Page 23 of A Monster’s Future

He was going to kill him. Shit. That was no good. I imagined Grtirr getting arrested by the station police. We couldn’t afford that level of trouble right now, not with the meeting with Vossell looming ahead. I grabbed Grtirr’s arm.

“It’s okay. I’m okay now. Let him go.”

Grtirr stood there like a statue.

“Please. It’s not worth it.” I was surprised at how steady my voice sounded, considering how shaky I felt.

Then, with a final shove, Grtirr released him.

The man scrambled away, gasping, his broken hand cradled against his chest. He didn’t look back as he ran, disappearing down the hall.

Grtirr turned to me, his golden eyes still alight with fury. His fingers brushed my cheek, gentle now, his touch a stark contrast to the violence he’d just unleashed. “Your face.”

I swallowed, trying my best to calm down. “I’m fine.”

I leaned into his hand. His body had sensed what I needed, and the pheromones emanating from him now were calming. It was impossible to pull away, and I leaned into him even as he wrapped his arms around me.

“This doesn’t mean I like you,” I said.

“Of course not.”

We stood there for a long moment.

The sound of a door opening down the hall had us springing apart. For a moment, I thought it might be the market’s security coming to check out what all the screaming was about, but it was just a woman tossing yet another bag of waste into the pile accumulating across from the door. She didn’t even notice us.

“We should get out of here before security arrives. I was screaming like a banshee.”

Grtirr grunted. “No one is coming. The market is too loud. No one heard you but me. But we should return to the others. This place isn’t safe.”

We found the others waiting just outside the door.

“We already alerted Sergio and Chris,” Kat said. “If you want to, we can head back early.”

I shook my head, even though it hurt a little to do so. “I’m fine.” I didn’t want to ruin our outing.

“Your face doesn’t look fine,” Annabel said. “It’s going to bruise.”

“It’s fine,” I insisted. “I’m not going to let that fucknugget ruin my shopping.” And I meant it. I wasn’t hiding. “And anyway, I think he’s from Omnia Pictures.”

“Their Halcyon correspondent.” Kat nodded. “We’ll call Dana later and ask if she knows anything about him.”

“Where to now?” I asked, trying to move past the ordeal. I absolutely refused to let that asshole ruin my day.

“We found the electronics booth from Igor’s memory,” Kat said. “It’s right by one of the food pavilions. I saw real coffee beans and tea.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for! Let’s go.”

Grtirr was having none of it, however. “You are hurt. We should leave.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well, since I’m the one who is hurt, I’m choosing, and I choose to stay.”

“We are leaving.”

Oh no. We were not going through this now. I started walking in the direction Kat indicated, and so did everyone else.

Ha! Looks like I won.

I was going to savor this win, because I wasn’t sure when I’d have another one.