Page 16 of Mate of a Monster

“And he kissed me. Put his hands all over me.” My fingers tingle with the memory, but it feels distant. “Made me feel things. That’s the real crime, honestly.”

We turn down a path I don’t recognize. It must be near the main street, since we were just in the arena.

“I should’ve killed him.” The words slur together. “Should’ve put my blade through his throat the first time he called me his little psycho.”

The beast’s grip tightens slightly.

“But I didn’t.” I hiccup, my head spinning in circles. “Because I’m stupid.” Realization slams into me and the laughter dies in my throat. “I’m so fucking stupid. I thought… I don’t even know what I thought.”

My head lolls to the side, hair falling across my face. Why the fuck can’t I shut up about this?

I hit the ground with a thud, sand flying up around my body. “Hey!”

I should be a little afraid of this beast. Any sane person would be, yet here I am, fantasizing about what his insides look like after I tear them out. Would he be human? Or would he be more monster?

If you tore me open, Hellpet, all you’d find is you.

Something snaps. Whatever invisible strings he had wrapped around my spine, my lungs, my fucking brain—gone.

I sag forward, sand grinding into my palms as I catch myself. My chest heaves. Air rushes through me like I hadn’t been breathing that whole time, and the giggly fog dissolves into something closer to rage.

“What the hell was that? Did you drug me with some truth serum shit? Does that exist here now too? You know, on the island where magic isn’t supposed to fucking exist?”

No drugs. You had a lot on your mind, little mate. Your anger was consuming you. I had to help you settle.

“You piece of—”

Wind whooshes past us, whipping into my face. I tense, tuning in to the sound and recognizing it instantly.

Wings. Not one set or even two. A storm of them, the rhythmic thunder of leathered beats drowning out the crash of waves against the shore. The air pressure shifts, dropping low and heavy, and my head snaps toward the horizon.

The ocean stretches out flat and endless, and above it—

Dragons.

Dozens of them. Their silhouettes cut jagged lines against the sky. They’re flying hard. Not the lazy glide of creatures coming home, but the desperate beat of a race against time.

My throat closes. Thyrix and I didn’t exactly resolve our issues after he saved my ass from being Exile roadkill.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many at once. Normally, they ride in pairs, maybe a few more if they’re bored or you get lucky. But this—I’d say it was beautiful if alarm bells weren’t blaring inside my skull.

“Haide!” Zev calls out, running toward me, eyes drifting past my shoulder to what’s in front.

I scramble to my feet and follow his gaze, instantly forgetting about the Nightkin. At the front of the horde—

Thyrix.

“Something’s wrong,” I whisper, searching the dragon’s eyes.

Zev looks to the sky then back at me in confusion. “How do you know?”

“I just do.”

A loud roar ripples through the island, sand flying up in the air and waves crashing against the shore even harder. I take one step forward, and the pain detonates in my chest, exploding through me like a thousand bombs. Heat licks up my throat and through my veins, my head ringing until I’m sure my eardrums have burst. I fall to my knees, grabbing my head.

“There’s too much. I can’t—”

I open my mouth to scream, but all I feel is fire, melting me from the inside out.