Steel Princess (Royal Elite 2)

I stop in my tracks, my heart beating loud and fast. My clutch tightens around the rose.

Them monsters are here again.

I hide behind the plum tree and hug the rose close to my chest.

My eyes screw shut, so hard, they hurt.

Them monsters won’t take me.

Not anymore.

No other sound comes. I slowly open my eyes and search around me.

Movement catches at the top floor of our house.

Ma stands at the window of her room, staring at the distance and putting red lipstick on.

My mouth parts to call her name, but I close it again. Them monsters will find me before she does.

They always do.

I breathe as quietly as possible while hiding behind the tree. There are wires in the distance, surrounding the entire garden.

Daddy’s friends who wear black and don’t talk to us put those so no animals or people come inside.

But even the wires can’t stop them monsters.

“I told you to back off.”

My spine stiffens at the voice coming from around the corner.

Daddy?

With snail movements, I place a hand on the stone and peek. Daddy sits at the garden table, his back facing me.

He’s wearing his black suit. His chestnut hair is short at his nape but is long at the top.

The view of his back alone makes him appear far like I can’t reach him anymore.

Maybe them monsters come after Daddy, too.

Uncle Reginald sits opposite Daddy and facing me. He has scrawny looks and bulging blue eyes that used to scare me when I was younger.

But not anymore.

Monsters escape when Uncle Reg is here.

He’s like a superhero.

Ma and Dad don’t like it when I speak like him and say ‘them’ instead of ‘the’. They say that’s not how educated people speak, but I like saying ‘them’. I just have to not say it in front of Ma and Dad.

Now, Uncle Reg appears angry like Daddy when I don’t stay in my room at night.

“It’s your last chance, Steel.” Uncle Reg spits on the ground — eww, gross. “If you don’t give me what I want, I’ll find someone who will.”

Daddy stands to his full height and my heart shrinks. Daddy is scary when he speaks with so much calm. “You think a cockroach like you can cross me?”

Uncle Reg stands, too. “Try me, boss, and you’ll see what a cockroach is capable of.”