Friends With The Monsters - Albany Walker Page 0,53

that’s where I spend most of my time.”

“Lion: king of not just the jungle, huh?” I joke.

Calix preens under my gaze, straightening his back and licking his lips. “Yes, my queen.”

“Give me a break,” Gunnar barks.

I giggle. “So what sorts of shifters are there?”

Calix takes a deep breath and looks up at the ceiling in thought. “Wolves have the largest numbers, bears, hyenas, all kinds of cats.” He shrugs. “There are more, but those are the most dangerous predators. Then there are the others, like me and the dragons, but we’re not the same. We’re born, not turned.”

My mind is spinning with all this new information. Witches and shifters are real. How many other supernatural beings are there? “How come I don’t know any of this? How is it I’ve seen Will-o’-the-Wisps and Wraiths, but I had no clue about Berserkers and Newmans like you?”

Gunnar snorts.

“Nemean lions,” Calix corrects.

“You should have grown up without any of this knowledge,” Grim states from beside me. “It’s my fault the nightmares come to you.” His eyes meet mine.

“What do you mean?” I turn in my seat so I can see him better.

“You called to me as a child, a babe.” Grim’s voice dips lower, as if he’s divulging a secret. “Your soul called me. You were dying.”

“What?” Calix gasps in disbelief.

“Why didn’t you tell us this?” Gunnar snaps.

Grim ignores him and answers my silent questions. “You really were starving to death.” He reaches out and slowly smooths his finger over my cheek. I’m too shocked to even try to stop him. “I couldn’t let you die.” The embers of fire begin to glow within Grim’s eyes. “I tethered your soul to your body, making it impossible for anything to kill you. But there was a cost.”

I search Grim’s eyes for answers, and he licks his top lip. “I don’t have an explanation for why you were starving, Damiana, but when I fed you, it turned you into a beacon for them. I didn’t even realize it until I came back one night and found you playing with a Deep One.”

“A Deep One?” I scan my thoughts for what he could be referring to.

“Little girl, white dress, comes from the bottom of the ocean,” Grim explains, describing one of my childhood friends.

“You mean Cece,” I correct him.

He closes his eyes on a long blink. “I observed you with her. You two played together for hours, and you smiled.” Grim watches me intently.

“I haven’t seen her in years,” I muse. I’d almost forgotten about her. She did tell me she came from the sea, and as young as I was, I didn’t understand, so I just started calling her Cece.

“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you—”

“Protect me? From Cece?” I interrupt Grim. Reaching over, I grab hold of his arm. It’s the first time I actually feel gratitude toward him since he told me they were supposed to be my guardians. “Don’t ever apologize for that. Without her and Uncle, I would have gone insane.”

Grim’s mouth thins to a slash. “You shouldn’t have needed me to feed you. That part of you should have been dormant until you were much older.” He doesn’t do as good of a job maintaining his calm demeanor now.

I drop my hand from his arm and let his words sink in. I should have been a normal child. The idea of what could have been—how different my life would have been—sends a pang to my chest, but then I wouldn’t have Uncle, Redmon, or Aeson. I can’t imagine a life without them. I never felt like I was part of my birth family anyway. I always secretly thought I was adopted.

“You should have told us she almost died,” Gunnar insists, unaware of my thoughts.

Grim comes to his feet. “Why? Could you have done something to change it?” His voice booms with several layers at once, his calm exterior shattered.

Gunnar lets out a hissing breath. “No, yet you should have told us. She’s not just yours!”

“Shut up,” I mutter angrily.

The bickering continues. “It was a big deal. You should have told us,” Calix agrees, taking Gunnar’s side.

“See? Even the animal gets it.” Gunnar throws his hand in Calix’s direction.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” I slap my hands on the island again, while getting to my feet. “What the fuck is wrong with you people?” I trade a glance with each of them. Grim is the only one of them that meets my stare. Gunnar suddenly finds the floor very interesting, while