Moth: MM Monster Romance (Monstrous Book 5), page 2
“Tiny horns,” Edin muttered in a conspiratorial tone to Hunter as we approached.
He snorted. “So?”
“Just saying.” Edin lifted a big purple arm in greeting, raising his voice to be heard across the remaining distance. “It’s good to see another of the old ones, my friend.”
After a pause, the aytorin nodded once. “And you, my friend.”
Edin grinned as we stopped in front of them, eyeing the whole group.
“Hello, humans,” he said in his deep voice—which I was positive he made a little more rumbling in the presence of new people—then focused his smile back on the aytorin. “And it’s good to see you free of that cage.”
The aytorin smiled, showing short fangs and tusks. He still held the hand of the guy in the western jacket, who was watching us silently.
“Thank you.” He looked down at the guy, and his smile got softer. “Rig freed me from Mary’s control.”
The guy—Rig—looked up at the aytorin, his face breaking into a huge grin behind his leather mask.
“I go by Gloam,” the aytorin said, releasing Rig’s hand to step forward and clasp Edin’s shoulder. “It’s an honour to meet the last isdernuc.”
Edin boomed out a laugh, grasping his shoulder back. My eyes darted to Aury, who flushed and looked away.
“I am Edin. And the honour is mine. We wanted to help when we saw you, but we were on our way to free Charlie here.”
He gestured at me, and I smiled uneasily at the group when all eyes turned on me.
“Which is how we met Cat,” he added.
The two humans in the group stiffened at the mention.
“You really saw him?” Rig asked, stepping forward and wrapping his hands around Gloam’s forearm. “He’s okay? He’s alive?”
Edin winced. “Well, he was when we saw him. It was a while ago now.”
“Where is he,” the other guy asked in a flat voice.
His green eyes were piercing as he stared at Edin, and he hadn’t sheathed his machete, despite the tentative truce that seemed to be forming.
“Being held in a prison to the north,” Hunter said. “There’s a fighting ring going on up there. Humans and monsters working together to operate it.”
Rig choked on a breath, his fingers squeezing Gloam’s arm tight. “Oh my god.”
“If you got him out,” machete guy asked, nodding at me, “why didn’t Cat come with you?”
“We tried,” Hunter said quickly. “He said he couldn’t leave. He said there was someone there he couldn’t leave without.”
Rig’s brown eyes widened, and they darted frantically between Gloam and machete guy. “Who could he have wanted to stay for?”
“Don’t know.” Machete guy was still watching us. “Better tell Anchor.”
Rig nodded but eyed us nervously. “Um…”
“We are peaceful,” Edin told him, his voice uncharacteristically serious. “We were travelling past and realised this was Cat’s camp. We wanted to deliver his message.” With a chuckle, he added, “Besides, you have the rycke here protecting you. I am no match for this beast when he is unleashed.”
He clapped a jovial hand on Aury’s shoulder. The winged monster flushed but gave a shy smile.
“I won’t be unleashing anything, I swear,” he said, then nodded at Hunter. “Your mate is safe. And your… Charlie.”
I cleared my throat. “I’m Hunter’s best friend. We’re not a throuple.”
The winged monster’s head cocked. Gloam chuckled while Rig’s eyes creased with a grin. Machete guy didn’t react at all, just watching us silently. He was a little creepy.
“Shall we go inside the camp, then?” Gloam said, then turned serious eyes to Edin. “Aury is in control. He wouldn’t lie to you. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone.”
Edin cast a glance at Hunter, brows pinched. Slowly he nodded.
“I trust your word, friend,” he said, then looked at Aury with a smile. “You are strong, to control it.”
Aury flushed and gave a little shrug. “Because of my mate. He helped me.”
“Well, I look forward to meeting him.” Edin grinned at Hunter, palming the back of his neck. “Shall we?”
CHAPTER TWO
Charlie
As we followed behind the monster-human group in silence, Rig started chatting away to Gloam, bouncing excitedly on his toes and gripping the big monster’s hand tight between both of his.
“Anchor is going to lose her shit. And this means Ghost can stop going out looking for him. Although…” He sounded uneasy. “I hope Anchor doesn’t make him go to this prison to bust him out. We have to make sure she doesn’t force him into it. Right, Aury?”
He peered around his chuckling monster at Aury, who gave him a small smile and a nod.
“If he does decide to go, I’ll go with him.”
“Well, hopefully Charlie and…” Rig looked over his shoulder at us and gave Hunter a friendly smile. “I didn’t get your name, sorry.”
“Hunter.”
The raider didn’t seem deterred by Hunter’s short tone and one-word answer. He nodded.
“Hunter. Cool. Hopefully Charlie, Hunter and Edin can tell us where it is.”
Edin was walking beside Aury, whose head stayed bent as he watched his big bird feet, though he was nodding at what the big purple monster was saying in a low voice. I caught the tail end of it.
“…sorry for leaving you there.” Edin’s voice was uncharacteristically sombre. “It was wrong of me. I wasn’t thinking clearly—consumed by fury at being captured. But I—”
“It’s alright.” Aury gave him a tiny smile. “I understand. I wasn’t… in my right mind either.”
Edin grasped his shoulder gently. “Forgive me, my friend.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” Aury hesitated, then patted Edin’s thick forearm.
“At least not all humans are so bad, eh?” Edin chuckled and yanked Hunter closer, ignoring his grunt and rubbing his cheek over his baseball cap.
I smiled, but my gaze snagged on silent machete guy in time to see him narrowing his eyes at Edin. Guess he was a little protective of the quiet winged monster.
“Wait,” Hunter piped up as we reached the camp wall.
I eyed the looming structure in front of us. It was made up of old shipping containers, trucks and cars, rusted sheets of corrugated metal. I couldn’t help but be impressed at the raiders who’d managed to cobble together such an impenetrable fortress out here.
Everyone stopped and turned to face him. Hunter squared his shoulders, straightening to his full height as he glanced at Edin.
“Before we go in, I want to clear some things up so there are no nasty surprises.” He gestured at me. “Charlie and I are ex-military.”
The raiders stiffened. Machete guy’s fingers twitched around the handle of his weapon.
I didn’t voice the fact that I technically wasn’t ex-military like Hunter. I was still planning on going back. But I knew why he’d said it—he’d told me about what happened when the Soul Eater found out he was military and was mere moments from gutting him for it.
“We left to stay out here,” Hunter continued, gesturing at Edin as the purple monster lumbered over and grasped his nape in a gentle grip. “To stay with Edin. We would never betray you or your camp in any way. I swear. So does Charlie.”
I nodded quickly when the machete guy’s impassive yet piercing gaze flicked to me.
“Hunter left it all behind to stay with me,” Edin rumbled, kissing the visible line of Hunter’s scar at his temple. “Didn’t you, josdo?”
Hunter’s eyes creased with a lopsided smile as he looked back at him. “That’s right.”
“Where… What base did you…” Aury’s eyes were shadowed, and his head twitched.
Rig shot him a worried glance before looking back at us. “What base were you stationed at?”
“Not Nebraska,” Hunter said immediately, looking at Aury with serious eyes. “Edin told me they captured you. That he saw you there when they captured him too. We never had anything to do with the military’s specimen programme. I swear.”
He gestured at Edin, his eyes hard. “It’s why we left. We could never have gone back after finding out what they did to you in there.”
I wanted to shrink in on myself. I knew he was just saying it to make it clear that we wouldn’t fuck these raiders over, but his words made me feel an inch tall.
Because I was going back. Despite knowing what they’d done to Edin. And the Soul Eater. And apparently, this gentle, winged monster too.
Aury’s head twitched again, eyes on the ground. Rig let go of Gloam to go stand beside him, slipping his hand into Aury’s and squeezing it.
“Do you want them to go, Aury?” he asked quietly.
Big black eyes turned up to look at us. After a long, tense moment, he shook his head and gave us a small smile.
“No. It’s fine. I believe them.”
God, what had the military done to this monster? I swallowed and kept my eyes on the ground, feeling ashamed that I was part of an organisation that had traumatised and tortured creatures just for being different.
Hunter’s voice made me lift my head, because it was uncharacteristically soft.
“I’m sorry for what they did to you,” he told Aury.
The monster dipped his head in a nod. “Thank you.”
I let out a slow breath, darting a glance at Hunter and Edin. The latter kissed Hunter’s cheek and murmured something in his ear.
When I looked back at the others, Rig and machete guy were exchanging a loaded look.
“Thanks for telling us,” Rig said, moving back to Gloam’s side and gripping his hand tight. “And for… for stopping when you realised this was Cat’s camp. We’re so glad to hear he’s still alive.”
He looked at Aury, then Gloam, then let out a hard breath.
“Okay. You can come in. But maybe… maybe keep that to yourselves around the others. Some people in here really don’t trust the military.”
“Sure, no problem,” Hunter said quickly.
As we started heading toward the side of the wall, machete guy said flatly, “Don’t make us regret our hospitality.”
Edin rumbled out a laugh.
“If we had any nefarious plans, Aury here would tear us all to shreds.” He clapped a hand on the rycke’s shoulder. “And I’d wager Gloam is adept with that beast in his hand.”
Gloam shot us a fanged grin over his shoulder. “Indeed.”
“Best skull-basher in the Wastes,” Rig said cheerfully, making me side-eye him before shooting a nervous glance at Hunter.
These guys were… interesting.
The camp entrance was tucked away in a narrow gap between two containers, well-hidden and reinforced with steel bars that I spotted as Rig opened a cut-out portion of the metal to reveal a door. Machete guy slowed his steps until he was bringing up the rear, no doubt keeping an eye on us as we made our way through.
I forced myself not to stare slack jawed as we emerged into the camp. It was big, and completely surrounded by that tall wall. A couple of raiders were standing at the top, pacing along as they kept watch.
There was a big motel block to our left, and a sprawling vegetable patch with raiders tending to the crops to our right. Tucked in the far corner was another building that looked like wooden stalls.
“Damn,” I muttered to Hunter as we followed the others.
Aury peeled away from the group, heading toward the motel block. I could still feel machete guy’s eyes on my back.
There were a few raiders milling about, and most of them stopped to eye us. I swept my gaze over them. One was wearing a plain white mask that covered her whole face, a long red braid hanging over her shoulder. Another was big and broad, wavy black hair tied back from his face in a knot. He was holding an armful of carrots, and after a pause he carried on walking toward an old diner tucked into the corner.
A former bar sat dormant beside it, the neon sign proclaiming Billy’s Bar now dead and colourless. Leaning against the old bar was a guy with long white hair and pale eyes that watched us closely. Too closely. Something about his face made my gut tighten with unease.
“That dude with the white hair is creeping me out a little,” I muttered to Hunter as we followed Gloam and Rig. “He’s giving me uncanny valley vibes. Something’s off with him.”
“Yeah?” Hunter cocked his head as he looked. He shrugged. “I guess. He’s hot.”
Edin let out a disgruntled snarl from the other side of him and smacked Hunter in the chest. It was immensely satisfying for me—and I suspected for Edin—to hear Hunter wheeze at the impact.
“I just meant objectively, scratch.” His voice was tight, like he was trying to mask the discomfort. I snorted.
“Yes, well.” Edin grunted and lifted his chin imperiously. “Just remember who you said was the hottest thing you’d ever seen when I was riding your—”
“Remember those boundaries we discussed, Edin?” I interrupted loudly. “Remember all those times—the many, many times—I told you I don’t particularly want to hear the details of your and Hunter’s sex life?”
Unfortunately, my words did not shut the big purple guy up like I’d been hoping. They did the opposite.
“Gah, poor Charlie.” He lumbered around and slung an arm over my shoulders, making me grunt from the impact. “How long has it been since you fucked? A while, yes? You must have—what was it you said the other day, Hunter? Blue balls.”
He ruffled my hair, making my head jerk forward. My face was already on fire.
“I would have blue balls by now, I’m sure. Although, my balls are already purple—Hello, human.”
The guy who’d appeared in front of us blinked, looking dazed at being greeted just after hearing about a big purple monster’s balls.
“I—um, hi.”
He was with Aury, and their hands were linked. So this was the rycke’s mate, then. The raider wasn’t overly tall, and a gas mask covered the lower half of his face beneath brown hair and blue eyes.
I glanced over at Hunter and Edin. Hunter was looking around stoically with a cool, assessing gaze. He’d be no help being friendly to anyone. Edin was already distracted, raising a hand and lumbering over to the white-haired guy who’d been the catalyst for that entire painful conversation. Guess he knew him, then.
“So, you said you’ve seen Cat?” the raider asked, snapping my eyes back to him and Aury.
I nodded and tilted my head at Hunter. “We both have. In the prison up north.”
“Prison?” The guy’s voice was sharp.
“He’s being held in a prison where they’re putting on fights between humans and monsters. I was kidnapped by monsters and taken there. They put me in a cell with Cat.”
I nodded at Hunter again, who was now eyeing Aury.
“Hunter tried to get him to come with us when he busted me out, but Cat said there was someone there he couldn’t leave behind.”
The raider shared a look with Aury.
“We need to go get Anchor—our leader.” He looked back at me. “Will you wait here? She’ll want to hear everything.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
They walked off toward an old diner tucked into the corner of the camp, Gloam and Rig following.
I turned to Hunter with a fake pleasant smile on my face, my eyes darting to the raider with the machete who was still watching us in silence.
“So. Been discussing my balls with Edin, have you?”
His cool gaze slid to my face. “Relax, champ. We weren’t talking about your balls. The term just, uh… came up in conversation and Edin asked what it meant.”
I pursed my lips and looked away. I didn’t particularly want to know how the term “came up” in conversation.
Besides, I couldn’t disagree with Edin’s assessment. My balls were blue. It had been years since I’d had any sex, of any kind. With anyone. Even though I’d never had any interest at all in fucking Hunter—and I knew that sentiment went both ways—having to listen to two, shall we say, robust people fucking loudly and vigorously almost every night for months had just reminded me of everything I was missing.
I’d taken to sitting outside in the yard for a while after they went to bed, to try and avoid the worst of it. But I’d miscalculated too many times and ended up quietly heading inside to finally sleep while they were still going at it. Working on the homestead was hard, and I could only force myself to stay awake for so long.
Edin had some incredible stamina, I’d give him that.
As we waited for the raider and Aury to return with their camp leader, my eyes snagged on the white-haired guy again. He was talking to Edin, a slight smile on his freakishly perfect face.
That was what had jarred me when I’d first spotted him, I realised. He was too perfect. Too stunningly beautiful to really look human. He looked more like what an artist would picture the perfect human to look like.
His hair was white—almost silver—but his brows were black and finely shaped, above pale eyes of a colour I couldn’t see from here. His face was narrow but chiselled, with a slim, straight nose and a full mouth that had three rings piercing it—one through the centre of his lower lip, and two either side of his cupid’s bow. I thought I could see tattoos on his neck, disappearing under the collar of his shirt.
He had a rangy-looking body, with wide shoulders and a torso that tapered into narrow hips and long legs. He was wearing heavy black boots, black jeans and a grey shirt under a brown leather duster that reached his knees. His hands were stuffed in the pockets.
I quickly looked away when my stomach tightened with an exhilarating rush of attraction. Fine, sure, he was hot. Hunter was right. But there was still something off about him. Something not quite… right.
He was also the only other human here besides me not wearing some kind of mask. Hunter had his, but I’d lost mine when the koleb fuckers took my stuff, and I hadn’t bothered to replace it. All the raiders in here were wearing theirs.
