Page 116 of Their Fierce Little Monster

Dawn pulls back and wipes her face. I love her bravery.

“You stay in the cabin,” I say. “Let us deal with them. I suggest you change into your monster form, as you’ll be stronger.”

“I’m not going to fall apart,” she answers. “I want him dead, and trust me, I never wish for anyone’s death.”

“Don’t worry, petal,” Lian mutters, his expression lethal. “I wish death on enough people for all four of us.”

Dawn stares at us, blinking. She’s everything to me. “Be careful out there.”

“We will.” Then we move, needing to deal with this quickly.

The breeze flutters through my hair as I shut the door behind me.

Near the explosion of trees, stands the Gamemaster, dressed in all black, at least twenty fighters on either side of him.

“Desperate men,” Corvin says between us. “He’s hired humans.” The Gamemaster, though, approaches, transforming into his monster form.

His skin lights up from within just as Dawn’s had in her bedroom in the village. But he’s bulkier, towering over his men.

The urge to rip him to pieces is unbearable. He’s left nothing but heartache and devastation in his path. He wanted revenge for his mother, for being ostracized, but fuck, he killed a whole royal family.

Before this ends, he’ll be on his knees pleading for his life.

“Give me Dawn, and the rest of you can fuck off!” he bellows out. “Lords, she isn’t your problem, so why put yourself in danger?”

“I wouldn’t miss the pleasure of killing you,” Lian snaps.

“You think my back on Dawn? While you slay your half sister?” Corvin barks. “The woman we love?”

The Gamemaster bursts out laughing, and I can almost taste blood.

“Fine, you know the truth; who gives a fuck? But my father had it coming to him. He was a tyrant who dragged my mother down to the river and slit her throat without remorse. All to hide his dirty secret. But he made the mistake of not killing me that day.”

“A real shame he didn’t,” Lian agrees. “But don’t worry. I’ll fix that today.”

With a sneer, the Gamemaster throws his arm up. “Kill them. They somehow survived the damn beasts in the maze. But today, no one lives.”

And it starts.

His men launch toward us, spreading out to attack from the front and the sides.

The three of us burst forward. My lips peel back, fangs bared, and a primal roar tears from my throat. Corvin surges ahead, his wings out, claws curled for attack. Lian moves fast, a snarl on his lips.

I throw myself at the man directly in front of me, my fist flying at face, sending him right to the ground. He comes back up. Another leaps onto my back, and a third flanks me on my side.

It all happens fast, and I swing a fist into one man, slashing another’s face. The one on my back jams a blade into my shoulder, and my whole body clenches at the sharp sting. I reach up and snatch him by the hair, hurling him into another fucker. Then I wrench the blade out, hissing.

“You son of a bitch,” I holler as three more come at me. They drive into me as I duck a swinging blade from one, another sporting a fucking sword. I leap back as it cuts through the air, inches from my face.

I hurl myself at one man, plunging the blade into his chest, then twist. With a kick, I shove him aside and pivot to the next asshole. I snatch his wrist and bend it backward until he screams and falls to his knees. My fist slams into his nose, and he’s knocked out cold.

Fuck, my shoulder stings, but I’ll survive.

From the corner of my eye, I see that Lian’s already bloody to his elbows, and I don’t know what he did to achieve that. Corvin grabs a man’s head and twists it with such aggression that the snap goes all the way to the back of his body.

That’s when I spy the Gamemaster behind his men, storming around us and toward the cabin. I take that as my moment.

With a punch to a man in my way, I breathe through the bloodbath and charge through two more men blocking my path. Shoulder first, and they’re bowled over.