Page 8 of Monster's Obsession

That was when I came to the decision that trying to make peace would only end one way for me—my death.

Creed paused for a moment, actually listening to my words for a change.

Hope trickled in my veins that reason would win out for once, and we could talk about this once and for all.

But it was only a second of calm that crossed his gaze before fury lit in his eyes like the burning sun glinting overhead.

Run.My mind screamed, Creed’s next move easy to spot. I’d seen it hundreds of times. The wheels in his head spun with his prepared attack.

I threw myself to the left, bolting along the bridges that connected the towering homes in the city. Anyone that might have been around us, watching us, scrambled back inside, slamming doors and windows shut.

Monsters I once called friends darted behind me madly, growling for my death, but ahead of me, their fucking sheep of an army was also racing toward me. Fucking great.

Half a dozen guards resembling oversized spiders scurried toward me on long, thin legs, bulbous bodies, and a streak of red across their heads to acknowledge they were part of the city’s army.

Well, dealing with them just wouldn’t work for me.

I pivoted to my left and propelled myself onto the bridge’s railing, then bounced outward, across the lava below that would burn me to a crisp. Its heat swallowed me in unbearable waves.

But my sights were set on the tower just ahead of me, and I slammed against the railing, smacking it hard across my middle. I groaned, but shoved myself forward, the motion pushing me into a roll. Then I was on my feet and I took off.

A quick glance behind me showed the three monsters had split up, coming at me from different angles, Creed right on my heels.

I just needed to shake them off long enough to catch my breath and find Blake. I’d take her back to earth and I’d do my fucking best to make her life perfect. I’d lost enough in my life already that I sure as fuck wouldn’t lose Blake as well. I wasn’t a murderer, but I’d become one if anyone stood in our way.

A ripple of possessiveness rolled over me, knowing Creed and his men had been fucking her night after night, stealing her from me. I’d been dying without her, so I’d risked everything to come collect her.

That thought alone pushed me faster, to duck and weave among the city towers and bridges, through back lanes, until by some miracle I found myself free of my pursuers.

I slipped into a small home where the door lay ajar. Shutting it behind me, I pressed my back to the wall, my breaths heaving as I stood in silence in an empty room that appeared abandoned. I inhaled the foul taste of stale air, but pushed past it and tried to work out my next steps.

Stay low.

Watch their every move.

Track down Blake.

Then…steal her back.

Sounded doable with some planning ahead of time.

Darkness stilled around me, and in my head, I traced the streets and mapped all the danger points, where I’d keep away.

Most of them were guarded from what I remembered. It had also been a long time since I’d been home, so things could have changed. But one thing I was certain of was that no one lingered in the Hunting Lands. It was a place where everyone kept to themselves and hunted. And I had no issue with laying low there, taking out anyone who crossed my path. At least until I bought myself some time and could get Blake away from them.

I listened for noises outside, the bridges quieter than normal, but word would have spread fast of my return, of the king putting out a death call on my head. Which was fine. I was used to hiding in plain sight, and I could take different forms. But first, I needed to get them off my fucking tail.

Fate.

I remembered the queen once told me that fate determined our death, that there was no stopping it if it was your time.

But sometimes even fate could be swayed into your bidding.

That was the thing about our queen, she’d been a fucking sadist with a dark streak who got off at seeing others suffer. We’d had many of our staff in our castle mysteriously vanish, and there was that one time I walked in on her taking a bath in blood. She’d called it her

beauty regime” and told me it wasn’t my concern where it had come from.

She’d had many haters as well as admirers, but I’d never wished for her death. Even if I should have with everything I suspected she’d done to her citizens and those in the royal palace.