Page 103 of Their Fierce Little Monster

“The fuck is that!” Lian breathes.

I hate how much I knew this was a damn setup because everything in my life has turned into madness and danger since the Day of the Choosing. Kazak grabs my arm and instantly pushes me behind him.

“What is that?” I ask.

“A beast that’s going to be dead very soon,” Corvin states.

“Should have fucking known there’d be this shit to deal with. This fun maze was too good to be true,” Lian adds.

“Let’s kill it first, then worry about blame.” Kazak keeps his hand on me. “Stay behind us.”

I don’t need to be told twice. I stumble away as the three of them fan out toward the beast. Glancing around for anything I can use as a weapon, seeing as I feel vulnerable, I spot a stick on the ground, but it’ll break in two seconds.

Movement catches my attention from the end of the path, and I scream as a second beast emerges. This one is wider, covered in scales the color of a green forest, with a thick tail that sweeps from side to side. It has a long nose, and its tongue keeps flicking out.

“Fuck!” Kazak’s at my side. “We’re cornered. I’ll take this one, and you two think you can handle the cat?”

“Fuck right we can. Then we’ll save your ass,” Lian calls over his shoulder.

Panic grips me, and for a split second, I want to run, to scream, to be anywhere but here. But Kazak’s hand is on my arm, settling my nerves. I’ve seen him fight, and if anyone can take down these animals, it’s him.

“Slow breaths,” he tells me. “Remain between us, and if possible, try to climb one of the walls so you’re out of the way.” He swings away from me and approaches his beast.

Then all three burst into motion.

I rush to the oversized hedge. Frantically, I grab at the branches, shoving my feet to find something to step on, when a sharpness digs into my arms, and another pokes into my knee.

I cry out, leaping backward. Blood bubbles across my hands, and that’s when I really look at the greenery and see it’s covered in those thorns. Shit!

The stabs sting, and I rub my hands together, pressing them to apply pressure and stop the bleeding, which currently runs down my wrists.

A roar shutters my concentration, and I snap my attention to Kazak, who ducks a swipe of a barbed tail. He moves fast, whips back around, and throws himself on top of the creature, straddling it. Fists pummel the creature as he holds on. I shift farther from them, staring at the other two.

They’ve both changed into their monster forms, huge and intimidating, surrounding the beast, which lashes out razor-sharp claws at Lian’s chest. He jumps back. The claws miss him by inches, and dread tears through my insides. Corvin uses that moment to throw himself at the creature, hurling a huge arm around the back of its neck as he drops to his knees and chokes it. Lian launches himself, and the cat screeches, jaws snapping at him.

Goose bumps race up my arms as my head spins. The grunts, the winces, the blood—it rips me to shreds.

Kazak flies into the shrubbery wall and crashes to the ground with a grunt, the beast turning its sights on me. A terrified whimper escapes my lips, and I retreat, hitting the hedge as thorns dig into my back.

But Kazak rises in seconds, already charging the beast, and they both fall to the ground.

I shake, watching my three monsters fight to protect us. Corvin and Lian pin the beast between them, while Kazak grips the lizard’s open mouth. He’s already transformed into his monster form, his skin a darker shade of green, tusks jutting from his lower jaw, and his shadow falling over his opponent.

He shoves the beast’s head up so powerfully that it releases a bone-crushing sound, and the animal collapses underneath him.

Corvin and Lian stand over their animal, lying with its head twisted all wrong, its tongue flopped out of its mouth.

All three approach me, clothes torn and shredded, blood staining them, but they’re not dead.

“What if there are more?” I murmur, trying not to shake. “We’re in trouble.”

Kazak steps up and pulls me closer, and I melt against him. “Forget the fucking bounty. We head back now.”

“Agreed,” Corvin adds, while Lian spits blood. “That thing gave a good fight, but we⁠—”

Another growl comes from the direction of the huge feline beast. Fear and panic freeze me in place, my gaze locked on that bend. I tremble, tears stinging my eyes, wondering how many beasts my monsters can fight before they’re too hurt to keep going.

“We need to go,” I suggest. “Maybe we can outrun them.”