Celestial Monsters (The Sunbearer Duology #2)

by Aiden Thomas

The worst thing to do to a Son of Amor was to lock him in a room alone where he didn’t know where his friends were or what was happening. And the second worst thing to do was to make the boy who loved him watch.

“Is this your sick, fanfic torture dungeon?”

“Do you have enough emergency supplies?” “Uh, yeah, Teo,” she said, annoyed. “What do you think the Takis are for?”

He cursed the universe for giving him the ability to talk to birds but not boys.

“Wait, so that means he’s like—like…” Niya squinted one eye shut as she attempted math. “A bajillion years old.” Aurelio’s eyebrows pressed together. “That’s not a real number.” Niya tsked at him and said, “It may not be real in fact, but it’s real in feeling,” which Teo thought was a very good point. “I’m so glad the fate of the world lies in your hands,” Mala Suerte deadpanned. “It inspires such confidence.”

“Is that why you wear black all the time?” Niya asked. “Because you want to look all tough and scary?” “I wear all black because it looks good on me—” Mala Suerte took a steadying breath, physically turning his head away from Niya and her nonsense.

It struck Teo that, of all the gods he’d met, Mala Suerte was the most human.

Teo was lucky to have her as his mom and, right now, he wished he was enveloped by her wings more than anything.

Mala Suerte smiled, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “I always liked you,” he said. Teo let out a dry laugh. “Even though I’m a troublemaker?” Mala Suerte’s smile curled into a mischievous grin. “Because you’re a troublemaker.”

“You also have very soft hands,” Aurelio added, enjoying himself now. Teo smirked. “When exactly did you notice I have soft hands?”

“Listen—I’ve had a rooster spit fire at me and then got attacked by a pile of rocks, so forgive me for being a bit suspicious of wildlife at the moment,” Teo grumbled.

There was a time and a place to be a Hero, but stuck in a tiny boat in the dark with creepy baby noises was not it.

“You hear a baby crying and your first instinct is to pull out a sword?” “IT’S ALL I HAVE, TEO. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?”

Yucca elbowed Teo. “Did you get any of that?” she asked. “Kinda,” Teo said. “I’m only semifluent in this brand of ADHD.”

“Besides, you can’t be your sister. Your ass isn’t thick enough to fill out her uniform.”

“Fine!” she growled before warning them, “But I’m gonna be a dick about it!”

“Not being a famous Hero doesn’t mean you’re not important, or that your life is expendable,”

“We’re troublemakers, right? So let’s make some fucking trouble.”

Can everyone stop trying to kill themselves for five godsdamn minutes?!”