Monstrous, tome 3 : The Rycke

"Can I... Can I take your mask off?"

I suppressed a shiver as I nodded. His request felt oddly intimate, but I wasn't about to deny this monster anything. Not when he was looking at me like that. His elegant fingers were still in my hair, and the faint warmth of his long, lean body was seeping into the front of my clothes.

He shot me a small, nervous smile as his fingers moved, gently grasping my mask to pull it down. I finally did something instead of just standing there like a dolt, reaching out with trembling hands to rest them on his waist. I had a brief fantasy that Aury was going to pull my mask down and swoop in to kiss me, but then I flushed as I realised I probably didn't look that great as soon as my mask had been taken off. There'd be a red line where the edge had dug into my skin, and my upper lip would be damp with sweat.

Self-conscious, I lowered my gaze as Aury gently pulled the mask down, so it was looped around my neck, hanging there with the hard plastic bumping my collarbone. I couldn't quite catch my breath when his fingers returned to my hair, this time threading through the strands just behind my ears, so his hands were cupping the back of my head.

"Ghost," he said again, forcing my gaze back up. His big black eyes drifted to my mouth and stayed there.

My face got hot, and I resisted the urge to reach up and rub at the red line across the bridge of my nose. Instead, I croaked, "Yeah," like an idiot, my voice thick. My fingers tightened just a little on his sides, feeling the supple skin through his shirt and new coat.

"Can I..." Aury swayed closer. "I want to—"

[Aury]

Humans could die so easily, but the rycke chose its death. Our bodies didn't fail. 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.

But until then, I would keep him safe. We had many years before that. I could feel the life in Gage's body, strong and vibrant, because it sang to me now, tethered to the life seed. I liked the thought of giving my life, my memories, to the next rycke, because Gage would live on in them forever. He would be a balm, a reprieve from all the darkness. A sweet, delicate bloom that stayed rooted deep in the earth in the eye of a swirling storm of death and rage. I would make sure of it—I would make sure that my memories of him were never lost. I would make them the brightest spot in my mind.

But first, we had our lives to make all of those memories. We still had many, many years left, and I planned to spend all of them with him.

"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.

His smile was joyful and infectious, and I felt my mouth curling up even though I still felt like total shit. "Aury," I repeated, trying to say it just as he had—ow-ree.

When I said it, Aury's eyes flared with a strange, soft inner light for a split second "Yes." He nodded, his voice almost desperately eager. He leaned closer, one long-fingered hand hovering in the air before it curled over the edge of the mattress. His smile turned a little rueful. "I haven't heard anyone say it in so long."

God, he was killing me. "Aury," I repeated, more confidently, and smiled when Aury grinned again, showing off his even, white teeth. "It's... I like it," I told him, feeling shy. I wanted him to keep smiling like that.

"Oh my god," someone stammered from close by. I thought it might have been Hall.

Then someone else let out a hoarse shout. A high-pitched voice screamed. Hands grabbed at me, and I swung my gaze around, dazed from the punch, my chest heaving. I saw Sun's dark eyes widen with terror as she stared at something behind me, trying to tug me away. When I shoved at her, not trusting her in the slightest anymore, she gave up and turned, stumbling in her haste to get away.

"Shoot it!" someone cried, and panic streaked through me as I looked wildly around at the raiders now sprinting in all directions—away from us. Ryker was frozen in place by the school entrance, staring at something above me, eyes wide and unblinking.

I turned to grab Aury, but he was gone.

And in his place was something that my mind struggled to process for a moment. My eyes turned up.

And up.

My limbs clenched up, paralysing fear locking me in place.

Because in Aury's place was a true monster.

Rig and I stared in silence for a long, long time, but the creature in front of us didn't move.

They were slumped on their knees, bound arms resting on their thighs. Night-black hair with a strange, greenish sheen fell around their pale face in heavy, dirty hanks. I couldn't see their face, but I could see how deathly white their skin was. I could see the greenish-grey fingernails tipping their weakly flexing fingers.

And the gigantic wings trailing limply on the ground behind them—one completely shredded and ruined, the other like a huge bat wing, dark and sinewy, with thick sharp talons curling out from the top of each finger.