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I’m curious about who he was too. While Theo had once been king, Gerrard was a helper. Instead of fighting the queen for her throne, he was content to obey.
“I don’t remember anything from before.” Gerrard shakes his head, but I don’t believe him.
I’m not sure I trust him either. While I don’t think he’ll eat us, I don’t know if he will take us to the spire or lock us in another cell. At Joe’s prompting, Gerrard leads the way, followed by Theo, leaving me and Joe to walk in the middle with Michael at our backs.
Before I fall into line, I turn and touch Michael’s face below his missing eye. “I’m glad you came back.” Then I press a kiss to his cheek. “But I’m sorry you left us.”
“So am I, but the jealousy still burns in me. I want to hate you, but I only end up hating myself.”
“Just because I like the others too doesn’t diminish what I feel for you. What Joe feels for you doesn’t change what he feels for me, either.” I talk softly so the others don’t overhear.
“You need to move, or we will be too spread out.” He nudges me forward.
I jog to catch up with Joe.
Joe lifts an eyebrow. “Is he alright?”
How do I answer that? Michael is a bigger monster than before and fueled by jealousy. He could be as dangerous as Gerrard or Theo. One wrong thought away from killing us and becoming mindless monsters, like the ones at the base of the spire.
When I don’t respond, Joe grunts and stares straight ahead. Behind us, Michael moves through the tunnel on his hands and feet. His head is heavy weighed down by his horns and his body is covered by a thick hide.
I hope he can find what he needs to change back to human, because leaving him a second time will break me.
14
Theo
Idon’t trust the one Julie named Gerrard. And I know he doesn’t trust me. Not unusual for monsters, yet I trust Joe and Michael more readily—even though Michael has changed dramatically.
The changes uncover an unwelcome sensation with in me. It coils around my heart and puts a heaviness in my chest as though I am sad. I have felt sorry for myself plenty of times, but this is different somehow. I try to pick apart the feeling as I walk behind Gerrard.
He will be crunchy to eat because of all the thick plates.
I don’t like that he is taller than me, that I’m the size of a big human even though I ate Joe’s tail. Gerrard could bite off my head, or a limb, though I would make him pay heavily in blood in the process. At least I still have my talons.
He’ll have a tougher time eating Michael because he has those massive horns. I glance back, my gaze jumping past Julie and Joe to the beast that follows them. He is almost unrecognizable, except for the one blue of his eye.
The tightness in my chest returns and twists.
It catches me off guard when I realize I’m sad for him. No. I have compassion. I want to help him. I want him to be human enough to climb. My steps falter as my heart seems to swell, making it harder to breathe.
Gerrard turns. “What is it?”
I will not admit the weakness to him. “Are you sure you are taking us to the spire?”
I thought I would remember, but all the tunnels are starting to look the same, an endless maze that circles ever closer to the center. Since we haven’t emerged on the outside, we must be moving inward…that or he is just leading us around in circles, waiting for one of us to break.
“Yes, we need to go through the throne room, then over the walkway, and then you will be there.”
Below the walkway is the pit of truly monstrous monsters. They are the ones who survived the fall and fought not to be eaten, and the guards who went too far. Or at least they were in my time. Is Gerrard someone I pulled through?
I could ask, but I doubt he knows when he arrived. Those in the castle have forgotten their past. Though in Gerrard’s case, I suspect he has started to remember.
“You’re taking us to the queen?” I press.
“There is no way around the throne room if you want to go to the spire.”
Julie rushes forward. “What?”
