Instead, he says in a voice that seems to come from every corner of the room, “Come, my mate. We must leave for my dimension.”
ChapterTwo
The monster’s tentacles are everywhere—around my waist, between my thighs, and circling my breasts.
My entire body tingles as I writhe within his grip, and I’m sure some of his suckers are pulling at my flesh.
The pulse between my ears pounds so hard that it muffles all sound, including the meditation I’d stupidly played to attract a soul mate. Had I heard him right? He can’t be taking me to his dimension. Dimensions are a thing of science fiction. They don’t even exist.
But a few minutes ago, I would have said that monsters were figments of overactive imaginations. Now, I’m suspended three feet off the wooden floorboards by a creature of shadow and tentacles.
My gaze whips around the room. All I see is the dark. Either he disappeared the moment the clouds covered the moon or this monster really is made of shadows.
“Calm down,” I tell myself around the tentacle gag.
“Who are you speaking to?” he asks.
I scream, but the sound is muffled.
Shit. I need to get my head together. Panicking like this will only get me dragged to hell or wherever it is the monster lives.
Maybe if I could convince him he’s making a mistake, he might leave me alone?
“Please,” I say through the gag. This time, the tentacle around my mouth loosens to allow me to make a sound.
“Speak,” he says in a voice of smoke.
“I have work tomorrow, and…” My voice trails off. Is that the best I can say under the circumstances?
“Where we’re going, my mate will never need to toil.”
The clouds concealing the moon part, flooding the room with silver light. I follow the tentacle to find his shadowy outline.
“Please, sir,” I say, “I don’t want to leave my apartment.”
The monster raises his arm in a slicing motion that causes the sound of tearing. My breath catches as a rip forms in the air. Shit. I’d heard of the fabric of time, but this is ridiculous.
What lies beyond my room is a landscape of volcanoes and fire. I would call it hell but even demons might find it inhospitable.
Heat floods the room, explaining why I’d woken up feeling too hot. He must have brought it with him when he entered through the portal. The air becomes acrid with a suffocating scent of sulfur. My eyes itch, then they water, then it feels like tiny claws are scratching my throat. I blink over and over, coughing, choking, gasping for air.
“Stop,” I rasp.
“Do not be afraid.” The monster’s words echo through my ears and make my bones vibrate.
Any other time, his deep voice would be melodious, even soothing, but not when I’m about to die.
“No!” I clamp down hard on the tentacle with my teeth, making him flinch.
The monster pauses. “What is wrong, my mate?”
“I’m going to die.”
He pulls me away from the rift in the air and loosens the tentacle gag a little further. “Explain.”
“I’m human,” I say through panting breaths. “There’s no way a person like me could breathe, let alone survive in an atmosphere that toxic.”
The monster hesitates for several moments. I can’t tell if he’s considering my words or deciding whether or not to take a risk with my life, but when he closes the rip in the air, I collapse with relief.