Page 95 of Mated to Monsters

I try to think back, to recall the events from earlier. Everything is hazy, and I can’t make sense of it. It’s like trying to find the end of a tangled ball of yarn to pull it apart.

I remember seeing Rej’thorek. I think he came in near the end. But I don’t remember what happened after…

The memory of a crippling pain in my chest, excruciating and hot, springs to mind. I recall how it left me breathless, certain I would die. And then everything went black. I must have passed out from the pain.

I paw open my shirt, wanting to see for myself. The movement makes me wince in pain, my muscles sore and screaming out in protest.

On my chest is a dark mark.

It sits over my heart, and it’s about as big as my open palm. It looks like a tattoo, as if someone had painted it on. The center of it is solid black, an uneven and irregular oval with branches that vein off at the sides. It reminds me of a firework blast, without the colorful display.

I stare at it in disbelief, full of wonder that it doesn’t seem to hurt. It looks as though it should be incredibly painful, but I can’t feel a thing. I even poke it with a finger to make sure.

What is this?

Suddenly, I sense a motion overhead. I tear my eyes away from the mark to look up. Rej’thorek is standing over me. His bright eyes are hard, unreadable.

“You’re awake,” he says.

He kneels beside my bed, pushing my short blonde hair back from my face to gaze at me. “You’re awake,” he repeats as though he needs to confirm it.

“Yes,” I say with a weak laugh. “I’m awake. What… What happened?” I ask, trying to piece all the fragments together.

He shakes his head in disbelief, apparently still stunned by her actions. “Yedina, the matron that kidnapped you, attacked you to get to me,” he admits. “She was convinced that I belonged to her, and she was so driven by jealousy to keep me that she went after you. Not because she loved me. She wanted to take the throne for herself.”

Bits and pieces come back to me. Her pleading with Rej’thorek to choose her. Begging him to give her what she wanted. Insisting that he could keep us both. Then demanding everything when he did not comply.

“I saw what happened and came straight away to save you from Yedina,” he explains. “But I couldn’t stop her from using her magic against you.”

His expression darkens momentarily, full of sorrow. “You’ll have that mark for the rest of your life, I’m afraid,” he tells me. “She struck you with a poison bolt. But I was able to draw the poison out of your heart in time before it killed you.”

“I’m going to be okay?” I ask tentatively. Considering all that I’ve been through, I feel good. Better than good.

“Yes,” he murmurs. “You’re safe now. And I’m going to keep it that way.

“How do you feel?”

I glance down again at the mark on my chest, rubbing it contemplatively. It will take me some time to get used to it, but it could be worse.

I could be dead.

“I feel… fine,” I admit slowly, unable to fully believe it myself. I push the blanket aside, pulling myself upright so that I can examine my body more closely. I wiggle my fingers and my toes, scrutinizing for anything that seems amiss.

My wrists are still red from where I was bound. But everything else seems to be just like it’s supposed to be. I sink back in the bed, looking up at his expectant face. “Really, I’m fine,” I repeat. “I’m a little bit stiff and sore, but there’s no pain.”

He leans over, giving me a kiss that is gentle and sincere. It makes my heart flutter from the tenderness of the gesture.

“Thank you, Rej’thorek, for rescuing me.”

“I’d do it a thousand times if I had to.” His easy expression firms. “Of course, I don’t intend to let it happen again.”

A terrible thought strikes me, and I sit up with a jerk. “What about Akos?”

“He’s fine,” he assures me, catching my hand in his. “He was a bit shaken up by it all. But now that you’re okay, he will be too. Nothing happened to him.”

I let out a shaky sigh of relief, my body going lax again.

“Whenever you are ready, breakfast is waiting,” he says. Then he stands up, holding his hands out to help me out of bed.