The creature’s strength was astounding as it swatted me with a hand. I careened across the ground, the wind knocked out of me, rolling to a stop on the path with a groan. I twisted to get back to my feet, but the monster was already there, growling as saliva dripped from its gaping maw.
I knew I was about to die as the creature prepared to leap, then launched itself directly at me. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the blow that would end my existence, but instead, heard a startled grunt and thud as the body landed off course.
Opening my eyes, I saw that another monster was grappling with the black demon that had been stalking me, this one a chocolate brown. The monsters snarled as they clawed at one another, jaws snapping, searching for tender flesh to sink their teeth into.
I was paralyzed with fear as I watched them engage in battle, but then I realized that this was the moment I’d needed to escape. My legs took some convincing to carry my weight again, but once they did, I ran back to the bridge, hoping to cross it and disappear into the woods beyond before the monsters had finished their struggle. With any luck, the winner would be content with the carcass of its enemy for sustenance and allow me to disappear into the night.
It was all I could hope for, because if they decided to pursue me, I had no chance whatsoever.
Before I even reached the bridge, I heard a high-pitched whine. I didn’t look back, refusing to face my death again so soon, but like a graceful feline, one of the demons dropped into my path, cutting me off from escape.
It was the black monster.
I staggered back, then fell to the ground, glancing over my shoulder to find the brown demon lying on its side, although it was no longer in the shape of a demon, but rather that of a large wolf. A wound in its neck seeped dark blood as it stared back at me, mouth agape, gasping for air.
I swallowed hard and faced the black demon once more, only to watch as fur retreated into its skin. Its ears sunk into its skull, along with its muzzle, teeth shrinking to fit a very human-looking mouth. Its stature reduced in size as legs snapped and cracked in time to bones readjusting to new shapes. I crawled back as its claws retracted into human fingers, ordinary with trimmed nails. The yellow disappeared from the eyes of this face that I knew, a cold stare falling back into place, as if it had never left.
“It’s time to return to Udolpho, Emile,” Count Montoni said, glaring down his nose at me. “Now, get up.”
I knelt in the road, my hand running over the neck of the wounded wolf.Werewolf,I realized, glancing back at Montoni, who watched me with his teeth clenched. He was naked and stood in the middle of the road as if nothing whatsoever was the matter. As if he weren’t a monster.
Turning my attention back to the brown wolf, I gently probed the wound at its neck. It seemed to have stopped bleeding, but it was a nasty wound, flesh torn open viciously by Montoni’s merciless teeth.
The wolf whined deep in its throat as I ran a hand over its muzzle, earning a lick. My eyes narrowed. “Who are you?” I asked it. I got to my feet and stared at the wolf, its yellow eyes staring back into mine.
I glanced back at Montoni. “Who is that?” Even though, in my heart, I already knew.
Montoni sneered. “Who do you think it is? My nephew, of course. Choosing poorly, as per usual.”
“You would kill your own nephew?”
“He’ll live,” Montoni said dismissively. He glared at Henri. “Shift. Now.”
The popping and cracking noises that came to my ears made me tense, but I remained still, closing my eyes and unwilling to turn and watch Henri while his body realigned itself into a human being. When the noises ceased, I turned to find Henri lying naked on the ground, eyes shut.
“Henri!” I rushed to his side and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him roughly.
“He’s only fainted,” Montoni sighed, as if I was testing his patience. “It takes more than that to kill one of us.”
I watched Henri’s eyelids flutter briefly before I noted the rise and fall of his chest. Montoni was correct. Henri was alive. He looked terrible though, his skin pale and clammy, the wound at his neck caked with blood and impossibly shredded. I swallowed back the bile that rose in my throat before I realized just how naked Henri was.
I turned my head away, but I needn’t have been so embarrassed. Henri’s legs were turned to conceal himself. Montoni was just as naked, but he didn’t seem to care in the least. Nor did I. I was too concerned with what poor shape Henri seemed to be in. I’d never imagined seeing my headstrong suitor in such a vulnerable state. It wrenched my heart.
“Put him on my back,” Montoni commanded. “I’ll carry him.”
I looked up to ask what he meant, only to find his body shifting once more. I couldn’t watch. While Montoni changed, I slid the cloak from over my coat and wrapped it around Henri as best as I could manage. When Montoni lowered himself beside Henri’s prone form, I dragged his dead weight, lifting his surprisingly heavy body onto the black wolf that was his uncle.
Montoni got to his feet with a warning growl, meeting my gaze with an animal one. Then he sauntered into the woods and I followed, shivering in the chill air.
As we approached Udolpho, I lifted my eyes to that dreaded stone edifice I had fled, and I shuddered. This time, when I passed through its gates, any illusion that I wasn’t a prisoner would be shed. I would be, watched carefully with no chance for escape. Before, at least I’d had hope. Now, I had none. I was truly at Count Montoni’s mercy. The monster. An actual monster.
I had been expecting to uncover something damning about Montoni, but I’d been expecting something more pedestrian. This was beyond my ability to comprehend. And then there was Henri.
I swallowed hard as I glanced at him, eyes still closed to the night air, face shadowed. My Henri was … it was impossible to wrap my head around it. He was a monster, as well. An abomination. All those times he’d tried to warn me what a monster he was, this was what he’d meant. This was what he’d been hiding from me. The monster inside of him was the wolf, and I’d seen it firsthand tonight. And yet he’d tried to protect me. Even in the form of a demon, he’d come between me and Montoni, had fought for me. As much good as that had done.
“You will go inside now.”
I turned back to find Montoni had returned to his human form and held an unconscious Henri in his arms. I felt pity for my aunt, who’d married this villain, not knowing what he truly was. This abhorrent creature was a part of my family, and he seemed just as indifferent to his own blood as to his new wife.
