We’re not locked in a one-room log cabin in the monster realm anymore.
We’re home in the Fringes, tangled up in bed together. Celine’s soft curves pressed between us, her red hair wrapped around my fist.
Alistair isn’t worried about being useless. I don’t feel like a monster.
We talk about our future because we want to, not because we’re scared we’ll never get another chance.
Tension gathers low in my belly, coiling tighter by the second. I don’t want it to snap yet. I don’t want this to be over. It’s a life preserver made of rightness floating in a sea of wrong. “Come for me,” Alistair growls. “Come forme now, Luca.”
I’m not strong enough to fight us both.
Arching into his body, I explode. Spots of black dot my vision as every muscle in my body tightens, then relaxes.
Ali spasms in my hand, soaking my fingers with cum. He pulls his fangs out of my neck and seals the puncture wounds with a warm, rough lick that echoes in my cock.
The sensation of being home slips away. I try to hold on to it, but I’ve never been good at playing pretend. My mental grip is as slippery as my cum-soaked fingers.
I pull my hand out of his pants, and the weight of reality returns.
Alistair buries his face in the crook of my shoulder and sighs. “We’ll get out of here, Luca. Together. I believe that, and you and that monster inside of you are a big part of the reason I have hope. Remember that the next time you decide to feel like shit about who you are.”
He tenses to get up, but I wrap my arms around him and mutter, “No.”
“No?” His voice is confident again, warm honey rolling off a spoon.
“Stay,” I whisper.
Alistair doesn’t give me a chance to be vulnerable. His body relaxes against mine, slowly at first, then all at once—like he just let go of something huge. I want to ask him what it was, but exhaustion is clawing at me again.
“Always,” he says.
I yawn, and my thoughts get cloudy. He promised to stay, and I want to believe him. Most of me does. Unfortunately, we’re not in control. All I can do is hope that nothing happens to turn Alistair’s promise into a lie.
TEN
Monster Realm Survival Tip #28:
Softness is weakness.
ALISTAIR
Luca’s breathing evens out, but I can’t sleep.
With the taste of his blood coating my tongue, I’m as close to relaxed as I can be without Celine by my side. I don’t deserve either of them, but I’ll kill anyone who tries to take them from me.
There’s a steadiness to Luca that makes everything easier to accept. Horrible traffic? He distracts me with a joke. Starving to death? He pierces a vein without hesitation.
Celine relies on him, and I depend on him for more than his blood.Why can’t he see that and embrace it?If I was everyone’s rock in the storm, the whole world would know it.
Luca’s hair tickles my neck. It’s incredibly soft. I tuck it behind his ear, pleased when he doesn’t stir. He may mistrust the monster inside him, but I’m not worried—not about that.
Luca is monstrous, and the basilisk is vicious. He’s a threat to anyone who crosses him, and I wouldn’t have him any other way.
Cold air grazes my lower back where my shirt has ridden up.
Contorted on this tiny bed, my thoughts drift to Celine. Is Ciprian wrapped around her right now? I tense, expecting white-hot rage to consume me the way it usually does when I think of him.
I’m relieved when it doesn’t come, and relieved that she isn’t alone. Ciprian wouldn’t bat an eye before killing to keep her safe. I know that because I’ve seen it firsthand. It’s exactly what he did for me before everything got hopelessly tangled.
