Page 29 of Scales and Seduction (Monster Match #1)
T he door to Silas’s office creaks as it swings open. It’s dimly lit and seems barely used. The drink in my hand is a cocktail that Opal suggested I try. It’s apparently made with rose petals, the flowers she grows in her home, and some sort of lilac-flavored gin. It’s like licking a plant. I hate it, but after a day like today, I’ll gladly drink it.
Silas’s office is nothing like the bustling club outside. The walls are lined with dark mahogany shelves; some are empty while others are stacked with random papers. The desk is the same color as the walls and cluttered with papers, crushed cans of what I think is some kind of sparkling water, and a bag of brightly colored candies. On one end of the desk, though, there’s an ancient relic of a computer. It’s entirely metal and industrial-looking, but the screen is on as if it’s recently been used.
I wince as I take in everything. It’s nothing like his home. This feels like a tomb. There’s nothing in here that seems like him, and if anything, I’d say he despises being inside the office at all, given how dirty it appears.
“So, tell Loran what you told me on the way here.” Silas walks around the edge of the desk, though he doesn’t sit. He opens one of the candy wrappers, popping it into his mouth with a shrug.
With all of us in this office, we’re packed in as tightly as sardines, but truly it’s because all of these monster men are massive. I’m barely taking up one corner, but they nearly touch elbows with the walls. Gideon leans against the desk, his gaze flickering over the room before setting his drink down on the top.
“We found an old history book in Atticus’s room. I believe he was digging into the curse,” Gideon begins to say in a low tone. “The book was damaged by some kind of fire, and inside it, Ruby and I found a clue. He wrote ‘Love started the curse, but what if love ends it? Strings of fate…’ and then it was smudged. Ruby has it with her. The book detailed information about history that, frankly, I’ve never heard of before.”
Loran makes a humming noise before he takes a swallow of his drink. “Let me guess, you left the book behind?”
Gideon’s face falls momentarily, but he points at me. “Yes, unfortunately, but we can return for it tomorrow. Ruby has a piece of parchment with his handwriting, which should be enough for you to mull over until I get the book.”
My face flushes as I realize I hid it in my cleavage. “Can you all turn your heads or something?”
“Why would we do that?” Silas asks incredulously. It’s only when I clear my throat and point to my chest that he catches my meaning. “Ah, I’ve seen tons of tits before.”
“Not hers!”
“Not mine!”
Gideon and I say at the same time. The way he jerks his head toward Silas and his voice drips with grumpy exasperation is too much. I can’t help myself—I burst into laughter, and not a cute laugh. It’s a full-on witch cackle.
Silas blinks a moment, in shock, before he’s laughing too, and the other two men join in. After the night we’ve had, it feels damn good to laugh again.
Suddenly, a sharp crack echoes through the club, followed by the sound of glass shattering. “Oh fuck, Opal, I hope she’s not throwing glasses at people again,” Silas says, pinching his nose with his fingers in annoyance. He steps to the door, throws it open, only to slam it shut immediately. “Looks like our dead friends decided to pop in to say hello.”
“They’re outnumbered here. What would they gain?” Loran closes his eyes briefly, pressing two of his fingers against his forehead.
I look to Gideon, a surge of fear rising in my chest as it pounds and aches. I can’t fight with magic like they can. I’m a sitting duck in a room full of vicious wolves. What can I even do?
Gideon’s golden eyes flare dangerously, and though I want to hear him give me reassuring words that might soothe my racing mind to that place of peace he often manages to take me, he doesn’t say a word to me.
“Silas opens the door when I say, and we will need to fight our way out of this room. They will corner us if we stay,” he commands before he points to Loran. “Loran, you protect us from the rear. Once we’ve subdued them, I’ll need you to pry into their minds.” And finally, his stern gaze falls on me. “Ruby, stay close. The moment you find cover, take it.”
The swirling magic in the room is suffocating as the three of them prepare for whatever lies just outside the door. It’s hot like a furnace ready to explode at any moment. The roar of terror from beyond this room makes it feel as if the very foundation of the club is trembling.
Gideon’s face turns solemn, and his hand goes up, slowly counting down. One finger goes down each second until there’s nothing but his fist left. Silas jerks open the door, and the magic crackles in the air in an overwhelming force that makes my spine tingle.
A swarm of twisted, shadowed figures lies in wait in the hallway. From here I see their eerie glowing red eyes and their bodies twitch bizarrely in violent jitters. The night they attacked, I hardly saw them, but now up close, I see they’re nothing but skeletons with clumps of dissolving flesh barely hanging on to their bones.
“Alright, motherfuckers, time to get out of my club,” Silas screams, his voice booming unnaturally, as though he’s screaming into a microphone I can’t see.
A blast of fire hurtles toward Silas from the far end of the hall. He doesn’t dodge it, or allow it to enter the room, Instead, his pink horn glows brilliantly with a pale pink light. He deflects it, the blazing ball hurtling back toward the draugr. It collides with one of the creatures, slamming it into the back wall with a loud thud. “Go take a dirt nap, asshole.”
Gideon shoves past him the moment he steps into the hallway, summoning a radiant energy sword from a ball of light. The blade burns so blindingly bright that the room seems to darken as if it pulls every ounce of light in with it. “Let’s go!” he commands. Then we’re piling into the hallway, which isn’t much wider than the room we were in; however, it’s longer.
Beyond the curve of the hall is the bar, where I can hear violent screams and crashing of glass. Gideon slashes his sword through the air, cutting down one of the attackers who’s shambling toward us with a rusty-looking mace in a dangling arm. It cleaves its body into two pieces. He takes that one down, only to whip his tail toward another, forcing it backward into the hallway.
My heart pounds in my chest as the rush of blood roars in my head. We finally come from the hallway into the open club. Surprisingly, there are far fewer magical creatures left behind to face the hundreds of draugr than I expected from a community full of magic.
Opal’s flying overhead, tossing what appears to be giant mud balls from a leather satchel. One of them comes into contact with a draugr’s shoulder, exploding into thousands of flower petals. The petals must be magic because the moment they touch the target, his shoulder is sawed from his body, and his sword drops to the ground. “Git out, yah fuckin’ arses!”
“Atta girl!” Silas screams, pumping his fist into the air. The moment he speaks, the hundreds of draugr who were previously occupied slowly turn in unison, cocking their heads with a rickety, chattering click.
As if they’re all the same consciousness, their mouths open and point directly at the four of us. “Hand over the human…” Their voices pierce the air in a venomous growl.
My blood runs cold as one of the draugr steps forward. His eyes are dark pits, and there’s hardly anything left to his jaw for his mouth to work at all.
“You won’t take her.” Gideon’s shoulders tense as his hold on his sword tightens.
The room of them erupts into cruel laughter. “You don’t understand, do you? We don’t want your pathetic human. We want what brought her here,” the one says, pointing at me. “She doesn’t belong here, and if we have to tear this entire place apart to find it…so be it.”
The words settle into my head. The attacks weren’t to force me out of hiding—they were to search for the app. They don’t even fully realize it’s possible multiple people in the town have the same app installed. If they don’t know, then they think it’s all Gideon’s doing.
Before I can fully process the revelation, another explosion of magic rattles the walls. The front doors burst open, splintering into pieces as huge, hulking orcs step inside. The one leading the charge is the council member Dothan. He’s still in full leather regalia, though now wielding a sword of his own. He screams something in a language I can’t understand, which makes every orc move.
The room erupts into chaos as a flash of fire whizzes past our heads right into the bar’s backing, and a table flies past us, cracking up against the bar. I barely have time to catch my breath as Gideon’s tail tugs me in the opposite direction with a swift jerk. My heart is racing, and through the noise, a low, guttural growl rips through the air behind us.
Suddenly, I’m aware that a large creature with rippling musculature stands beside us in the haze. Turning, I’m immediately surprised by Noodles, though he’s not the fluffy lovable housecat I know—he’s in full werecat form. His crimson eyes burn like molten lava, his roar vibrating in my chest and through the cement floor below us.
Ruby, Prince Gideon, please follow me to safety. His head turns to the two of us, radiating ferocity and power in just his gaze alone, though his teeth are smeared with blood.
“Gideon, get her out of here!” Silas screams in agreement as a blast of energy hits him squarely in the chest, knocking him back three feet.
I can’t see Gideon’s face, but he nods. “Loran, remember what I said!” he screams as the half-orc steps forward.
“I assure you I will do my best!” Loran yells as his foot collides in a roundhouse kick to the middle of a draugr’s chest.
“Meet us at the cottage!”
They’re cutting down attackers left and right, and the room becomes a blur of movement as sparks of magic and flower petals clash. I don’t move, unsure where to go.
“We need to go,” Gideon screams, wrenching his tail out from behind him to me. It snakes around my waist, gripping me tightly as he jerks me closer. The chaos is everywhere as we pass through clashing swords and blood.
My heart aches for everyone we’re leaving behind. They’re sacrificing their lives all for mine. The weight of it settles over me as I look one last time behind us—I’m nothing but a burden.