ONE
Monster Realm Survival Tip #1:
Run.
CELINE
A gust of glacial wind cuts through my clothes, and I shudder.
We’ve been set up.I have no idea how my father managed it, but the magical transportation gateway was redirected somehow, spitting us—well, I don’t know where we are, but it’s not the celestial realm.How did he know we were coming?
Metal grinds against metal in the sky overhead. When I tilt my face up to get a better look at whatever made that awful sound, a frozen pellet of ice hits my eyelid. My eye waters and overflows, the tears freezing on my cheek before they reach my chin.
I scrape the ice off my face and use some of my remaining body heat to free my trapped eyelashes while staring at the strange collection of hovering debris overhead.
Instead of clouds, there are clusters of jagged rock and metal, loosely held together by magic or some scientific anomaly I’ve never heard of. Wind rustles through the debris field, making theindividual pieces shiver and grind against each other like a rabid dog panting against a chain-link fence. Part metal, part beast... I can’t shake the idea that the realm itself is alive and watching.
The ground rumbles ominously. I widen my stance and grit my teeth.
It doesn’t matter where we are or how we got here—something is wrong with Luca. On his knees with his arms wrapped around himself, he’s panting in... pain? I reach for him. He screams. Fear cracks my thin layer of calm until I’m shaking from more than cold.
“Are you okay?”Stupid question, Celine.He’s obviously not okay.“Talk to me, Luca,” I beg. With my hand outstretched, my trembling is impossible to ignore. It’s almost as bad as his.
Luca screams again, and his back contorts to an impossible angle. Then he’s snatched up by an invisible force and slammed flat on the craggy ground.
“Oh my gods.” I cover my mouth, but I want to cover my eyes.
He’s stretching. Ten feet long, fifteen—his body grossly distorts until he doesn’t look like my Luca anymore at all.
“Stay back,” Alistair says, grabbing my arm and pulling me away. I could shake him off if I needed to, but I think he’s right. Whatever’s happening to Luca, I can’t stop it, and the last thing I want to do is make it worse.
Green scales carpet his tan skin, and his eyes flash yellow, each one expanding until it’s the size of my head. The next agonized sound torn from his mouth is more animal than human, and I gasp as his body absorbs his arms and legs.
Gods. He’s shifting. I should have realized it sooner.
Luca—who avoids his basilisk at all costs—is shifting right in front of us, and it doesn’t appear optional.
“Don’t make eye contact,” I shout to the others. Alistair’s grip above my elbow is warm and reassuring. “He’s not in control.”
“But he’s in pain!” Ciprian takes two steps toward Luca, then a deep, resonant hiss stops him in his tracks.
A heartbeat later, and he’s not my boyfriend anymore at all.
I’m meeting his basilisk instead.
Twenty-five feet long and thicker than a storm drain, the snake-like creature is enormous. I’ve imagined how Luca would look fully shifted dozens of times, but I didn’t come close to the reality.
His scales are bright green—no, brown—wait, oh my gods, they’re changing to match the ground. Shades of brown, some remind me of his hair and others resemble the whiskey-soaked hazel of his human eyes. Eyes that I desperately want to see again; the skin around the corners crinkling as he smiles and tells me everything’s going to be okay.
“We need to get away from him,” Malach warns. “He’s not stable.”
I frown and keep my voice low to avoid startling the bus-sized predator in front of me. “Go if you want. I’m not leaving him.”
“My truth?—”
“Angel, please, Luca wouldn’t want you to?—”
“Shutup,” I snarl, shaking Alistair’s fingers loose. “I’ll tell you all the same thing I would tell Luca if he tried to get me to leave, and that’s no. His basilisk won’t hurt me.”
