Page 47 of My Monster’s Keeper

My attention glues to him because this is never good. When Grant starts using his brain, he can be remarkably cunning.

“You humans are so weak. Your strength is your ability to think with a hive mind. It’s also your greatest weakness.”

He smiles, and his lips crack at the side, almost up to his ears.

I shudder and instinctively step back, but the hands holding me tighten and throw me forward. I land heavily on my hands and knees.

“Bring them out,” he says.

I sit back, twisting to look around. The illusion hiding them rips away, and I see just how extensive it’s been. There are more of them gathered here than I’ve seen before. Perhaps one hundred, maybe two. They seem content to sit back and allow Grant to lead.

I can’t understand it, but then I realise they’re afraid. Just how fucked up is Grant? I have a feeling I’m about to find out.

A creature from the Shadow world makes a snarling noise, and I hear the rattle of a chain. It’s strange, there are more from the Shadow world than the Fae one, but there are creatures here that don’t feel like anything I can identify.

I’ve seen them executing Fae and Shadow kin alike. This isn’t a revolt, it’s a newly minted dictator in the making.

The creature with the chain marches into view, and I stand up. Terror and outrage flooding my veins with the strength of everything I’m about to lose.

“What the fuck is this?” I throw my hands at the chain. A dozen children under the age of five blink up at me with huge, bruised eyes.

“This is how I get you to do what I want. ”

Any hope I had of getting out of this, the smugness I feel fades until I’m left staring at the children, knowing I can’t do it.

I can’t hold out any longer.

This is going to end today. Now. I can’t kill children. There’s a line. I have morals. Oh, god, how am I going to do this? I’d rather be dead. I need to figure this out, and I have minutes.

“You’ll kill them, anyway.”

Grant smiles, and three of the children start to cry. “I won’t. I promise.”

I look around helplessly. I don’t know why, perhaps hoping that something would come out and save me. Give me any other option.

“You are the omega queen. You have powers you have no idea about. So do the queenly thing and protect your realm.”

I open my mouth, but, still, I hesitate. This is so final. So wrong. Once I say it, I can’t take it back. I will lose them forever. They will be abandoned, and they will think I gave up on them.

No, there has to be a better way.

He’s going to kill these children. I can see it in his face. He’s forgotten that I know him.

What to do? What to do?

The kids are crying, but they are almost without hope. They remind me of how I was when I was a child. Already burned by the world, no longer believing in miracles.

I catch a movement of black. A different kind of black.

Stix’s voice comes back to me. Loud and clear.

Cats can travel between worlds, they are revered. Why haven’t I seen cats? You always see cats in this area.

As suddenly as I think about it, I can see them. Dozens of them sitting there. Cats belong in all the worlds, but, on Earth, they found a place that could perhaps be home, part of our families, part of our households. Maybe our protectors? Guardians?

Everywhere I look, I see more cats looking at children and being completely unnoticed by everything else.

Oh, please, let this work.

I stare down at the dirty factory floor.

“Hurry up, Becky,” Grant growls.

“I’m thinking!” I shout at him.

The cats are gathering around the children .

I’m different. I’ve changed.

Remember who I am?

I am Becky Dawson. A cop and an omega queen. I’m part of their murder. They are my bonded alphas, and I am part of them, just as they are part of me.

I reach out, trying to touch the shadows and feel them come alive for me. Like they’ve been waiting for me all this time.

“Do you want to know something odd, Grant?”

He raises his brow. “Sure, I’ll play.”

“I knew those guys, Stix, Wilder, Frost, and Puppy, would burn the worlds down for me. I knew it. There was never a question in my mind. I just,” I pause to laugh, “I didn’t know that I would burn down the world for them.” I grin maliciously.

The children vanish, leaving a heavy chain to drop to the ground.

“Open the gates to the worlds permanently,” I whisper. “All alphas and betas are welcome in this place.”

Magic reaches out and seizes my chest, vines that tug and pull on something inside me. It hurts. I scream through my clenched teeth. The wind picks up, whipped by whatever is happening. I can hear Grant screaming something, but I don’t care.

“Let’s see how well you play with the big boys, you fucking coward!” I howl at him as he turns and runs.

A stone archway builds itself from the ground up. On the other side, one made of vines, earth, and grasses grows. A third one appears, and then a fourth. I don’t look at those. They are a problem for another day.

The air sets itself on fire, burning my lungs, and then, abruptly, it extinguishes. The wind stops. The roaring sound of the wind stops. It’s still, and when I look around, I’m alone.

Except for two creatures who move confidently towards me.

Song, with a huge sloppy grin, and a mysterious Pitch with eyes like moonlight.

I wait for them to reach me and crouch down to stroke Song’s head while Pitch climbs up my body to lie across my shoulders.

“Thank you, thank you. Perfect timing for a prison break.”

Pitch meows and rubs her face against mine.

“Let’s go get our family back.”

I turn for the vine portal. I don’t know why, I just have an instinct that I need to come to this one first .

“Wait-”

I turn my head and find the blind healer with her hand lifted. I only recognise her because their description of her is uncannily correct. The veil flutters, and her fingers tremble, but she doesn’t approach.

“You can’t get him out. The Prince. You can’t do it. You will drown in those oceans.”

I bare my teeth. “I can.”

“You can’t. But I can help you.”

I narrow my eyes, and, a moment later, the five Sirens appear. They ignore me completely, focusing instead on her.

“I propose a deal!” she shouts before they can grab her.

“What kind of deal?” the grumpy twin snarls.

The Healer inhales, her shoulders rising, holding and then falling. “I will go with you and be your slave to torment at your will. If you will retrieve the Frost Prince.”

The five of them glance at each other. “That easily? No running. No cheating? You will obey us?”

“I will not run, nor cheat the rules. I will obey you.” The Healer says, and I can’t help but feel like she’s winning something here.

“Go get him,” the biggest one says. His fingers shackle her wrist and tow her towards him.

Four of the five run through the portal, leaping elegantly through. The haze in the portal clears, and I see the huge black waves that are taller than a city.

How could my Frost survive that?

Will I find him in one piece?

I wait, counting the minutes. The seconds. Song barks at the gate in warning, and I look up just as they step through, dragging Frost with them. They drop him on the ground and walk straight past me to the Healer.

“Wait, will you be-”

“I’ll be fine. Go. You’ve changed everything. Let us do the work here in the world.” The Healer smiles faintly, even as the oldest of the Sirens grips her upper arm and walks away from me.

I drop to Frost, helping him up, spending a moment to just lean into him. He’s alive. He’s alive. I don’t care about anything else, we can fix it all later. I’m just so relieved.

He peers up at me, those white eyes hitting my soul.

I’m not crying, not even a little bit .

“Becky, are you okay? Look at you, you’ve lost weight,” he reaches out and cups my cheeks.

“Look at me? Look at you! Frost!” I burst into sobs and bury my face in his neck. “Oh, god, I didn’t know if I’d see you again, but I knew I wasn’t going to give up. I didn’t, I can’t-” I cry out, a stabbing pain from the heat rendering me useless. All I can do is hold on to him and ride it out.

“What’s wrong?” Frost whispers.

“Heat. They induced my heat.”

Frost blanches. “Did they-?”

“No, I killed them,” I hiss with the remnants of my rage. Tears fill my eyes. “I ripped them apart. The shadows listen to me now. They wouldn’t stop coming into the room. I had to stop them.”

He holds me tighter. “My Becky. I’m sorry. So sorry.” He rocks us while I cry in his arms.

After a couple of minutes, I pull away and wipe my tears.

“Wilder,” I say softly. “I have to get him back.”

“You can’t just walk into the Unseelie Court, Becky.”

I shrug. “What choice do I have?”

“We need to get Stix-”

“He’s in Ableth. We need to get Wilder out first. We’re going to need him when we go to Shadows.”

Frost gets to his feet. He’s lost weight, but he still looks like my dangerous lover.

I reach up, patting the cat on my shoulder. Song leans against my leg.

“Pitch, we need to get Wilder.”

The cat sits up, sliding her paws down my shoulder to sit her weight on my collarbone.

I reach a hand down, my fingertips grazing Song’s head. I take a deep breath and step through the portal.

The court is so much more than I thought it was.

The glistening light blue, black, and gold facade has the most elaborate windows with huge gardens just beyond.

Fae stand and talk or dance under chandeliers of glistening ice.

They are all wearing ballgowns and the males in suits with cloaks and masks.

Fireflies dance in the air, and music reaches out, starting my heart into racing.

But it’s to one end where, on a dais, is a Fae that is more severe and beautiful than the rest. She lifts her chin as she regards me. But I don’t care because tied to her chair is a chain, and at the other end of that chain is my Fae. His face is all bruised, and he’s barely dressed.

Fury beats at me. The shadows flock to me, growing into a huge cape behind me. Fae draw back in fear, watching with wide, wary eyes.

I step deeper into the world and smile widely as my hair lifts and begins to float. Clothes materialize and a backless gown of pure white falls around me.

I hear a noise and pause, lifting my left hand.

Frost, who I had thought I’d left in the human world, steps up to my left.

Song is on my right. Frost lifts his arm, moving into position beside me.

I turn my head and smile at him. Fuck, he looks perfect.

Snow white antlers with pale skin and floating hair.

His silver and white armor is pristine. I fall in love a little bit more with how dangerous and feral he looks.

Together, we walk the black marble hall of the court, our footsteps are the only sound made. Our appearance silences the creatures that linger.

“You have something that belongs to me,” I say arrogantly.

Song barks and growls. But Pitch sits taller and walks from my shoulder to Frosts.

The stunning woman sitting on the throne opens her eyes and tilts her head to the side.

“A human? In my court? I can’t imagine anything here belongs to you.”

I point at Wilder. “He does.”

She follows my finger and starts to chortle. I wait her out, my impatience growing.

“I am the Omega Queen. He is my consort. Give him back or-”

“Or what?”

“Or when we retrieve her other consorts, The Nightmare King and the Grim named Puppy, we will come back and lay waste to the Unseelie Court,” Frost says smoothly.

His thumb strokes down the side of my hand.

The woman sits still and then leans forward. “Let's make a deal.”

“No deals,” Frost snaps.

She sits back in her throne and strokes a long fingernail down her cheek. “Very well.”

She clicks her fingers, and the collar dissolves. Wilder walks away from her without a backwards glance.

“He’s feral, anyway,” the woman says. “Couldn’t even get it up.”

I was going to leave.

I was going to be nice.

I reach for the shadows and feel ice and fire in the air. I grab those, too.

“You touched what was mine?” I croon. “I’m afraid that was a very bad idea.”