The Rycke (Monstrous, #3)

by Lily Mayne

Then the beastie turned their head to look up at Rig with big, pitch black eyes, and I got my first proper look at their face. Their dark, greenish-black hair was no longer falling over it in unwashed waves. I exhaled a sharp, quiet puff of breath, glad my mask muffled the sound. They were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“I read one of the others while I waited for you.” While he’d waited for me.

“Why did you not like me?” I flushed at how juvenile the question sounded. “I mean when we first found you—you seemed to… react badly to me, but not to Rig.” This time, it was One who flushed, a delicate colour washing over his prominent cheekbones. He looked away and licked his lips, and my gaze snagged on that black, forked tongue again. “I was ashamed.” My eyes snapped back up at his words. “The thought of you seeing me like that; bound and weak and helpless.”

“My kind are… we abhor violence. We try not to hurt others, even if they are hurting us.”

“But I still don’t… Why were you ashamed for me to see you, but not Rig? I don’t understand.” One went still, then slowly turned his head to look at me. We stared at each other for a long moment. When he licked his lips again, my stomach tightened. “I don’t know,” One admitted eventually, his voice soft. “I heard your voice and it… cut through everything else—through all the noise in my head. It sounded… important.” Jesus. My eyes threatened to water as I stared at him. No

“Wait… what’s your real name?” After a moment, One’s face broke into a huge, beautiful grin, and I knew that was it. I was utterly smitten. Totally, one hundred percent gone for this strange, winged monster with creepy black eyes and ghostly, green-tinged skin. “Aury,” he said.

“So,” Rig began in a cheery, conversational tone as we headed to the diner, “is there a reason you were just pretending like you and Aury hadn’t spent all of last night fucking each other’s brains out?”

“I’m happy for you. You two are so cute it makes my teeth hurt. And I would be a terrible friend if I didn’t encourage you to keep doing whatever it was you two were doing last night, because by the sounds of it, it was exquisite. Please, keep having as much freaky monster sex as you can. I’m living vicariously through you.”

“Stop making me go on all these pointless journeys, because every time you do, you’re telling me that my life is worth less than Cat’s. Less than the miniscule chance of me finding him.”

And then, for reasons known only to the deepest, darkest recesses of my anxiety-driven brain, I blurted out, “I love you.” Aury froze instantly. When I realised what I’d said, my entire body went hot with embarrassment. Panicking, I ripped my hand out of his grip and fluttered it uselessly, casting about for something, anything, to say to distract him. “Gage.” Aury turned me to face him, his black eyes so beautiful and warm as he smiled down at me. “I love you too.” He laughed, and my throat ached at the sight of his happiness. “You have terrible timing. I can’t even kiss you.”

“I’ve left something for you on the nightstand, but it’s not a big deal and when I come back, I don’t want you to mention it.” I frowned, looking up from my book. “What—” But he had already slipped out of the room. I looked over at the nightstand and froze when I saw the little wooden figurine on it. With big wings. One damaged.

“I knew he wouldn’t have gone far, because he would want to watch over you. So I just walked around until I got the sudden urge to flee in terror, which meant he was nearby.”

The life seed didn’t die. When we were done with living, we simply allowed the earth to take us back, to use our body for new life. When Gage’s human life came to an end, I would follow him. I knew it deep in the core of me already—there was no question. He was my mate.