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9
Julie
The bars are sturdy, and while we can’t break out, the guards will return and when they do, we will simply tempt them into opening the cell door. I explain my idea to Joe and Theo, and they stare at me.
“What?” I didn’t think the plan was overly complicated.
“Did you take a proper look at the two guards? They are center monsters. They probably don’t even remember what sex is. And if they do, it’s not going to be the kind that anyone but them enjoys,” Joe says. “Not only that, but we won’t be able to fight them off. We might as well offer ourselves on a platter.”
“Joe is right.”
I press my lips together. “As soon as we step outside this cell, we are in the same situation. They could eat us. All I’m suggesting is that we put the risk on our terms. Once they are in here, we can shut them in, then we can go to see the queen with two fewer monsters to worry about.”
Theo scowls. The new mouth shape makes him no less fearsome. That he keeps losing teeth is a good sign, hopefully. He spits another one out and tosses it aside like it’s worth nothing. “Leaving this cell is dangerous. And I don’t want to be caught in a change while trying to trap them.”
That isn’t something I had thought of. “We’d just be faking.”
I don’t want to be caught with my skirt up round my ears and my ass hanging out when the monsters open the cell door.
“Faking doesn’t mean that memories aren’t returning, and changes aren’t happening to us,” Theo says. “They are unpredictable.”
“Then they could happen when we are walking the tunnels of the castle and you remember something. We could be attacked at any time. Or even hauled out to face the queen. If we are surrounded by guards, it’s going to be really hard to do anything.”
“Anything like what?” Joe regards me as if he expects me to drop another part of the plan on him.
“Like running for the spire.” That’s the only reason we are here to escape.
Theo and Joe glance at each other, but it’s Theo that speaks. “Are we changed enough to climb?”
“I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to climb. I don’t like heights. I barely made it up the ridge, and I had Michael helping me.” I bite my lip and try to shove the thoughts of my tears and Michael’s patience away.
He should be here with us.
He might be able to come up with a better plan. See something that I’ve missed.
But unless we leave the cell, our dream—or is it only my dream—of getting home is dead.
“There’s no water here and no food. I’m human. Joe is almost human. If we don’t eat and drink, we will weaken and die.” I don’t know how long Joe will last, probably longer than me. “I won’t be able to climb if I’m half-dead.”
Assuming I can climb at all. Do they share the same fear?
“Staying here won’t make the climb any easier,” I add softly.
“No, but I’m not failing while I sit here,” Theo counters. “I’m not risking death. I am spending it with you. And you can see me. And—”
“And you got to fuck her,” Joe finishes.
“And eat you.” His talons give a wiggle, and his smile is something out of nightmares. “I would like to do that again.”
Joe’s tail, which is still growing, whips around so it’s as far from Theo as possible. “I am not ready for that yet.”
“But maybe?”
“Maybe. One of us should be able to eat.” Joe doesn’t smile. “I don’t like your plan, but it might be our only option. Waiting takes everything out of our claws and puts it into theirs, and that is even more dangerous.”
“It doesn’t matter what we do, it is all dangerous for one of us. A fight could push you further from human or kill you. We might be eaten. But we might fall off the spier and die too.” It’s only been what feels like a few days, but I have become too used to thinking of death. It has become almost familiar, a comforting certainty. Instead of fearing when it’s going to show up, I expect it to be there. Hopefully it will stand back and watch, but if it doesn’t, then I need to be okay with that. “We need to finish what we started.”
I’m not sure if the pep talk is for them or me, but saying it gives me strength. I wish Michael were here. I’d feel better if there were four of us against the queen and her guards.
