Page 43 of Monster's Obsession

“You need a mirror to step through at your destination, and as far as I know, there aren’t any mirrors lying around on the castle grounds. The closest we’d end up is in the village.”

Her fists clenched. “I don’t want to lure him there. All those people will be in danger.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“I’m making it up as I go along. First, I need to get outside, preferably circling around behind him. That way, I can pull his focus away from the school but also have a clear escape route. Once I’m confident he isn’t going to do any more harm to anyone else, I’ll run. And apparently find someplace else to hide.” She shook her head. “My mother said this was the safest place for me. That he’d never find me here. I can’t believe a stupid post on social media gave me away.”

She was losing her cool, and fast. I needed to distract her, help her find her balance again. I grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face me. “Daruka, I need you to understand that what I feel for you, it’s not just sex. It’s—”

“Seriously, Asmoday? Right now? You want to have a heart-to-heart while the freaking devil is trying to destroy a castle that has been around since the thirteen hundreds?”

“No. Yes. I mean, I just want to tell you that I’m in it for the long haul. Whatever happens. If you need to take over Hell, I’m going with you.”

“I’m not taking over Hell. That’s not in the cards for me.” She pulled out of my grip and strode over to the nearest window. “You don’t think you belong in the elven forest? Well, I sure as heck don’t belong in Hell. Why do our fathers insist upon forcing their own ideals onto us? Why can’t we just live our own lives?”

I stepped up behind her and clapped a hand on her shoulder. “I lo—”

She spun around and slapped her hand over my mouth. “Do not say it.”

I licked her palm. She jerked it away, scowling. “Gross.”

“Fine, I won’t say it. Not right now, anyway. But you’re not getting rid of me, Daruka. I hate to break it to you, but if you run away without me, I will come after you even if that puts me right into Satan’s path.”

“He’ll kill you.” Her eyes widened. “He wouldn’t even hesitate.”

“Then I suggest you not leave me behind.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You play dirty pool.”

“I promise to spend as much time as you can handle making it up to you.” I slipped out my two-pronged tongue and licked my lips.

Her mouth fell open while a flush crept up her chest. After a couple of heartbeats, she shook her head. “Fine. What’s the best way to get out of this building without using the front door?”

Smiling smugly, I twined our fingers together. “Come with me.” I led her to the end of the hall, where we hurried down the back staircase, which would take us to the kitchen. The narrow space was riddled with chunks of plaster and pieces of wood from torches that had been attached to the walls but had broken loose with all the rattling going on.

“He can’t get inside, can he?” I asked after we stepped into the kitchen.

“I don’t think so. Otherwise, he surely would have strode right in and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck.”

A group of kobolds were clinging to one another, their gazes darting every which way while they shivered like wet dogs in a cool breeze. They didn’t say a word as we skirted around them and headed toward the exterior kitchen entrance.

I flung the door open to reveal the sheer side of the castle wall, leading straight down into the moat. Beyond the body of water was a well-tended garden plot, stretching from the banks to the edge of the enchanted forest.

One end consisted of rows and rows of fruit and nut trees, then a few rows of grapevines, some fruit bushes, then tidy little sections of vegetables and herbs.

There was no visible bridge in between.

Daruka hadn’t yet attended enough cooking classes to be assigned to tending the garden. She tugged my arm, pulling me away from the entrance.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. Grabbing a handful of walnuts from a nearby bowl, I tossed them out the door. If this image were as it appeared, they would fall into the moat; instead they skittered across an invisible surface, one of them rolling all the way to the grassy bank a good twenty feet away.

“Whoa,” she said, clearly impressed.

I shrugged. “This entrance is used so frequently, it can’t have too many protective spells and charms. So some former headmistress came up with this idea of an invisible bridge.” I waved at the vast area of murky water just over the threshold. “It’s the width of the doorway, so stay right in the middle and walk a straight line and you’ll be fine.”

“This is crazy.” She tentatively pressed one foot to the invisible surface.

“You’re being hunted by Satan and you think this is crazy?” Impatiently, I stepped out in front of her and began walking toward the garden. “Just tell yourself you’re walking on a glass surface. Although, by the way, aren’t you a mermaid? Couldn’t you just dive in and swim to the other side?”

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