Page 122 of My Monster’s Keeper

I love that sound. I bite my bottom lip and look up at the spiderweb so I don’t go and jump my Seelie lover’s bones.

Wait. I glance at Coby.

“You knew about everyone being dead down there?” I stalk towards him. He backs up, but a wall of fire stops him in his tracks.

“No. I. No!” Coby looks from me to Wilder to Stix and back to me. “They were nobodies. Just junkies and homeless bums. No one would miss them.”

I feel sick.

“Coby,” I swallow thickly. “Did you bring these people here to be killed? In a truck?”

His face undergoes a swift series of expressions before he settles on a deep sulk. “I want a lawyer.”

“Call Diablos,” I say shortly. “He can deal with him.”

Puppy comes tearing back into the room and throws his weight on me. We go crashing to the floor.

“I got you a gift.”

“What?”

“A gift!” Puppy says and giggles.

Oh, dear.

A moment later, a huge grey and white Pitbull comes in sight and barks joyously.

“I gave him to you. You can’t give him back!” Puppy shouts.

“Wait! Hold on a second! Dogs are expensive. Ugh, Puppy, get off me for a minute.”

I scramble up, trying to get my thoughts together.

“I gave her to you,” Puppy says slowly, and is that a whine in his voice? Is he excited? He really wants this dog?

Can I say no? We have the money. We have a home. All the reasons I don’t own a dog suddenly become very small, quiet, and insignificant. Technically, I can have a dog now. So, can I really say no to Puppy?

No, I can’t because I’m a sucker for these four men from other worlds. “Okay. You can bring him home with us.”

Puppy lets out a laugh. It’s delightful. It sets my pussy aching. The whole situation is maddening, and I watch as he leaves me to go play with the dog.

It’s skinny, a bag of bones. There’s a thick, heavy chain collar around its neck. That has to go. It appears young, though. It’s very quick and agile but strong. I can see that already. The dog has got a blue head and body with a white chest and four white socks.

“You need to find a name for your dog, Puppy,” I say loudly. Too loudly, I don’t mean it that loudly.

“I think you found his weakness,” Frost whispers against my ear.

“I think you guys found mine, too.”

Chapter 36

Frost

The new addition to our family has gained the name Song. Because, it turns out; he hates Diablos, which Puppy found hilarious, and between barks and growls, this fierce little sack of flesh sings his war song. Howling in loud, penetrating warbles. You can’t not hear him.

He talks to us. Chirping and yapping like he’s having a conversation that we’re a part of. For a creature that was left tied up in the backyard to guard a house of decaying corpses, he’s friendly and amazingly well-adjusted. And why the hell won’t he shut up?

He fits with us. I know it’s soon to say, but he’s another part of the puzzle that has allowed us to be in this realm with greater ease. The most fascinating thing happened three days after we adopted Song.