Page 27 of Mate of a Monster

“Tell me what happened.”

“You want the recap?” Thyrix’s voice grinds through my skull while his claws scrape a groove in the stone. “I fly to Rathe, I roast their pretty palace line, and the horned kings lose their minds.”

My eyes land on him. “You went to Rathe? Why?”

“Hmmm, Wild One. You do know we’re all born there, yes? We go home when we’re not here. So being there is not the story. But being on their grounds, well. That is.”

“What did you do?” I don’t mean for the worry to creep in. It’s completely and totally unwelcome. I hope he burned the entire palace to a crisp.

The second the thought crosses my mind, a searing pain eats up my sternum. I grit my teeth, ignoring the sensation as Thyrix continues, “I tried to restore balance but didn’t get very far. The one who has a severe magic complex didn’t like me much. He took a peek inside my head and I let the nightmare eat him down to his very soul.”

Creed. Anger swarms through my veins. Invasive fucking bastard.

“But he knows the truth now.”

“Truth about what?”

“You.”

“What about me?”

“We’ll help you understand.”

“Who is we, Thyrix? And help me understand what? I need to— This is too much right now. I gotta go.”

“It’s going to be okay. You will see.”

“I’m going to find Zev!” I need a second opinion. Maybe we can go hunt down some mushrooms. I need to fucking relax. Before I would be fucking so I could relax, but— no, that could still work.

Maybe.

Fuck, I don’t know. Is my pussy broken too?

Will I vomit or convulse or some other twisted shit?

“Ugh!” I scream into the trees, yanking on my hair.

The Nightkin’s presence sits at the base of my skull. Every now and then, I can feel him there. His pressure. Warm enough to make me itch. Probably because he’s giving me fleas.

“Not a very nice thing to say to your mate.”

I wait for the panic to hit. The usual panic that arose the last time he called me that. Not to mention he’s in my fucking head like a parasite. It doesn’t come.

That bothers me more than his presence does.

You need to get a hobby, beast boy.

A low scrape of amusement through my mind, dark and unhurried. “I have one.”

I snort, boots hitting the next landing. “Let me guess. Stalking.”

“Tormenting you.”

A breath of laughter escapes before I can kill it, and I clamp my jaw shut, furious at myself.

“Glad I’m entertaining,” I fire back, rounding the next switchback. The valley opens up below, and I can see the tree line that borders the main settlement. It’s greener now. It used to be gray like a corpse, rotting like everything else here.

“You are many things, Hellpet.” His voice settles deeper, losing the edge of humor. “Entertaining is the least of them.”