Page 111 of God of Monsters

“Are you bullshitting me right now?”

“No. I’m very familiar with a woman’s determination, and know better than to stand in the way of it.”

“How so?”

“When my brother Valdys was locked inside Calico, it was Cali’s determination to find a way inside that ultimately led us to him. Even when I had my doubts, she refused to give up on him.”

If that were Titus, I wouldn’t give up so easily, either. “She loved him so much she was willing to face hell.”

“She did. They are two exceptional people.”

“Where are they now?”

“I’m hoping out east somewhere, thriving in a community said to be like Szolen.”

“What happened at Calico? What was it like inside, after they sealed the doors?”

He rolls onto his back, tucking his arm beneath his head as he stares up at the ceiling. “Imagine your worst nightmare. Hundreds of mutations, the likes of which I’d never even seen before.”

“It’s a wonder you made it out alive.”

“Some of us didn’t.” Brows flickering, he tightens his jaw, as if something troubles him. “I lost a brother. Cadmus.”

“He was attacked?”

“Trapped on the other side of the gate with them,” he says, while his fingertips lightly caress my shoulder, eyes focused, like he’s reliving the memory. “We couldn’t set him free. I’ve had so many dreams since then, imagining him down in those tunnels. The nightmares plague me constantly.”

“I’ve heard you. In your sleep. Telling something to stop.”

“Watching them drag him away was the hardest part.”

“He was still alive?”

“No. He took Nightshade before they attacked. But the ghost of him still haunts me. Should’ve been me on the other side of that gate, not him.”

“Don’t say that, Titus. Please. As much as it hurts me to hear of your brother’s death, I couldn’t fathom not being here with you now.”

The comment seems to break the spacey look in his eyes. He glances down at me, and back to the ceiling, pulling me tighter to him. “I couldn’t, either. Don’t even want to think about what or where I’d be right now. In some ways … you saved me, Thalia.”

“You? I don’t think a man like you ever needs saving. Even when you were at the mercy of those women, I’m certain you’d have come out alive.”

“I don’t mean physically saved. While a prisoner to Remus and Agatha, I was hollow inside. Empty. I no longer cared about this world, or what happened to me.”

“That’s why you didn’t fight them. Why you didn’t try to escape sooner?”

Lips forming a hard line, he nods. “I had no reason anymore. But when I saw you in that cage, in the arena, it was as if a bolt of lightning struck my heart and made it beat again.”

“I remember watching all those men before you die a horrible death. But the way you fought, so sure of yourself, so confident … I knew you were my Champion, even then.”

Cupping either side of my face, he slants his lips over mine for a kiss, but his brows twitch with a troubled expression when he pulls away. “I will kill anything that tries to harm you with my bare hands. I will burn down what’s left of this world to protect you.”

“And I will do the same for you. So I suggest you return safely when you set out tomorrow, because otherwise that’s going to be one hell of a fire to have to start.”

“You don’t have to worry.”

“I know. But I do, anyway” I press my hand to his, entwining my fingers between his much thicker digits. Thoughts drift to my mother and the times when my father would leave for war. How much she prayed. How staunchly she believed that she would see him in Heaven even after he died. “Do you believe in the afterlife?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to think that, one day, I’ll see the people I’ve lost.”