The night is stillheavy with darkness lining the bedroom when I slip in. I close the door with a quiet click, but my steps falter when I look at the bed opposite of my own.
The blankets are reared back. The sheets are tossed aside. The bed is empty.
The pounding of my heart falls fast and hard, and I think through everything I know. Where could she have gone?
I fling open the door once more, but the quiet of the hall is all that I hear.
Shit.
My thoughts race, and a thousand things fling through my mind, but ultimately, only one calms me: she isn’t with Leavon. She’s out causing mischief that only the darkness of this realm can bring. But she’s safe. Or as safe as she can be in a realm full of Monsters.
A sigh that feels endless shoves from my lungs while I pull off my shirt and then pull it back on to tie the ripped material at the front. It’s not cute, but it covers my boobs, and as far as crop tops go, that’s about all you can ask for.
I sink into my bed. It’s all I can do to kick off my boots and pull the blankets up my tired body. I can still feel his cold, crawling touch against my skin. It’s a shivering thought that I shove away the moment it creeps into my mind.
I roll to my side, hugging my knees to my chest, and try my damnedest to think of absolutely anything else.
Like Synder.
My lashes fly open.
I really let that asshole kiss me. God, what was I thinking?
I was thinking... he saved my ass back there.
But why?
The breath in my lungs feels pressing and harsh. I just want to sleep. I don’t want to think of Leavon or Synder or even myself.
I just want to sleep. For days.
“Pretty Monster?” a deep voice whispers.
The scream that tears out of me is an embarrassment to Monsters everywhere. How can they even call me one of their own with a shriek like that?
My fingers fist into my palms as I close my eyes and calm my shaking breaths.
“Ruiner!” I accuse, and I know exactly where he is, even if I can’t see the brooding, beautiful man. “Get out from under my bed! It’s not a vacation spot, it’s a bedroom. And you have to knock on the door like everyone else!”
His rumbling laughter hums through the room and into my own chest.
How does he do that? How does the simple sound of his velvety voice fill me with warmth?
“What were you doing wandering at night? You know it’s not safe,” he whispers, worry lacing his rasping words.
I know I scolded him just two seconds ago, but... I feel safer knowing he’s just beneath my bed. I always have. He’s my security blanket.
He’s my Monster.
“I was looking for my roommate,” I say instead of the truth.
“Lies, lies, lies,” he singsong whispers. “I’ve listened to your confessions for years, Pretty Monster. I know what you sound like when you hide things.”
When I hide things.
I close my eyes, and twisted words from the past sneak up in my thoughts.
“The Sand Man didn’t hurt me.”