Page 38 of Mate of a Monster

Is that…

Are you waking?

I remain still, mouth twitching at the edges.

Knight’s ethos rose at some point in his mating.

Will mine finally show itself?

I rise slowly, the mask steady in my grasp, my magic coiling around me with quiet dominance.

I can feel you now, just fucking rise. I have my mate. It’s time.

A sharp heat flares between my shoulder blades.

I jerk instinctively, fingers spasming as the mask slips from my grip. “What the fuck?”

“What is that?”

I turn, finding Arabella standing but feet away.

She comes closer. “Legend?”

I clear my throat. “A mask of some sort.”

She smiles, though it lacks any warmth as her blue eyes lock onto the mask with surprising intensity. “Where did it come from?”

I hesitate. And I don’t know fucking why.

Arabella bends to touch it, and my hand almost snaps out to stop her, instinct slamming through me hard enough that my fingers twitch at my side. I don’t want her to fucking touch it.

My brows slam together.

Protection.

I’m just protecting her.

My jaw tightens as she gets closer, and then her fingertips brush the mask.

She jerks back with a cry.

“Oh my gods,” she gasps.

The scent of her melted flesh and blood hits a second later, and my magic surges in violent response.

“Arabella!” I move to hold her gently, twisting her in my arms to examine the singed skin.

Wide eyes stare up at me and I cradle her face, torn between the need to comfort her and collect the mask.

But then a bubbling sound reaches my ears. The mask’s thick material melts around me. The dark surface collapses inward, folding into itself until it becomes a thick, blackened puddle at our feet, viscous and alive. The gold vanishes within it, swallowed whole.

One by one, the roses rise taller than before—like they’ve been fed and not poisoned.

“What in the fuck?” I mutter under my breath.

A sharp clarity enters my mind until Arabella steps in front of me before I can process it fully, her hands pressing flat against my chest.

The contact jolts through me and I blink several times.