An Invocation of Monsters (The Void Book 2), page 4
Like the blood of the forest itself.
I saw his hands were covered in glistening splotches of that same color. Was the circle somehow toxic to him?
I turned off the light again, allowing darkness to encroach once more. “I see. You’re trapped in the circle.”
The monster’s red eyes opened in tentative thin slits, then wider when he saw the flashlight was off. “A filthy trick,” he growled. “Let me out, and I will reward you.”
“How did you get trapped in the first place? Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to wander into strange circles in the woods?”
The moth-like monster blinked at me. “I have no mother. I was born from an egg.”
A slightly hysterical giggle bubbled out of me. “Well, that explains that. How am I supposed to get you out of there?”
“Break the lines. I cannot touch them.” The monster let out an angry snarl. “It is… painful to me.”
Yeah, I could imagine, as it was making him bleed all over the place.
I took a few deep breaths and surreptitiously pinched myself. Surely this was a stress dream.
But when I opened my eyes to darkness and smelled pine, and another, much more appetizing scent—like incense and spices, which I realized with another flush was the monster himself—I knew I wasn’t dreaming at all.
I stepped forward carefully, trying to remember how far away the monster was. His lamp-like eyes flicked downward, watching my progress.
“You aren’t going to kill me if I let you out, are you?” I asked, even if it was a little too late for those kinds of assurances.
Was it my imagination, or did those crimson eyes soften?
“I swear it,” he growled. “By the stars of the Void, by my own blood, I swear I will not harm you.”
I had no idea what the Void was, but he sounded deadly serious. And he was in fact bleeding everywhere.
I’d possibly gone insane, but I decided to trust him.
“Hold still, then.” I kept moving forward, scuffing my boots. I heard the monster sigh as I dragged my feet, annihilating the clean lines of the chalk circle, and he stepped out.
It wasn’t until I felt his warmth against me that I realized how cold I was, and that he was now close enough to touch, his breath stirring my hair.
I wanted to touch him. I wanted a memory that proved he was real, something more concrete than just a vision in the dark forest at night.
I felt him shift with surprise when I reached out, his eyes flaring bright enough that I could see for a bare instant.
“I said, hold still,” I told him. “You’re still bleeding.”
“And what do you expect to do about that, woman?” The brightness returned, the red glow saturating just the two of us in a little orb of light. The moth-monster wore a bemused look on his face.
I smiled, and was rewarded with another surprised flare of light from his gaze. It occurred to me that maybe this monster was just as nervous of me as I was of him.
“First off, stop calling me ‘woman’. My name is Elle.”
His tattered wings brushed the ground as he moved back a step.
“Second, why didn’t you fly away?”
The monster’s lips twisted sourly. His mouth was almost human, but his lips were too smooth, the shape just a little off. When he spoke, I saw the tips of pointed white teeth. “See for yourself.”
He spread those glorious moth wings wide, and my mouth fell open.
For a moment I was lost in a kaleidoscope of forest colors. The amber bled into the moss which grew over the ink which crashed into the midnight blue…
Then the spell was broken, and I saw the ragged holes punched through the shimmering tapestry of color.
“How…?”
“The Hunter.” The monster refolded his wings. “I was… foolish to come here, when I cannot fly.” He looked away, eyes squinted into narrow, glowing slits.
An odd feeling welled up inside me. I was feeling sorry for him, a creature of the forest trapped by human cruelty.
“Well, you’re lucky you found me, then.” I held out a hand. “I trusted you. Trust me.”
I never offered my bare hand to anyone. I’d spent years neatly side-stepping the politeness of handshakes, wearing gloves and getting sidelong glances for it. The feeling of skin contact horrified me now.
But it felt natural to offer my hand to the injured monster.
A new hope was rising in me, a hope I hadn’t felt for a long time. One that had been extinguished by my great failure.
The monster hesitated, then reached out, laying his large palm over mine.
I wrapped my fingers through his claws, closing my eyes. Energy crackled through my veins, and the sensation of something alive rushed through me and into him.
The monster made a sound like he was in pain, and I opened my eyes again, already horrified that I’d somehow ruined it—
Then I understood. It was a laugh.
He flexed his wings, no longer torn and ragged. The tattered edges were now solid and feathery, with hints of gilded scales.
Then he touched his hands. The blood came away, revealing smooth, dark skin beneath. “I am… I am whole again.”
He looked up at me, those scarlet eyes burning.
A soft, feather-light hand brushed my cheek.
“Elle,” he whispered.
My heart thumped unevenly. His incense smell was intoxicating, and I was all too aware of the feathery smoothness, like a butterfly’s wing, of his skin against mine.
Then his wings flicked out, and the monster vanished into the night, leaving me alone under the trees like the dregs of a dream.
5
Toth
Word spread throughout the Void like ripples on water.
The air was as still and thick as syrup as the power coagulated around the house by the lake. The trees were silent, listening to the whispers of the other world.
The breach torn open by the Hunter hummed, waiting.
Waiting for her. The maiden of the blood.
I glided silently over the forest, a dark watcher. She was far below me, glowing like a beacon. Under the moonlight, her scarlet hair gleamed like dark flames.
Her scent still lingered in my nose, refusing to be washed away by the atmosphere no matter how many breaths I took. Her name that rolled off the tongue: Elle.
I wanted to erase her from my skin.
Erase her scent, erase her from my mind entirely.
Because no matter how soft she was, how she glowed under the moon, she was still one of them, living under the Hunter’s roof, eating their food, sleeping in their beds.
But… she’d laid hands on me and healed the destruction the Hunter’s traps had wrought.
Even the Void trembled as she drew close, recognizing her as kin.
Ducking lower, just brushing the treetops, I watched as she moved like a sleepwalker towards the house.
I’d missed this, the open clarity of the sky, the tangle of dark thoughts falling free and leaving me clear to perceive. And it was all thanks to one simple touch, the kindness of a stranger who had no reason to trust me… but she’d chosen to do so regardless.
I had been an idiot to fall for the Hunter’s trap. It was only because I was earthbound, starving.
I had been fortunate that this woman had come to find me.
As she walked along the trail leading to the lake’s edge, two dim orbs glowed at the bottom of the lake, imperceptible to human eyes. The Elder Klee who ruled the lake felt her presence, sensing her from below, his rage growing that he couldn’t taste her in the water.
I bared my fangs, mentally broadcasting my desire for him to stay away from her. She had touched me, was now my mystery to solve.
Could a woman who would free me really belong to them?
Elle started as she passed the lake, pausing as a few angry waves crashed against the shore. Tension was written in the taut line of her shoulders.
She could have no idea of the creature that watched her from its depths.
I alighted on the peak of the house, keeping a close eye out as she skirted the water’s edge. One wrong move, and she would be within the Klee’s territory.
And soon she would be out of mine. The Mlul’dra that infested the house itself had been watching since she arrived, but Kiraxis was shy.
He wouldn’t show himself to her, fearing to drive away this human who had sent such an explosive blast of energy throughout the Void when she arrived in our lands.
When Elle opened the doors, I crawled over the roof until I found the window leading into a dark attic, slipping through the small frame silently, sniffing the air for traps. The Hunter knew the denizens of the Void were here, and would stop at nothing to capture one.
But the air tasted of nothing but stale dust. Perhaps they didn’t expect us to infiltrate their castle.
Nonetheless, it was the height of stupidity to venture in here, but I couldn’t resist. I had to know more about this Elle.
I felt Kiraxis’ presence below, and glided from shadow to shadow, slipping in and out of reality as I descended through the house. Before every step, I looked for traps, until I made it to the rooms that smelled of her.
They were underlaid with a cloying floral scent, but Elle’s sweet, vanilla-like smell was already driving it out. I clung to the ceiling, wrapped in the shadows above the mantel, and Kiraxis shifted under the sofa.
Her footsteps grew louder until the door finally opened, and she came in. Seeing her this close, in her own quarters and unafraid of intrusion, made me even more curious.
Kiraxis shuddered, and Elle stopped again, staring at the sofa. It had been the most minute vibration, but she was on high alert, her arms wrapped around herself.
Finally she exhaled. “I’m losing my mind,” she whispered to herself.
I cocked my head, watching her as she shed her jacket and tossed it on the couch. Did she not believe what her eyes saw, what every sense screamed to her?
How could she be crazy when she was as real as we were?
She retreated to the bedroom, and quick as a flash, Kiraxis had snagged the jacket on a claw and yanked it under the couch. There was a low, rumbling purr as he took a deep whiff of it.
I crawled through the shadows of the ceiling, ducking under the door and moving above the sheer canopy above the bed. If she looked up, I would be nothing but another deep shadow from the corner of her eye.
The woman kicked off her boots, dropped the phone on her nightstand, and then just stood there for a long moment, staring out the window at the lake.
I was almost concerned for her sanity until she shook her head and began stripping off her clothes. My throat went dry when she pulled her shirt up, revealing pink-tipped breasts, and my lungs felt shallow as the pants followed.
All the blood in my body flowed to my cock, my claspers twitching to grab her.
This was wrong… she was not us. She was with them.
I should not feel this desire for a human.
Elle crawled into her bed, only feet below me, and yanked the sheet over herself. The lack of visual stimulation did nothing to reduce the urges pounding through my body.
She flopped back, closed her eyes, and exhaled deeply once more.
Within minutes, she was dead asleep.
I crept down from the ceiling, rising to my full height over the bed as I watched her.
She didn’t look evil.
She looked soft, the stress easing out of her face as it relaxed, making her appear younger and more vulnerable than she had in the forest.
A massive, dark shape appeared on the other side of the bed as Kiraxis peeked over the edge of the mattress, all six green eyes narrowed.
“She’s asleep,” I whispered. “Don’t wake her.”
“I see that,” Kiraxis grumbled. His top two eyes widened, taking her in. Elle let out a tiny snore, and he ducked down again, ears pressed flat against his skull, rising only when she didn’t move.
“She is very beautiful.” The Mlul’dra’s claws, dug into the edge of the bed, flexed lightly, then he dared to reach out and stroke her arm.
“Yes.” My wings fluttered a little in agitation. I did not want him to awaken her. I wanted to watch that soft, sleeping face. “But is she with the Hunter?”
Kiraxis let out a low hiss. “No, she cannot be. The Void trembles with joy at her presence.”
“They could be using her. Even evil can be beautiful.”
The Mlul’dra shook his head stubbornly, the tips of his fangs showing. “No. I refuse to accept that. Evil walks on silent feet. It does not snore.”
As though to corroborate his claim, Elle let out a low snorting groan, turning on her side, and the sight of her exposed side and gently curved hip sent another shudder of desire through me.
But as I watched, she shivered, frowning in her sleep.
Without thinking, I picked up a woven blanket from the end of the bed and draped it over her.
She curled her fingers around the edges of the blanket, the frown lines of her forehead smoothing out. Kiraxis let out a rumble, touching a lock of scarlet hair.
“Perhaps she is a mate,” he said hopefully. “I will make her my mate. I have been patient for many years.”
I let my gaze slide from the curve of her hip to the crown of thick red hair.
Hunter’s kin, or a creature of the Void?
She had helped me, healed me. She had no reason to offer me her aid.
She had overcome her fear enough to touch me.
“Maybe so. But I will watch her to be sure.” I met Kiraxis’ eyes. “The door is in danger. The Hunter must not be allowed through.”
He nodded, teeth flashing, but his claw curled possessively towards the sleeping woman.
As I slipped through the window, I found myself hoping that he was right.
That she was not kin to the Hunter, that she didn’t aid its plans.
That she had been sent here for us.
6
Elle
I opened my eyes to a rainbow-studded ceiling. What kind of messed-up dream had that been?
But I was wrapped in a knit blanket, which hadn’t been on me when I went to sleep, and my phone was smudged with dirt when I checked the time.
By the time I got to my boots, sitting by the door, caked with dirt and chalk, I understood that it hadn’t been a dream. A dead leaf fluttered out of my hair as I sank to my knees.
My breath rushed out of me like I’d been punched in the gut.
It had all been real. The circle, the moth-like being trapped in its center… even the dizzying rush of looking at his massive wings… all of it was real.
Time stood still as I internalized this, then I scrambled to my feet, lunging for the phone. I pulled up my texts to Juno, my fingers poised to fly over the keyboard—
And stopped.
What could I possibly tell her that would make any sense? If I told her I’d left the Lodge and wandered around a dark forest and had a whole conversation with the Mothman in the middle of the night, she’d come raging in here and have me committed.
If anyone would understand, she would, my inner voice whispered. Trust her.
I typed out the word Mothman, stared at it for a moment, then deleted it.
Nobody would understand. This was absolute madness.
I didn’t want Juno to worry herself into thinking I was having a mental breakdown. Between her baby and her research, she had enough on her plate.
I slowly put the phone back on the nightstand, pulling my legs up to wrap my arms around them.
There was nothing to be done for it. I was alone in this.
Were my mother’s secrets worth risking insanity for?
I nibbled a thumbnail as I thought. I didn’t feel insane.
Definitely staggered and awed, and possibly even slightly terrified, but not insane.
Maybe it was because I was already slightly steeped in madness.
Healing hands were not supposed to be real, and yet I’d managed to accept that particular aspect of my life with a fair amount of aplomb.
What was a giant moth monster next to that? If anything, my own existence justified that his was perfectly natural and normal.
“Okay,” I whispered out loud. “First things first.”
I grabbed my phone and pulled up a blank note, then typed out everything I could remember. The smell of the forest, the rage in his shrieking cries, the spinning sensation when I saw the swirling patterns on his wings…
And the conversation. Who was the Hunter, and what on earth was the Void?
Whatever it was, he’d sworn on it, and kept his promise. It must be important to him.
I let out a hoarse laugh as I finished typing. Now more than ever, I wished I could ask Juno to search her considerable library for any mention of such things, but that would likely lead down a rabbit hole of questions about my mental stability.
I showered as quickly as possible and pulled on jeans and my Point Pleasant tourist tee I’d bought a few years ago, which made me laugh to myself. Already I fully planned on finding him again, and asking if he’d happened to be in the neighborhood while we were passing through.
But before I pulled on my gloves, I flexed my hands, remembering the soft, warm silk of the monster’s skin against my palm, the rise of fall of his chest with each breath.
Then I snorted. What was I doing, romanticizing a creature like that?
But he’d touched my cheek. He’d said my name like a prayer, as though he’d been waiting for me…
I yanked the glove on, shaking my head. I was imagining things.
But what I was not imagining was the fact that my jacket was missing. I stared at the leather couch, distinctly remembering dropping my jacket on it when I’d walked in last night.
It was gone, leaving no sign that it had ever existed.
I searched my room and suitcase, but no dice. It was like the thing had vanished into thin air.
I realized I was scowling so hard the lines felt like they’d be engraved on my forehead soon. Had someone been in my room? Was one of the Wendigo Society’s people stalking me?
