Page 22 of Monsterland Mayhem

“You asked why I want to get to know you,” I say slowly, mostly to give her an opportunity to protest and rephrase. When she doesn’t, I add, “I want to know my potential mate.”

“Potential…” Her eyes widen. “What?”

I smirk, not at all surprised by her response. “Is that another question? Because you’ll need to tell me your favorite flower for me to answer.”

“Are you serious?” she sputters.

“I believe I answered that question before,” I drawl.

“I don’t…” She shakes her head. “Okay, whatever. Sunflowers. The kind found out in the meadows. They’re yellow and they smell nice.”

Sunshine flowers, I note, aware that they’re not exactly the same in this realm as in her home, but close enough.Sunshinewould also be a good nickname for my little rabbit. Her long white-blonde hair definitely reminds me of the sun.

Alas, nicknames are not allowed.

Not yet, anyway.

“What do you mean bypotential mate?” she demands.

I don’t answer her right away, the edge of the field requiring my complete focus as I navigate us toward a path clear of electric vines.

Definitely don’t want to touch any of those dangerous writhing ropes dangling from the nearby cacti.

Ailsa really did take us off course down here, but once we cross through this fiery desert, we’ll be back on track to reach the caves by nightfall.

Then the fun will begin.

“What…?” Ailsa’s unfinished question has me glancing at her. She’s no longer looking at me, but at the currents buzzing between the vines. “Are those… electrical lines?”

“Sort of,” I tell her. “But not quite. They’re alive. And they like to zap.”

One of them stirs as we near it, the mouth along the end of a rope opening in a hiss that has Ailsa wrapping her arms more tightly around my neck.

“Yeah, they’re not friendly,” I mutter, avoiding the now-slithering ropelike creature. “Most of the fiery desert is like this, but we need to go through it to reach the mushrooms on the other side.”

She swallows. “I… I don’t want to be here. This is all a mistake. I’m… I’m just a human.”

“You’re not,” I promise her. “You’re an Omega. Krolic found you two years ago. We’ve just been waiting for you to take that elixir so that everyone else would know, too.”

She’s shaking her head before I finish. “I can’t be an Omega.”

“Why not?” I ask as we duck under a red rock arch to officially enter the desert.

“Because I’mhuman.”

“Humans can be Omegas,” I tell her. “That’s why the Crimson King’s edict applied to all beings. It’s about the soul, not the species classification.”

That’ll become evident as she learns more about Monsterland.

I’m an Alpha, as are Catum and Krolic. But we’re all different species.

“Crimson King?” Her nose scrunches. “You mean the Silver King?”

“No, I definitely meant Crimson,” I mutter as I maneuver us around a particularly large cactus. It’s the size of a small house and probably has a spiker inside it. If it comes out to bother us, I’ll be forced to set Ailsa down and waste another card. Both actions would displease me immensely.

“The Silver King issued the edict.”

“No, the Crimson King issued it while masquerading as the Silver King,” I correct her. “It’s a common misconception. One that you’re going to help clear up someday soon.”