Home for Horny Monsters - Book 3

Page of Pentacles

Mike gazed morosely at his cellphone, watching the timer for the sundial eventually hit zero. For good or bad, he wouldn't be there to reset it.

Time was up.

Standing on the terrace of the tower, it took a supreme effort to stick his phone back in his pocket rather than throw it off the side.

"I take it the dial has reset." Ratu spoke from the chaise lounge behind him, her legs dangling off the side. She was engrossed in another of Yuki's journals. She had stayed up most of the night, unable to sleep herself, poring over as many of them as she could. Apparently Yuki had quite the talent for poetry, and Ratu had shared more than a couple with him.

He had been up most of the night as well. They had built a nice fire in the fireplace to keep the room warm, and he had done his best to try and sleep. It wasn't meant to be. On top of his concern for the others in his house, he realized just how much he depended on snuggling up to Tink to stay asleep. She had somehow become his personal security blanket, because he had woken up more than once with a sense of dread.

Zel was down below, rummaging through Yuki's alchemical stores. It would seem that the kitsune wasn't particularly skilled at making potions, but Zel was hoping to put together a few basics before they set out.

A centaur horn played outside, eliciting a groan from Ratu.

"They're still there, aren't they?"

"Have been all night, as far as I can tell." He turned his head toward the cliffside trail. Orion was down below, pacing back and forth. The centaur had gotten particularly vocal last night with the help of a concoction likely brewed by his shaman, but the wind had carried away most of his words. Mike shook his head. "I don't think they're going to leave."

"Neither will we, unless we discover a secret exit of some sort." Ratu turned the page. "How is Zel doing?"

"Still shaken up, but she's determined." Last night, Zel had discovered a comfortable stable for her to sleep in. It was attached to the yard out back, and she had quickly wandered amongst the statues, a look of horror fixed on her face. She was adamant that she recognized some of the faces out there as members of her tribe that had wandered off to face the Snow Queen, never to be seen again. He found it odd that Yuki would keep them stored away like that, rather than simply pushing them over a cliff.

Then again, based on what Ratu had told him, Yuki wasn't all she seemed to be either. Her journal spoke often of her journeys among the island. Any encounters with centaurs typically ended with her sneaking off or, at worst, getting into a fight or playing a magical prank. There was no malice or hate in her journal, only a desperation to understand what had happened to her dearest Emily.

Daisy had explained it to them as best as she could when asked. It had taken forever with only a few words at a time on the slate, but she told them that Yuki and Emily had made the tower their own personal love nest. Apparently it had become a home away from home for them, discovered completely on accident during a trip abroad. Emily had destroyed the old portal to this place after connecting a new one, and the two of them constantly snuck away to enjoy the tower's relative peace and quiet.

One night, Emily got out of bed to wander the tower, leaving both Yuki and Daisy behind. Several years passed, years of searching for her. Yuki had been unable to use the portal, and had assumed the centaurs had taken her.

After months of constant harassment, she was forced to believe that Emily had simply vanished.

That was, until the night many years later when Emily came back. Daisy couldn't say much about that day because she had been off scouting a new area for them to explore. She had come back to discover that Emily had suddenly returned, bypassing the many wards that had been placed around the portal. Instead of a greeting or an explanation, Emily had attacked her former lover, essentially leaving her for dead.