Page 105 of Monsterland Mayhem

I blink at her. “Earlier you?—”

“It’s really good tea,” she stresses, cutting me off. “Trust me.”

My brow furrows. An hour ago, she told me not to drink the tea. Now she wants me to try it?

I walk over there, determined to grab the teacup and either chuck it at the wall or dump the contents down the drain in the bathroom. But when I lift the medium-sized ceramic cup, I spy a piece of paper folded neatly beneath it.

Or I assume it’s a paper, anyway. It’s small, the missive having been folded several times to more or less hide beneath the tea.

I set the drink to the side and grab the note.

When I look up at Tabitha, she has a finger in front of her lips.

Frowning, I unfold the letter and arch a brow at the four words.There are ears everywhere.

I snort.No shit, I want to say back. But since I can’t, I let my eyes convey that message for me.

Tabitha grabs the tray. “Well, since you don’t want to eat anything, I’ll just take this back upstairs.” She takes a step, then trips over her own two feet, sending the contents all over the floor. With a loud gasp, she says, “Youpushedme.”

Both of my eyebrows fly up. “I did not.”

“Yes, you did!” she accuses, sounding furious. “Now I have to go get cleaning supplies to fix your mess. What the hell is wrong with you, Ailsa? Why are you so fucking ungrateful?”

With that glorious speech, she stomps off and up the stairs, leaving me gaping at her departing form. “Everyone is insane here.” That’s… that’s all I’ve got.

I take the note she left me, shred it, and throw it into the bathroom bin.

“How utterly helpful,” I mutter.

“You have no idea,” a silky voice says, making me yelp and turn around just as the bathroom door closes.

The shower starts a second later as a male forms just beside the tub. I run for the door, but he’s faster, grabbing me by the wrist and yanking me back to him.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Ailsa Marvel.” His bruising grip on my wrist says otherwise. “But I need to deliver a message.”

I take in his vibrant pink hair and matching eyelashes and immediately frown. “You look like Tabitha.”

“Well, relatives often look alike,” he drawls. “But I’m not here to discuss familial resemblances, darling pet. I need to know how much you’ve learned about the ritual.”

I stare at him. “The mating ritual?”

“No, the graduation one.”

My frown deepens. “What?”

“Of course I mean the mating ritual, darling girl,” he snaps, his mercurial mood swing making me want to step back. But his hand is still clamped down on my wrist. “Tell me what you know.”

“That it’s a hunt?—”

“No, tell me what you know about how it begins,” he interjects, his lack of patience starting to piss me off.

“Look, I don’t know who you?—”

“Darling,” he interrupts, a subtle purr underlining that word. “I’m destined to love you and worship you, but right now, I need you to focus. You’re the new player on the board, the unknown queen. You have the power to fix all of this, but you need to listen to me.”

“Says the man who keeps asking questions,” I retort.

He makes a noise in the back of his throat that almost sounds like a strangled laugh. Yet his catlike eyes radiate annoyance. “You have no idea how the ritual begins.”