Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters #6)- Kristy Cunning Page 0,27

nearly muted scent is comforting. In fact, I find it more comforting than when it was so potent I could smell her from a mile away.

Free me.

“Today, you had to hurt your brother. I came there wanting you to win, and ready to see him hurting,” she says as her jaw wobbles. “Then I saw the tears in your eyes. I genuinely wanted to see him hurting, because—”

She stops talking and takes a breath, and I fight to keep my monster in check. It’s too close to the surface in my weakened state, and it really does want to claim her.

Ever since I smelled Dorian’s scent on her, it’s been clawing to the surface. Then I used my monster’s strength, knowing it’d be that much harder to reel in.

This never happened with Idun. Violet soothes me all the way down to the worst part of me, while baiting my monster to the surface too easily. I’ve been in control for well over a thousand years.

Violet shatters a male’s control without even meaning to.

“Because,” she says with a firmer, less shaky tone, “I was scared. I’ve been scared plenty of times, but this time was different,” she confesses, as though she feels the need to defend herself.

I smelled her terror. She doesn’t have to tell me about it.

She should run. More terror is on the horizon if I keep her while I’m in this state.

“I was scared because it was the first time my monster didn’t step in to save me. I’ve been scared when it broke free without me summoning it, but to need and not have it…was true terror. I’ve never felt that before today. I only thought I had,” she says quietly, releasing another breath. “Maybe you guys aren’t the problem. I think I’m in over my head. I’m twenty-six and throwing together a sanctuary to protect people. I was arrogant to think my monster could hold its own with—”

She stops abruptly and looks down, clearing her throat.

“I’m starting to feel really stupid, because I had this really good idea to start Sanctuary. A place to keep omegas safe. A place for the Simpletons to be free from Idun’s psychotic tantrums and unwarranted wrath. I’m resilient. I can take whatever physical shots Idun is willing to send my way,” she continues, exhaling another shaky breath.

My fingers dig into her hips, and I glance down to where our laps meet. She smells so good. I want to taste every inch of her body.

Free me.

“Now I finally see what a fool I am, because I never considered her true power being the power she has over others. People dance like puppets on her strings, even though they know she’s sending them into the line of fire,” she says as her forehead falls to mine. “I really thought I could box her out and leave her powerless. She’s already shown me how stupid I am, and she’s just getting started. I’m sorry, Damien. I really wanted Sanctuary to work, but I didn’t factor in all the personal costs to you guys, because I thought I had the gist of everything. Now I finally feel like the girl you’ve all been coddling this entire time.”

I resist the urge to laugh under my breath, because it’s not funny at all.

She’s vulnerable.

Claim her.

Free me.

Take her.

Mark her.

Devour her.

“Of course we fucking coddle you. Marta raised you in the human society. You’re twenty-six,” I tell her with a small, somewhat mocking smile, hiding the fact I’m too on edge to be sharing heart-to-heart conversations, at the moment.

But she runs when I’m insensitive. She’s young. She’s weaker than she realizes. She’s naïve. She’s far too trusting.

Claim her before another does.

Dorian got too close. I can still smell remnants of his scent on her, even though she’s showered. The monster claws that much closer to the surface.

“I’m a monster too,” she mumbles, though now I think she’s less convinced of that than ever.

I’ve seen her cry.

I’ve seen her nearly hyperventilate.

I’ve seen her leap off mountainsides in a panic.

I’ve seen her take everything, and still feel confident enough to stand tall and tackle the next major thing. Time after time.

I’ve seen her overestimate herself more times than I can count.

I’ve also been stupefied by how much I’ve underestimated her just as many times.

This is the first time I’ve truly seen her question what she’s capable of.

“My father genuinely believed he was making Dorian stronger, just as his father had made him,” I tell her, my gaze scanning her sad,