed obvious that they should just keep that insignificant detail to themselves when talking to the council, but I knew Sylan liked to follow the rules, and Axton felt a lot of honor in doing the right thing. Only Rowen seemed ok with us leaving—something I was one hundred percent on board with.
“Come on then,” Rowen sighed as he begrudgingly led the way back to the crystal.
Knots formed once again in my stomach as we walked back and stood in front of it. A shiver ran up my spine when all three of my mates touched my bare skin, causing the flesh to bump up, but after another minute, the crystal still didn’t do anything.
“There. Satisfied?” I teased.
“Yep—” Axton accepted, but Sylan once more interrupted.
“I forgot—you have to hold your piece of the crystal with your other hand,” Sylan directed, and I laughed.
“You’re just making stuff up now!” I exclaimed and chuckled at his antics.
It seemed more than clear we were not paired to the crystal at this point.
“No, I forgot. This is my first presentation, obviously, and usually the leaders are here to direct it. I just want to tell them we did everything right so we can leave.”
“Fine,” I grumbled and sighed deeply, clutching my crystal necklace in my left hand while I pressed my right into the giant stone in front of me. Once more, the three men placed their hands on my bare skin, and once more, I waited for their disappointment.
Except, it never came. Because this time when I touched the crystal, a blinding light burst forth immediately, filling the room.
I squinted against the intensity of the light and slammed my eyes shut, but still I felt the sting of the brightness. When the light faded into a luminescent glow similar to how my crystal looked after I came, I blinked my eyes open in wonder, staring at the giant rock that seemed to pulse with renewed life.
It truly did thrum now, but this time, the thrum of the light pulsating steadily was in time with my own heartbeat. We were in sync.
“Oh my god,” I croaked in horror, while my three monsters whooped in unabashed joy.
“Precious, do you know what this means?” Axton rasped, voice tinged with choked emotions.
I knew what it meant—I was the True Queen of Paratiisi.
