I reach for it, and he hands it over without hesitation.
My hands shake as I hold it. Who do I call? What do I even say?
Hi, I was kidnapped by a monster who turned out to have other monsters chained in his dungeon, so I fled naked across a frozen wasteland and nearly died. Can someone please help me get home?
Yeah, that’ll go over well.
But as I stare at the phone, another thought creeps in.Do I even want to go back?
Back to what? My mother’s house of cats? Drew’s careful management of my limitations? A job answering Post-It emergency calls?
I was dying before Beast healed me. Slowly, but dying nonetheless.
Now I have a strong, capable body. I can run. I can feel pleasure I never knew existed. I’ve experienced things I never dreamed possible.
But he lied to you. He’s keeping creatures chained in a dungeon.
The thought makes me shudder.
Or... did he?
What if there’s more to the story? What if those creatures are dangerous for reasons I don’t understand? What if he’s protecting people from them rather than torturing them?
The handsome one tried to warn you to run. That doesn’t sound like someone being tortured.
My head spins with confusion and exhaustion and the emotional whiplash of the last few hours.
I look at the phone in my hands. My ticket back to my old life.
Or… I could make a different choice entirely.
TWENTY-SIX
ABADDON
My precious consortwas absolutely perfect last night. I feel my mouth curve upward as I fly toward home, arms laden with treasures for her.
The sensation blooming in my chest is so unfamiliar that I struggle to identify it. Then recognition strikes.
Happiness.
She’s making me genuinely happy.
A century ago, I wouldn’t have believed such a thing possible for someone like me. Creator-Father cursed the day I drew breath. Called me worthless. Nothing. Even as he tried to discipline me day after day into becoming something he could?—
I shake my head and allow my smile to spread wider instead.
There’s no point in dwelling on the past anymore.
There is only our future now.
I let myself spiral through the air, purely for the joy of feeling wind rushing through my feathers. It’s almost intoxicating.
I actually chuckle. Romulus would hardly believe it if he could witness me now. But she has brought such light to my existence.
She is my...
Miracle.
