Page 38 of My Monster’s Keeper

Becky

I ’ve made up my mind. I’m going to corner him and find out why he’s avoiding me. I just need to figure out how. My patience pays off, and I spot Frost sneaking into the kitchen. I scramble off Puppy and dart towards the door.

I slide into the kitchen in time to see him close the fridge door.

“You’re avoiding me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Frost says without looking at me.

I grind my molars and stare at the pale expanse of his shirtless back. I smile in a feral baring of my teeth.

“Am I really?”

Frost straightens, he turns his head warily in my direction. “I’m not avoiding you.”

“It would be nice if you could look me in the eye while you lie to me,” I frown. “I thought Fae couldn’t lie?”

“A common fallacy to make us seem less inclined towards homicide,” Frost says and squirts whipped cream into his mouth.

I watch as he swallows it and then fan myself. Is it getting hot in here? It feels like it’s getting hot in here.

“So, you can lie?”

“Yes.”

“And the name thing?”

Frost rolls his eyes. “I think humans needed to make us soft in order to comprehend how we could exist. Fairy circles don’t exist. If you go to my world and eat, you won’t be caught. You’ll be potentially eaten, raped, or killed, but don’t get your hopes up for golden dresses and dancing.”

“Do you miss it? ”

“Not at all. I was sent away when I was young, and I became this. By the time I came back, I was far different from the people of the Unseelie Court, and I was dangerous. After multiple attempts to kill me, I left and found myself here.”

“That’s horrible.”

“That’s court life for a Fae. For a human, unless you are entertaining, you’re going to end up food.” Frost pulls open a bag of cheese, sniffs it and puts it back.

“Sit down, I’ll cook for you,” I say in exasperation.

I pull out the ingredients for spaghetti. It’s only of three recipes I’ve been able to master, and it’s not too bad, if I say so myself.

Frost watches me work, occasionally asking a question about what I’m doing. He gets closer and closer until he’s standing shoulder to shoulder with me.

I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but he’s growing more upset by the minute. When I finally present him with the plate of food, he stares at it with huge eyes and reverently takes it from my hand.

“You would cook for me,” Frost murmurs.

“Of course.” I wipe down the counter and open my mouth to call the others to come get their food, but I catch a glimpse of Frost’s expression, and I pause. “Is something wrong?”

“You made me something to eat.”

“Well, yes. I mean, it’s a thing here.”

He inhales roughly and reverently, picks up a strand of pasta, and puts it in his mouth.

“It’s really good,” he whispers.

“Frost, I’m a little lost at the moment. What’s going on?” I edge towards him, but he turns away from me, protecting the food.

When Puppy explodes into the room, sniffing through his oversized nostrils, Frost vanishes.

“Wait!” I shout at Puppy. “Human form, and use a fork.”

Puppy hisses at me and thumps his tail on the floor.

“Fork and two legs,” I snarl and narrow my eyes.

He shifts into his human form and picks up his plate with the fork and goes to the door.

“Wait!” I call out, but he springs through the door, shifting shape, and catches the plate and spaghetti in his mouth in one quick move. I wince at the crunch and lean against the counter .

Luckily, Wilder and Stix come in and calmly sit and eat their meal.

“What’s wrong?” Stix asks after a while.

“Oh, nothing. Well, something.”

“Which is it?” Wilder asks.

“Frost took his food and ran away again.”

Stix and Wilder exchange a silent conversation with each other.

I go to where I can see them. “What is this? What is going on here?”

Stix puts his elbow on the table and puts his chin in his hand. “Wilder and I are lovers. Though to be fair, Frost and I are, too.”

“Are you?” Wilder asks in surprise.

“Yes, is that okay?” Stix says back.

“I mean, yeah. I’m just surprised.”

I look between them, my frown getting deeper and darker.

“Yeah, fine, I don’t care about that. But why are you two keeping secrets about Frost?” I hiss.

“You don’t care that I took another lover?” Wilder growls. “I’m offended.”

“Me, too,” Stix glowers at me. “Is that what we mean to you?”

“Stop it. I was there when you both started this. If I had an issue with it, I would have said something, further, stop trying to get me to be upset about it,” I growl, “what is wrong with Frost?”

“I just told you that I’m going to make the Lord of the Hunt my bitch, and you don’t even blink an eye!” Stix throws his hands in the air dramatically.

I glare at Stix. “I was there that night. I do remember very clearly what happened. It was sexy. It was attractive. I don’t care if you guys are with each other, but if you bring anyone else in, I will kill them. Slowly. Painfully. Without mercy. Diablos will help me. It has been discussed.”

Stix and Wilder exchange another look and sit back with twin smiles of satisfaction on their lips.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” I almost howl. “Answer my question!”

“Frost has probably never had anyone give him a meal is the more immediate answer. But think about who he is, love. He burns, and he freezes. He can’t touch you the way you want him to.”

I stiffen, hearing the words but dismissing them. “Crap. ”

“Excuse me?” Wilder growls.

“He’s mine. He can touch me. He’s just being an idiot. We’re mates, aren’t we?” I sniff and decide to leave the two to their madness.

It takes me a while to find Frost. He’s found a way to get up into the attic, and he’s hidden up there in the dark. I struggle with a ladder, ignoring my three mates who are leaning against the wall watching me.

“You could help,” I growl at Puppy.

He flicks his tail out and makes the ladder wobble. “I shall catch you when you fall from this death contraption. You’ll suffer no splintered bones on this morning.” His head whips around to stare at the front of the house. “What do you do here, Feline!” he shouts. “I warned you!”

I watch, torn between amusement and concern for the cat as Puppy races out of the hallway and throws himself through the window.

I return my gaze to the ladder, refusing to acknowledge that I now have to call Diablos for yet another window.

How many times do I have to explain to Puppy that you need to use doors?

I drag myself higher and finally get into the roof. The whole interior looks like it came out of a freezer. I pull myself up and look past the shining white piles of things that are now just useless hunks of frozen obstacles.

It’s beautiful, though. I run my fingers over a particularly square box. It’s cold and my fingers come around red.

“Frost?”

I sense movement and turn in that direction. From deep in the shadows, I make out my prince sitting cross-legged on the floor, lifting the last stand of spaghetti to his mouth.

He looks like he might have been crying, but I can’t tell. The streaks on his cheeks glitter like ice.

“Frost?”

His eyes snap to me, and he lifts the plate and starts to lick it.

“We need to talk.”

“Go away.”

“Not a chance in hell. This hiding nonsense isn’t going to work for me.”

“You would become another frozen statue in my world? You’d risk it?”

“You won’t hurt me, Frost.”

He throws his head back and laughs. “Of course, I will.”

I glare at him. “So, you’re not even going to try? ”

He crawls towards me so suddenly I can’t move. His face is ghastly white, and his teeth are sharpened to points. “I am Fae. I am a prince,” he says in the most ethereally beautiful voice I’ve ever heard.

I’m frozen as he places his ice cold palm to my face. It takes three seconds before it starts to ache, another second before I try to move away, and then I’m gritting my teeth, holding back a cry.

“See? I’ll hurt you.”

I grab the back of his head with my free hand and fuse our mouths together. My cheek floods with heat, and I cry out at the relief and sudden change in sensations.

He pulls back, gripping my chin and turning my head this way and that. “No mark.”

I stare at him, wondering how I could ever have been scared of him. He reaches out and drags me into his arms.

“Emotions make me lose control,” Frost murmurs. “I might burn you or freeze you.”

“Do you know they say you can’t experience love without experiencing pain?”

Frost goes still, and I replay my words, wincing as I realise what I’ve said.

“You love me.”

I don’t want to confirm that. I’m still not sure if they’ll stay with me or if they’ll abandon me like everyone else.

But I need to take a chance, don’t I? Grant would tell me to take a chance.

“I do love you.”

“WORKIES! Here, little demons, come to papa, I have some workies for you!”

Frost's head snaps towards the entrance to his ice kingdom, and he snarls.

“Come, my little lazy shits, it’s time you got off your fat little tookus’ and do some nice little workies. Hey! Puppy! Stop that! Do not growl at me like that. Bad dog. Bad.”

“Oh, shit,” Frost murmurs and covers his face with his hands. “I’ll get you a new kitchen, I promise.”

My eyes widen, and I struggle free of Frost and throw myself towards the hole. I let out a shriek as the ladder I step onto wobbles and finally tumbles to the ground in four pieces.

Shadows snap out of the walls and catch me just before I hit the ground.

“Huh. Thanks, Stix!”

He pokes his head out of the kitchen, looks at the shadows, and his eyes widen. “Uh, sure.”

I tear free of the shadows as something crashes loudly. I don’t know what it is, but I’m seeing my pantry with a huge hole in it in my mind. So not okay .

“I said stop!” Diablos thunders. “You came here, I helped you, it’s only fair you help me.”

“I told you not to trespass in our den,” Puppy growls in an evil voice. “Now you shall be food.”

“Wait!” I shout out. I finally get to the kitchen and manage to squeeze past Stix. Diablos is in his demon form. He’s huge and crimson.

“We can’t kill him.”

“Why not?” Puppy snarls.

“Because Hartley brings you snacks. And we like Hartley. Diablos is Hartley’s mate.”

“The useless demon has a mate?” Puppy asks, but the question is aimed at Frost, not me. I turn, watching as the two communicate silently.

Oh, this is a pairing that is going to send me mad.

“Fine. No eating. But he must not leave the kitchen when he trespasses,” Puppy snaps outs. He jumps towards the room and lands on the ceiling. We all crane our heads and watch as he scurries away.

“Well, I hope you enjoyed the entertainment,” I say to break the ice.

Diablos wheezes, puts a hand to his chest, and leans heavily on my fridge. “He’s going to give me a heart attack one day.”

“Can your kind die of heart attacks?” I ask curiously.

“You do not amuse me in the least,” Diablos snaps. “I have a job for all of you.”

“That’s wonderful,” I say absently, watching as the shadows reach out to me. “What are they doing?”

“What?” Stix asks and looks towards the other side of the room.

“Here, these, what are they doing?” I snap, my voice rising with my growing alarm.

“Oh, um. Yeah, those are yours. Have fun. What a wonderful mating present, right?”

“Mating present?” I stutter over those words and eye the shadows like a pit full of cobras.

“Indeed. Now, let’s focus on what poor, almost dead Diablos is saying.”

“We’re going to talk about this,” I snarl at Stix.

“Yes. Of course. Later.”

I growl loudly and impress everyone. Okay, so maybe this is kinda cool.