2. Beware of Humans
2
BEWARE OF HUMANS
A ndrew
“DID YOU NOT READ THE SIGN??” I thundered, picking up the human woman.
Her bright blue eyes stared at me, her scream dying. She had dark brown hair pulled back in a loose braid, her cheeks bright pink from either the wind outside or…
Her scent hit me, and it took every ounce of control to not throw her across the room.
Of course, there was no way I could anyways. She had stepped into the barrier. We were safely sandwiched between two rows of books, with me blocking her from the maze behind me and the invisible wall blocking her from leaving.
Adam was still staring at her from his desk, his mouth wide open and purple eye even wider. He was as horrified by her presence as she was of ours.
“What…what… Fuck . What are you?” she whispered.
I blinked. Her feet still dangled in the air, her body slowly relaxing.
The longer she stared at me, the more…curious she seemed?
Who was this woman?
“Why in the seven hells are you here, woman?? Did you not read the ‘HUMANS: BEWARE’ sign?” I seethed.
Her cheeks were crimson now, and I felt a lusty heat swell up inside of me.
That was not a natural reaction.
I immediately set her down like she was a jar of poison, taking a step back from her. The bookshelves towered to either side of us, creating a narrow hall. She was trapped.
She didn’t hesitate to turn and run, and I didn’t try to stop her as she slammed straight into the invisible shield.
She stumbled back and then ran for it again, banging on it. Kicking it. Cussing at it.
She reminded me of an angry little cat.
“You can’t escape. Gaea , help us,” I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. “Adam, get over here, please.”
Adam was still staring at her like a ghost.
“ADAM!” I snapped.
He jerked and then moved, coming closer.
“Let me out!!” the human wailed. “Please! This was a mistake!”
“It’s too late,” I sighed.
And it really was.
This library was a labyrinth, one that had been kept for the last 50 years by Adam and me. We had stumbled in together one night and had activated the curse.
We hadn’t left these walls in a long time. I hadn’t seen the sky, hadn’t seen the world in what felt like an eternity. Our only link to the outside world was our fairy friend, Catherine. She kept us updated on the state of the world and also helped us stay up to date on language changes.
The Cambridge Creature Library had been a legend to us. We had done everything we could to seek it out, not knowing what would happen the moment we came in.
We were bound to this place until our soulmate found us. I had resigned to that being forever.
But now…
The warmth in my chest felt foreign. A flicker of hope that I didn’t want.
The woman had quieted again, her body still stiff.
Adam finally spoke. “Little dove,” he crooned, stepping closer to her. “We won’t hurt you. I know we’re creatures, but we won’t cause you any pain,” he promised gently.
He had always been a lot nicer than me.
“Unless you want us to,” I muttered, crossing my arms.
She shot me a dark glare over her shoulder, and I couldn’t help it— I smirked. I reached up and stroked my beard for a moment, thinking about all of the possibilities that should not have been in my mind.
“What is this place?” she whispered. “Why did Catherine tell me to come here??”
“ Catherine ,” Adam and I said together, equally surprised.
“Yes,” she breathed, reaching into her pocket.
She drew out a little rectangle, and I gasped as it lit by itself.
Was this one of those devices the fairy had told us about?
“Well, now I have no signal. I’m stuck between two monsters. There’s an invisible wall. I really fucked up this time, didn’t I?”
She was talking to herself, furiously tapping at the device. She finally blew out an irritated sigh and then chucked it.
Adam and I watched it fly through the barrier, clacking as it landed on the floor.
She immediately tried to lunge for it again, smacking into the barrier. She rubbed her forehead, stumbling back again.
I’d forgotten how ridiculously stubborn humans could be.
I groaned, annoyed. “Don’t be a fool, woman.”
Adam was still on the other side of the barrier. He picked up the device and then brought it with him, stepping into the labyrinth entrance. He met my gaze for a moment, his expression haunted.
I hesitated for a moment and then refocused on the human. “There’s a way out of this,” I said quickly.
Her gaze reminded me of lightning now, an expression of determination. “How?” she asked, tilting her chin up.
“We have to go through the labyrinth. If we survive, then we will all be able to leave. Adam and I have been here for fifty years,” I said.
“FIFTY?”
“Yes,” Adam murmured. “What’s your name, little dove?”
“Daphne,” she mumbled, still rubbing her forehead. There was a red circle from where she had smacked it twice in a row.
Her cheeks turned pink again as she looked up at him.
I frowned. She was confusing. One moment she was furious, and the next, she was determined, and now…
Her scent hit me again, and I took another step back. My mouth watered, my cock already threatening to harden. I even felt my form threaten to shift, which frightened me more.
I hadn’t turned into my full cyclops form in ages. I was a monster, an ugly one at that, and had learned through trial and error how to at least remain in a better functioning form. One that wasn’t fifteen feet tall with bulging muscles and blundering movements.
I drew in a breath, controlling myself.
“I’m in shock now, I think,” she said, leaning back against one of the bookshelves.
“We are too,” Adam said, grinning foolishly.
She looked up at him again and smiled a little. “So you’re Adam,” she said. She then looked at me, “And you are…?”
“Andrew,” I answered curtly.
“Adam and Andrew. Okay,” she breathed, nodding. “Okay. Well. I have a pretty strong imagination. That’s nice of it to give you good names.”
I raised my brow, narrowing my eye. “Human, we aren’t imaginary. Creatures are real. Dragons, cyclopes, Minotaurs. You name it, and it’s probably out there. It’s just that we stay hidden from your kind.”
She snorted, which frustrated me more.
I stepped toward her again, determined to make her understand. She had to believe we were real. She couldn’t live under the belief that the journey we were about to take was fake.
I expected her to shrink as I stepped closer to her, but she didn’t. Instead, she straightened her spine, looking straight up at me. The top of her head barely reached my chest.
I leaned down, breathing in her scent fully. I planted one of my massive hands on the shelf above her. “We are very , very real.”
She stared at me for one beat…for two. Finally, her brows drew together, crinkling her forehead. “No. I must have fallen, and now I’m dreaming of that freaking woman getting tag teamed by the two of you in that book,” she said. “She even kind of looked like me too. Except she was missing the tattoo that I have on my ass. I like it when my lovers kiss it.”
Adam sucked in a breath, letting out a groan next to me.
“That drawing was pretty hot,” she added, grinning.
It was my turn to truly feel shocked. Her brazen announcement made my cock harden, my moan escaping.
“Woman. How do I convince you this is real?”
Her hand reached out, splaying across my chest. I froze, my heart hammering from her touch. She then patted me like a dog, smirking.
“The only way I’ll believe it is if you can make me cum.”
“ What ?” I growled, stunned.
She giggled and then slipped past me, moving down the row of books.
I looked at her, to Adam, back to her, and then down at my cock.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
Adam was just as bewildered as I was. “Andrew, what do we do?”
“I don’t even know,” I said. At this point, I was fighting the deeply rooted desires that had decided to spring up.
We watched her pause and pluck a book off the shelf.
“Daphne,” I growled, marching up to her.
She turned to look at me, but then her gaze fell to my cock. “Do you really have a knot, Mr. Dream Cyclops?”
“Would you say these things to someone real?” I growled.
She shrugged. “If I were drunk enough, probably.”
“Okay. I’m real.”
“Yes, you’re real,” she mocked.
I was about to snap a response when a growl echoed through the library. The first stab of panic hit me as reality sank in, and I didn’t even give the human time to process it.
I picked her up, threw her over my shoulder, and then looked at Adam.
He gave me a nod of assurance, and the two of us took off, diving straight into the library maze from hell.