His skin is cleaned of filth, and even his claws have been cleansed and trimmed. He not only allowed her to touch him but to bathe, groom, and cover his nakedness. He, who attacks if I ever come within feet of him.
Though I am on my knees now, he has reared up on his legs, all six arms and thirty claws bared and ready should I attack.
He, who has always had a more wickedly acute sense of smell than I, protects my consort fromme.
And I, like my father before me, am the only true monster here.
THIRTY-NINE
HANNAH
“Thing,”I say, keeping my voice soft because I don’t want to startle my gentle giant protector, who’s standing like a wall between me and the monster I thought I knew. “What did you mean when you said I bear his kit?”
I still can’t look at Abaddon. Can’t eventhinkabout him right now without my hand automatically going to my throat, where his fingers left invisible bruises on my trust.
God, I was such an idiot. I actually thought?—
Nope. Not going there.
I’ve had my heart broken before, but this hits different. This isn’t just betrayal—it’s the shattering realization that the man I was falling for, the one I thought was learning to be better, just showed me exactly who he really is when he can’t control his emotions.
And now Thing is potentially telling me something that makes my stomach drop to the dungeon floor.
I focus on what he said instead of the trainwreck of feelings threatening to drown me. Even though I’m pretty sure I’m about to get hit by another emotional freight train.
Thing doesn’t turn around—smart move, keeping his eyes on the threat—but his voice is matter-of-fact when he explains. “Kit. Brother’s seed planted in belly. Grow now and become kit.”
The words hit me like ice water.
Oh, shit. Oh shit oh shit oh SHIT.
My hands fly from my neck to my stomach, pressing against the rough fabric of this makeshift apron. “You mean I’m pregnant?” My voice cracks on the last word. “How can you even?—”
“He can scent it,” comes Abaddon’s broken voice from behind Thing, and honestly? I want to punch him in his perfect monster face for interrupting this moment. “It is one of my imperfections. I cannot scent as well as my brother. Hannah-consort, I did not mean to?—”
“Don’t.” The word comes out sharp as a blade. “You meant exactly what you did. Your actions spoke loud and clear.”
I still can’t look at him. If I do, I might completely lose it, and I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart.
Is this really where my wish for a miracle brought me? To some fucked-up fairy tale where Beast actuallyisa beast, and I’m carrying his baby after knowing him for like five minutes?
This is not how I imagined my life going.
“Give me the keys to Thing’s chains,” I say, proud of how steady my voice sounds.
“You cannot—” Abaddon starts, and that’s when I completely lose my shit.
“You’re the only one who’s EVER hurt me in this place!” I scream, my voice echoing off these god-awful stone walls. “He’s the one who protected me! So guess what? I choose him as my protector now. Give me the damn keys!”
The echo of my words bounces around us like angry ghosts, and in the silence that follows, I can hear my heart hammering against my ribs.
Then I hear Abaddon getting up off the floor. I keep my face turned away even when he says, “I will go get them.”
The bastard actually soundssad. Good. Maybe now he knows how it feels.
“I am sorry,” comes Romulus’s voice from his corner of eternal punishment. “He will not know how to ask for forgiveness.”
“I don’t give a fuck about that right now,” I snap, because I’m so done with making excuses for grown-ass men who can’t handle their trauma without hurting other people.
