The Heart of a Monster: The Complete Series

Chapter 11

Quinn

The dirt lane through the misty fields ended at a stand of trees. Rollick parked his new car there and got out without a word. I followed on the passenger side, taking a deep breath of the late summer warmth.

It was funny how the scenery in front of us could look so similar to the terrain on the other side of the Atlantic but feel so different at the same time. Although I wasn’t sure I was all that much safer now that I was back in my home country.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked Rollick, resting my hand on the sun-heated glass of the window. “I mean, the big bad duo that wants to capture me—or their minions, anyway—must have been here just a few days ago.”

Rollick shrugged in his typical languid way. “That’s exactly why we should check out the scene of the crime. They might have left some useful trace of their presence behind. I doubt there’ll be anyone all that important still lurking around.” He shot me a grin that was a little more subdued than I was used to, though that didn’t stop his face from being as stunning as ever. “You’ve got me here to protect you, fair maiden.”

All of his grins and smirks had been toned down ever since our encounter back in Norway two days ago when he’d forced his smoky blood down my throat—and I’d gone wild with it. Since I’d woken up from the essence-induced stupor, he hadn’t referenced what’d happened, and all his other behavior toward me had remained unchanged. I’d kept my mouth shut about the whole thing because even thinking about talking about it made my cheeks flare so sharply I was afraid they’d literally ignite.

Like the time when I’d burst into tears in front of him, the demon seemed dedicated to pretending my momentary lapse in control had never happened. Which probably worked out in his favor at least as much as mine since it was his fault it’d happened in the first place.

“I think I’d like to be able to rely on myself too,” I said, and jerked my chin toward the trunk. “You picked up all our stuff that you’d stashed away before we left, didn’t you? The crossbow we got from the sorcerers in Arizona is still in there?”

Rollick arched his eyebrows, but he went around to open the trunk. “As you wish. You did seem to have gotten the hang of it when we stormed their camp. I doubt we’ll encounter anywhere near as many beasties here.”

“Better safe than sorry,” I muttered.

He handed over the small weapon which was at least as much a gun as it was a crossbow and then stepped back so I could collect a handful of the slim silver-and-iron bolts that served as its arrows. Not much could stop a shadowkind creature in its tracks, but the combination of metals that were noxious to them did the trick well enough that even a powerful being like Rollick didn’t want to handle objects that size.

I loaded three of the bolts into the crossbow and adjusted my grip, refamiliarizing myself with the weapon, which was about as long as my forearm. Its weight put a slight strain on my bicep, but I found it comforting all the same. “All right, let’s go.”

Rollick led the way along a foot path through the trees, and I was happy to let him go first. If we encountered any aggressive creatures, he was better equipped to fend them off than I was, crossbow or not.

At first the stretch of forest looked normal enough, but as we walked deeper, I spotted vicious gouges in the bark of the trunks up ahead. Near their roots, chunks of earth had been torn by what I had to imagine were thick claws. I braced myself for the sight we’d discover on the other side.

Word had gotten out through the shadowkind communities that another sorcerer family had been struck down while we’d been dealing with the enclave’s sick rituals over in Norway. Rollick had heard about it within a few hours of our touching down back on American soil and decided it was as good a place as any to resume our stateside investigations.

I couldn’t say I was super enthusiastic about the trip, but when the alternative was probably searching out random shadowkind for me to test my possibly enhanced sorcery on, I wasn’t going to complain.

Because of sorcerers’ frequent preference for setting up their homes far from civilization, no one in the human community had discovered the murders yet. We came out into a wide glade that showed no sign of police presence. More claw marks had churned up bits of grass and wildflowers. A long single-story house with patches of moss on its stone walls stood at the far end of the open space, the door closed but the windows shattered.

Even from this far away, a rancid smell reached my nose. A shiver ran down my spine.

Rollick glanced over at me. “I’d say you can wait out here, but I’d rather not leave you on your own for reasons already discussed.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, clenching my jaw against the queasiness already stirring inside me.

He scanned our surroundings as we walked over to the door, his gait casual but his eyes alert. Apparently he didn’t see any reason for worry, because he didn’t hesitate. At the door, he made a gesture with his hand, and there was a snapping sound from within. He’d used his demonic magic to break the lock.

“You couldn’t have just willed it to slide open?” I asked him.

“Breaking is simpler. I don’t think the owners are in a condition to be concerned about their security any longer.”

He had a point there. We stepped inside, the smell thickening enough that I tugged my shirt up over my face so I could get a little relief by breathing through the fabric.

This family appeared to have been made up of five people. We found an elderly-looking couple first, slumped and bloody in the kitchen. Then a younger man and woman in the dining room, where it looked as if they’d tried to use the table as a barricade. When we came around the flipped-over slab of wood, a smaller body was sprawled right at its base—a toddler so mangled I couldn’t even tell if it’d been a boy or a girl.

My stomach heaved at the sight. I jerked down my shirt just in time to vomit my lunch onto the floorboards. Acid seared the back of my mouth.

I’d been horrified by what the sorcerers in the enclave had been doing to activate their powers, but some of the shadowkind were exactly the sort of monsters those people believed them to be. I guessed that unlike the little boy they’d stolen before, the villainous duo had decided this child was too young to be of any possible use to them.

Rollick didn’t comment on my reaction. His mouth set in an expression of distaste that I could tell was aimed at the carnage rather than me. He turned away from the bodies, cocked his head, and knelt in the corner to examine a different spot on the hardwood floor that looked exactly the same as the rest of the boards to my eyes.

I gulped a little water from the bottle in my bag to wash out the sour flavor in my mouth, careful not to swallow so much that I’d set off my stomach again. “What are you looking at?” I asked a little hoarsely.

Rollick touched the boards and sniffed his fingers. “Water damage.”

“And that’s important?”

“It contributes to the larger picture.”

He didn’t seem inclined to say more yet, and I wasn’t in the mood to badger him. I left the dining room behind to see what I might find in the rest of the house, farther from the awful spectacle.

I’d only made it two steps down the hall when a shadowy blur flung itself at me from a doorway up ahead.

A yelp jolted from my throat, but thankfully my reflexes kicked in even as my nerves jumped with surprise. I jerked up the crossbow and squeezed the trigger in one swift movement, throwing myself backward at the same time.

The silver-and-iron bolt hit the creature that’d sprung at me as it shifted into physical form, catching it square in the chest. With a pained snarl, it crumpled on the floor, smoke wafting up from the wound. The sight reminded me of the enclave’s rites and made my stomach lurch all over again.

A different, distant sensation rippled through me: a flicker of consternation and fear. It arrived in tandem with Rollick rushing into the hall.

That’d been happening here and there since he’d fed me his filmy essence, the stuff that shadowkind considered blood. Just as I’d sensed his lust and hesitation in the car, I sometimes caught a whiff of his other emotions, maybe only when they were particularly strong. Which wasn’t very often, but it was still a bit unnerving having an internal tie to the demon.

I wasn’t sure whether he was aware of that consequence of his force-feeding. It hadn’t seemed like a good time to bring it up yet. Being aware of his true emotions could turn out to be a good if small advantage to have in my back pocket.

He was definitely concerned about my current well-being. He stalked over and toed the slumped creature with his loafer. It cringed and groaned.

“Good shot,” he said evenly. “We’re not getting anything useful out of a lesser beast like this.” Then he raised his foot and slammed it down on the thing’s head, crushing its skull.

I dragged in a breath and loaded another bolt into the crossbow, not wanting to reach into the creature’s disintegrating body to retrieve the one I’d shot. “See,” I said, summoning more bravado than I felt. “I can look after myself.”

Rollick shot me a look somewhere between amused and annoyed. “Not against every being that’s been here. But I think anything larger than this is long gone.”

I held my crossbow at the ready as we searched the rest of the house, Rollick never letting me get out of his sight. My heart thumped at a faster pace, but I couldn’t say I enjoyed the tension that’d built up inside me. My thrill-seeker side was getting exhausted by all the close calls I’d had in the past month. Even it wouldn’t have minded a break to just chill for a little while.

The place didn’t hold anything else all that useful, especially now that I’d gotten a much more in-depth glimpse of the inner workings of sorcery at the enclave. I didn’t lower the crossbow until we made it back to the car, and then I brought it into the front seat with me, feeling a little better having it within reach.

“Are you going to tell me what picture you’ve been putting together?” I asked as Rollick started the engine. “Didn’t you already figure out we’re dealing with a behemoth?” I had no idea just how bad that was, but the name alone and remembering the way Rollick had talked about it sent a fresh chill through my veins.

Rollick paused for a moment, and I caught another quaver of emotion from him: a deep uneasiness that I didn’t like at all. He wasn’t half as confident about our chances as he’d been acting.

“I’ve become increasingly sure that the other half of this dynamic deadly duo is a creature of the sea,” he said.

“Like Torrent?”

The demon snorted. “If he were like Torrent, we wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Torrent isn’t the type to go around wreaking havoc. No, considering the powers at play and the company he’s keeping—and a few details that’ve been adding up… I think our behemoth has allied himself with a leviathan. Possibly the only leviathan, since like the behemoth I’ve only ever heard of one.”

A deeper chill washed over me. I resisted the urge to hug myself, not wanting Rollick to see how unnerved I was. “And we’re taking on these two one-of-a-kind monsters on our own.”

Rollick’s mouth twisted for a second, the only outward sign of his discomfort. “I have some ideas about that. Don’t worry yourself about it for now. I won’t be putting anything in motion until we reach our next destination anyway.”

I tipped my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, but I was too keyed up to have any hope of dozing, even though last night’s sleep hadn’t been all that restful. The pangs of emotion I’d gotten from the demon, especially his concern when he’d heard me being attacked, tugged at my mind. Suddenly the weight of all the things we hadn’t talked about pressed in on me too heavily for me to keep my mouth shut.

“We haven’t talked about what happened the other day. In the car. When you?—”

“I remember,” Rollick cut in, but he sounded more resigned than irritated by me bringing up the subject. “I didn’t think you wanted to talk about it.”

“I’m not sure want is the right word.” I hesitated, staring at the road ahead. “I didn’t want to react the way I did then either. Your shadowkind blood seemed to bring out these urges, and I couldn’t get control of myself.” My cheeks started to burn, but the worse sensation was the guilt clogging my throat.

I hadn’t discussed exclusivity with the three men I’d fallen for. They hadn’t minded that they were sharing my attentions with each other. And maybe, after the way I’d sent them off, they didn’t even consider themselves my… boyfriends, or whatever I should call them. But it would still have felt like cheating to get it on with any other person—or being.

Rollick kept his voice light but steady with none of his usual sly teasing. “I know. I’m not sorry about feeding you my essence, because it could make a difference in the long run, and your only objections had nothing to do with the situation I created. But I am sorry that my actions had effects we weren’t prepared for. I had no intention of messing with your mind or your inhibitions.”

How could he have known? It wasn’t as if he’d gone around feeding his essence to mortals on a regular basis. He sounded like he meant the partial apology, which was as much of an apology as I could imagine him ever offering.

Of course he wasn’t sorry about the other part. I wasn’t even sure I was angry at him about the rest, since maybe it would be better that he’d juiced up my powers—if he actually had. I’d known that might be the right call, and I’d been having trouble making it, so he’d done it for me.

“You’ve always said I’d decide to hook up with you eventually,” I said, taking on a similarly breezy tone. “You didn’t take me up on it while you had the chance.”

Rollick let out a huff. “I don’t think you being addled out of your mind counts as a real chance—or a real decision.” He glanced over at me. Even seeing him just from the corner of my eye, I could feel the intensity of his gaze. “When—if—we go there, it’ll be because all of you is on board, not just a burst of hormones you’re too drunk to control. I have no trouble finding fully willing sexual partners. Even as a monster, I find those much more satisfying.”

“Ah.” My cheeks heated more, and I didn’t know what else to say. I couldn’t help noticing that he’d revised his “when” to an “if” despite his previous insistence that I’d eventually jump his bones. “Well… that’s good to know.”

The demon chuckled, and the tension in the car subsided. His smile turned sly again. “Maybe what I have in store for you next will make up a little for my miscalculation.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “That sounds ominous.”

“Just wait and see.”

It didn’t take all that long to figure out where we were going once we got onto a major freeway with regular signs. Rollick set a course toward Boston, and I sat up a little straighter as its downtown high rises came into view in the distance.

“Why Boston?” I asked, even as my pulse gave a giddy skip.

“You didn’t get to come to Berlin with me, so I figured why not a different B city.” Rollick tipped his head toward the cityscape. “From what I’ve seen, it’s got one of the most interesting mixes of buildings in this country.”

I doubted that was the only reason we were making the trip, but I wasn’t going to complain. I could already pick out the Hancock amid the shorter buildings, its glossy sides reflecting the blue sky and tufts of clouds. And I’d love to see the stark modern design of the John F Kennedy Library up close after we’d talked about it in one of my college courses last year. I’d hoped to do a little road trip touring various cities around the country one summer, and Boston had been near the top of the list.

“Thank you,” I said.

The demon shrugged. “You’ve been through a lot. You should get a chance to enjoy yourself a little along the way. Maybe your life’s gotten off course, but that doesn’t mean you’re totally giving up what matters to you.”

I supposed it mattered to him that I was relatively content so that I’d continue going along with his schemes. But I couldn’t help saying, “It’s not really the same, you know. It’s not like all I wanted out of life was to look at cool buildings and admire them.”

“Isn’t that what those classes you’ve regretted missing are all about?”

“Yeah, but…” I gazed at the skyline we were approaching, and a knot formed in my chest. My voice dipped. “I wanted to make my own mark too. To add something to places like this. Like I told you before, great architecture isn’t just about making something easy on the eyes. I wanted to create something that would keep inspiring people or at least making them feel something… after I’m gone. But I guess there isn’t a whole lot of chance of that now.”

Rollick frowned, an expression that sat oddly on his stunning face. Another waft of uneasiness tingled into me from him. “There’s no reason to assume that.”

I lifted my chin, stuffing down the pain that came with my growing sense of resignation. “I’m just trying to be realistic, seeing how things have gone so far. It was a long shot anyway, given my condition. I’m running out of time. But if I can save some people from dying, that matters a lot too. And I appreciate the chance to get to be inspired myself, even if I won’t get to do a whole lot with that inspiration. So thank you.”

The demon was silent for a long moment. Then he shot another grin at me. “Don’t give up yet. That’s not your style at all, is it? You still have your sketch pad. Consider me your professor for the week. I want to see two new designs by the time we’re through here.”

I rolled my eyes at him, though a flutter ran through my chest at the gesture. “Oh, first it’s about me enjoying myself, and now you’re assigning me homework?”

“Consider it my attempt at replicating the ‘Quinn’s real life’ experience,” Rollick said, and then sobered slightly. “It might not be such a long shot anyway, at least not any more than it already was. I’ve got my own plans while we’re here.”

Color me not at all surprised. “And what are those?”

He made a vague gesture with his hand. “There’s a significant rift that leads to the shadow realm in one of the city parks. Big enough that one more being passing through shouldn’t draw any attention. I’m going to go have a chat with the Highest.”

My brow knit. “The Highest?” Something about the term sounded familiar—had he mentioned them before?

“The oldest and most powerful shadowkind,” Rollick explained. “They’re basically mountains in themselves, looming off in the deeper reaches of the realm. They themselves never venture mortal-side, but they’ve got a lot of lackeys at their beck and call, and they don’t look kindly on any of us interfering with human society too aggressively. From what I heard, they’ve already cracked down on the behemoth once.”

I perked up. “And you think they’d intervene again now?”

Rollick’s mouth formed a tight smirk. “I believe our behemoth and leviathan have made more than enough trouble for the Highest to think it’s worth stepping in. And if they send out the troops, all our trouble should soon be over.”