Page 110 of Their Fierce Little Monster

“Fucking yes to that.” I get to my feet, already feeling claustrophobic in this box. We grab the bags and lay out the blankets, because suddenly, I’m exhausted.

Dawn’s at my side, and I use the moment to bring her into my arms, my lips on her neck. “I missed you,” I whisper.

“I doubt that. I’ve been right here the whole time.”

“True, but unless you’re in my embrace, it’s too far.”

She laughs, and that’s the happiest sound in the world.

However, despite the fantastic news, something in my gut stirs. Such situations are rarely resolved so smoothly. If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that nothing comes easily without paying some kind of price.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

CORVIN

Athumping headache rips me from my sleep.

Pain pulses behind my temples, and I push myself to sit upright, convinced that sleeping on a stone floor is to blame. The other three remain out of it.

I rub my eyes to the sunlight, which throws me off because I don’t recall any windows in the prison. Yet, I’m staring directly at one with a thin lace curtain. Wooden walls surround us, with a hearth to our right, a round table and chairs, and even a bed shoved deep in the far left corner.

“What’s going on?” I mumble to myself as I get up, and a sickening sensation tugs at my gut, telling me we’re no longer in the city. I turn on the spot, rubbing my temples, confirming that we’re in a wooden cabin. They must have moved us last night, which means this is the king’s punishment.

“Get up!” I say, kicking Lian’s foot, then Kazak’s.

Both of them grunt, while Dawn moans and twists away from Lian’s arms, still asleep.

Kazak’s up in seconds, blinking at the strange surroundings, while Lian takes his time, but once he catches on, he stiffens.

“Where the fuck are we?” he asks. “And hell, my head feels like it’s cracked in half.”

Kazak massages his temples too, murmuring, “Guess we got drugged and moved here. What’s the king got planned for us, then?”

We cross the floorboards, and I rip open the front door to a cool breeze and an explosion of woodland spread out in every direction. The sun sits just above the treetops, while mist rolls across the ground. I step outside and take in the view.

Mountains soar behind the cabin, a thick, dark forest crowding around us.

“Well, this is new,” Lian adds, combing his fingers through his hair.

The three of us start to check the small cabin’s perimeter. “So much for speaking with the king, then,” I growl, my heart roaring in my chest. “We lost that chance.” Nothing but woods in every direction.

“The Carpathian Mountains,” Kazak answers, pointing at something through the cluster of trunks ahead of him.

Lian and I march up to him and find that he’s discovered a clearing. The passage slopes to a cliff’s edge, falling steeply into an ocean of more damn trees. The valley leads to the impossibly distant Elite City, obvious by the lofty palace in the middle. King Slate’s home.

“Well, fuck!” Lian mutters. “That’s a big hike, if we can make it down the mountain alive.”

Kazak grunts and heaves each breath. “We’re high up where the wildest of beasts live. The ones hauled into Earth from monster realms and released into the forests to run free so they could hunt them. It happened long ago, but those creatures had bred with local predators, and what hunts in these mountains you won’t see coming until it’s too late.”

“Wonderful. We have no weapons either,” I say. “So, the king’s purpose is to leave us up here to die of our own accord, and he can’t be blamed for our deaths. Bastard.”

“Godsdammit,” Kazak snarls under his breath.

I’m a warrior, trained my whole life, so battle doesn’t bother me, but we’re outnumbered, and we have Dawn to protect.

A haunting howl rolls out of the woods, reminding us that we’re not alone. “We have one option,” I say. “We find a way out and return to the city because I want my family name cleared, then a portal to get all of us the fuck out of here.”