Page 25 of Their Fierce Little Monster

A puff of air bursts across my back, and I jump around to find a tall, cloaked figure standing over the portal hole. It has a hand raised, and a gnarly finger is pointing at me.

Oh, here we go again.

“Heir of Ice Fire Court,” he declares with a low, gravelly voice that leaves me rubbing the goose bumps out of my arms. And I can only assume he’s talking about me. “You alone must choose the one to be your fated mate from the three selected.” Then he points at Kazak, Corvin, and Lian. “Choose none before the next red moon, and you will perish.”

My stomach drops down to my feet because this can’t be happening. Is this a joke?

“Wait, no, that’s wrong.” Goose bumps litter my body. “It can’t be right. Do the test again.”

But the cloaked figure puffs into smoke, and with the portal, he vanishes. All that’s left is the open farmland without a mark on the ground.

“Fuck!” I twist around to face all three of them. What in the world am I supposed to do now when I want nothing to do with any of them?

Chapter

Seven

DAWN

“Take her,” the Viscount growls, glaring at me, a red handprint glowing across his cheek. He’s cradling his broken arm. It’s clear by the perspiration pooling across his forehead and the tension in his neck that he’s in pain. “Shove her into prison or remove her from my village; I don’t give a fuck. But she’s your problem now, my lords.” The hatred on his face could skin me alive. He lifts his attention to Kazak, the bridge of his nose creasing. “And you lied. Monsters are forbidden from living in human villages,” he spits.

“And Gods help me, but I’d do it again,” Kazak answers, clearly not afraid of the man. It’s one of the reasons I adore him. He gives me the confidence to live with the fear imposed on the Moonstone Village. But now, I struggle to look at him for too long because it means feeling his betrayal. I hate that things turned out this way, and I try to remind myself that he saved my life. Yet it still burns deep in my chest.

Baron Lester approaches cautiously with slow steps, pausing next to the Viscount. “Ungrateful girl. We knew something was different about you, but we never treated you as anything less.”

I stare at him in disbelief. “Surely you know the difference between leading with trust versus ruling with fear, because the true monsters here are all of you in charge of the village.” I hurl the words at them. “You torture your people, starve and abuse them, so I’ll gladly be out from under you.” Memories flash through my mind of me being locked in the root cellar for a full day and night with no food because I helped the butcher’s son after he was whipped, of them rationing food to punish me for laughing too loudly at the harvest fair.

The Viscount’s chest swells as though he’s about to burst, eyes darting quickly to Corvin and Lian, then back.

“Guess, I’m no different from you three, then,” I mumble, staring at the three monsters.

But Corvin clears his throat. “There’s a reason you’re the last of your kind—because you’re not like us. Each of us is from a unique race of monsters and family court, and you’re from an extinct breed.”

I blink at him, confusion furrowing my brow, realizing various kinds of monsters live in their world. For a long time, I assumed each realm had only one species.

The Viscount listens, eyes narrowing, then releases a loud huff. “This is an outrage,” he fires out, straightening his posture. “If Dawn is from a race that our king has not sanctioned to enter his territory, then we have a problem. The king only has accords with three families, not four, my lord.”

Corvin tilts his head to the side, studying the man with intensity, almost challenging him. “I”m aware of this.”

“And therein lies the problem. He never sanctioned the fourth family, and yet the girl from that court stands in his village.” He makes a tsking sound under his breath, cutting a glare in my direction, weighted by the hatred he’s always held for me.

“We get it. The king isn’t aware of their presence,” Lian cuts in. “We’ll fix it by leaving with Dawn at once.”

My heart squeezes at how easily they talk about tearing me away.

The Viscount lifts his gaze to Corvin and Lian. “That’s not possible, my lords. You must go see the king immediately. Rules are broken, and you will all beg for pardon for the unsanctioned monsters living in his village.”

I grind my back teeth. I know with every fiber of my being that if he had his chance, the Viscount would kill all of us.

“There’s no time for that,” Lian counters. “Kazak created this problem, so send him to crawl to the king, and the rest of us will leave.”

“Not with Dawn, you’re not,” Kazak speaks up, sweeping forward, jawline clenched.

“He’s right, my lords. A new court family from your realm has been discovered, and our king will demand to see the girl. Plus, I won’t be found lying to my king for your sake.”

A dull throb slices across my head at his words. I’ve never seen the king, but I once overheard the Barons speaking in private about him being something other than human. Whatever he is, meeting him hasn’t been a wish of mine.

“Agreed!” Kazak swings in front of the Viscount. “I’ll take her to the Elite Mountain city myself and present my case to the king.” He grins at me with a look that screams, This is our chance.