Page 56 of Monstrous Lies


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“Then we are coming with you,” he rumbles.

Smiling sadly, I cup his hands. “No, you both need to wait here. When I’m close, you can help get us back through.”

“Never,” he snarls as his hand darts down, grabs my neck, and hauls me up into the air until I’m level with his face. His fangs snap at me from inches away. “You are not going over there alone. Where you go, I go.”

“Akuji.” I sigh, wrapping my legs around him instead of leaving them dangling. His eyes narrow, flashing with heat, but he concentrates on our fight rather than the distraction. “You can’t come. They will spot you immediately and either kill you or take us where they have taken Talia. You would be a prisoner again, and I won’t allow that—”

“Where you go, I go. Always. I’m not leaving you. We will make this work.” His voice is final, and I struggle in his arms until he sets me down. Sighing, I drag my hand through my hair as I pace before him. Both he and Cato watch me curiously.

“You’re a big, red idiot,” I mutter. “The humans won’t attack me, but you? Fuck, you’re massive, I can’t hide you. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Will you just trust me and stay—”

“This is not about trust,” he snaps. “It’s about the fact that I cannot let my mate, the woman I love, walk into danger without being at her side. I would never stop you from being a warrior and fighting for what you believe in, but I sure as fuck won’t let you do it alone.”

That causes me to deflate because it’s really sweet, and what can I say? I eye him and Cato. “But how the hell do we hide you? My whole plan relies on being unseen.”

“We will figure it out, little mate.” He pulls me into his arms, but I don’t miss his triumphant grin. “As long as we are together.”

“Yeah, being cute isn’t going to help you,” I mutter, smacking his chest as I pull away. I prop my hands on my hips as I eye him.

“Yeah, this will be fun.” Just then, I hear the first signal.

Great.

THIRTY-TWO

ARIA

Cato, Akuji, and I stand ready at the old door. It had been blocked from their side, but once I realised we wouldn’t fit through my usual entrance and exit with my new monsters in tow, Akuji led us here, and with panty dampening strength, he ripped away the barricade and showed me the entrance.

Now we are waiting for the noise, for the distraction, to cover our entrance into the city. We are going to cause so much chaos, they hopefully won’t notice us slipping through the slums. I can cover them as best as I can, since most people in the slums have made it a habit of never looking too closely at anyone in case it gets them killed, but if there are soldiers or outsiders, we’re fucked.

Go team monster.

Waiting anxiously, I hear another signal go up, followed by a second, until it’s our turn. Putting my fingers into my mouth, I let out a short sharp whistle, which is the signal to go. The roars instantly start, as does the thunder of running monsters. The sound of slashing horns and fighting only gets louder and louder, and then I hear the humans beyond the wall screaming. Hearing noise beyond the wall is terrifying but usually not frequent. Not tonight though. Tonight, we’ll light up the sky with the truth of what and who they are.

Once it’s loud enough, I duck through the door, kicking open the cardboard covering on the other side before looking around. We are behind some shacks, which are clearly abandoned, so I scurry inside, grab what I can, and move back to the door. Ducking through the wall, I throw the tattered, stinky blankets at them and cover them both as much as I can, ensuring no slivers of red skin are visible. Their horns make them stick out, but there isn’t much I can do about that.

“Cover your face and hunch, stay silent and don’t move too fast, and for fuck’s sake, don’t kill anyone or hit them with your tails,” I order. Akuji grunts as Cato agrees, and then they move through the door and shut it behind them. I freeze, barely breathing. Part of me thinks a siren will go up and soldiers will flood the area, but nothing happens, so I relax.

Who knew it would be this easy to sneak monsters through the wall?

Now it’s time for the hard part—finding Talia. Keeping low, I slide through back alleys and across walkways that I know are never busy. The sound of the monsters behind the wall only continues to grow, so I know people have hurried inside to huddle in terror. Their nightmares are coming true.

We hurry as fast as we can, but when Akuji grunts, I look back at him. “What?” I ask, thinking something is wrong.

“Your world is so…dull. I expected people who are able to experience both sunshine and the brilliance of night to appreciate beauty, to live better. This place…” He shakes his head, and I follow his gaze. “It’s like they don’t care for the beauty they have right before them or the abilities they hold. They don’t care about the world they possess.”

He’s right. I look around at the ruined buildings, noting the rubbish scattered around and the scorched, dead ground. For people who live in sunlight, we sure do have a way of making everything dark.

“Humans are fickle creatures,” I murmur. “We take and take until everything is ruined and nothing is left to take because we believe it is our right. Because we believe it will never be our issue to fix. We are greedy,” I tell him, and he nods.

“Not you,” he states when his eyes come back to mine. “Not my wonderful mate. I see the way you experience this world, its people, and its beauty. You aren’t like them.”

It’s another thing he’s right about, but I duck my head to hide my smile and carry on, needing to find answers before the sun rises or the monsters stop, whichever comes first.

I don’t really have a clue where to look for Talia, but I know someone who will—Grime. I hurry through the darkened streets, luckily not running into anyone. Everyone is hiding from the horrific roars coming from every angle of the wall. It gives us the opportunity we need, but when we reach the shack, I give Akuji and Cato a pointed look and hide them under a broken streetlight by the side of the structure. If one were looking closely, they would see two hulking figures, but otherwise, they are just dark objects no one would peer at too closely.

“Don’t move, I won’t be long,” I order them, giving them my most serious expression before I turn away.

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