Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High 2)

“No? You think the way we reacted she wasn’t put on the alert? Emily isn’t stupid,” Gael said, standing.

“Sit down. I’m very much aware of who she is and what she’s capable of. What I’m telling you is she won’t learn the truth from me. We’ll keep her in the dark until we can’t.”

“You think that’s wise?” River asked.

“I’m doing what is best for her.”

“How do we know Earl is even going to keep his word?” I asked, lifting my gaze to them.

All of them looked at me as if I was stupid.

“Sure, we got her and so far nothing bad has happened, but it doesn’t mean Earl will keep his word.”

“He’ll keep his word,” Caleb said.

“Why? Yeah, we’re all deadly and scary, but why does he have to? He lives by his own rules.”

“Don’t forget the full agreement. He’s going to be sticking around,” Caleb said.

“I think we’re being stupid if we trust him.” I ran a hand down my face. The last twenty-four hours were catching up to me. Traveling to England and back again, finding Emily, it was all starting to mount up. It wouldn’t be long before I was literally asleep standing up. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d gone without sleep.

We’d all suffered to get to where we are now.

“One problem at a time,” Caleb said. “That’s all we can do.”

As if on cue, Emily started to stir. She let out a moan. Her body was slow as she came to. We all tensed. None of us knew what was going to happen.

River had the needle ready in case she started to lose it.

Caleb held his hand up, putting his whiskey down. “Emily, baby.”

Her eyes opened, those intense green emeralds that captured my fucking soul. One look into them, and I knew we were about to have an explosion. Before she got a chance to, River was there, injecting her.

This was the final countdown.

Caleb stepped back.

“Well, we always did admire her spirit,” River said. “I guess we’re about to find the real fire that makes our woman.”

“She’ll come around,” Caleb said.

“You keep saying that. Are you trying to convince yourself or us?” I asked.

He glared at me. “I see you’re happy with pointing fingers but never making a full-blown decision. You don’t like this, why didn’t you speak up?”

“I don’t like it, but I also see it’s the only way. What I’m trying to get you to see, Caleb, is that this isn’t going to be easy. Emily isn’t going to be easily wowed. I imagine when she wakes up, she’s going to be plotting our deaths.”

“I don’t mind so long as she’s with us,” Gael said. “We’ve already lost so much time. I always felt we were fucking pussies for not going to get her.”

“We weren’t pussies,” I said. “We were keeping her alive.”

“And what about now?” Gael asked. “We’re taking her to where our fathers live.”

“Yeah, but they’re not the Monsters anymore,” Caleb said. “We are.”

That was what we’d become.

I stared at Emily. Her face had lost the frown, but I knew it was just the drugs. If we weren’t careful, we were going to lose her, and I couldn’t allow that to happen.

****

River

We got her home.

The sedative worked until we got her in the driveway. We’d been fucking blessed to get her this far, but she turned into a hellcat.

She kneed me in the balls, clocked Gael in the jaw, and bit onto Caleb’s arm. When she tried to run, I pushed through the pain and rushed toward her. We both went down and I made sure I was the one to suffer rather than her.

I had her arms by her sides, hoping she wouldn’t stop me from being able to father children. She wriggled, screamed curses. This wasn’t going to look good in front of our men. Caleb got to her first and I saw she’d drawn blood on his arm. Not too much but enough. He somehow had grabbed some rope or it had been stored close, I didn’t know how.

“Let me go. Let me go right now.” She screamed.

I noticed not once did she beg for anyone to help her. I didn’t know if that was because she knew we wouldn’t hurt her or if she figured it was a lost cause.

None of our men would interfere.

This wasn’t good, though.

With Gael close, I let go of her arms and put my hand across her mouth. Instantly, she tried to bite me, but I was able to avoid those vicious teeth.

Gael and Vadik helped as Caleb used his expertise and wrapped that rope around her wrists. Her feet were still a problem. Caleb hauled her over his shoulder. Gael offered me a hand.

I made sure to look at all the men who’d witnessed the scene before them. If they knew what was good for them, they’d turn a-fucking-way. Part of me wanted them to test us now, to try to take one of us out.